HOTEL REVIEW


Indeed Maple Leaf Square, a C$450 million mixed-use development comprising condos, offices, retail and restaurants, sits adjacent to the centre, home to the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club and Toronto Raptors basketball club. “When we were approached by Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment to participate in this venture, we recognised the synergies of marrying our subtle elegance with their boisterous excitement,” adds de La Durantaye.


An unusual marriage, perhaps, but architecture and design firm Lemay Michaud, in collaboration with Christiane Germain, has been careful not to deviate from the guest experience, finding ways to imbue this property with a unique ambience that acknowledges its neighbours while delivering a stylish retreat from the city. Involved in the architectural aspects of the hotel’s exterior,


Lemay Michaud ensured that Le Germain was given its own subtle identity within the complex. “The eight-storey hotel section is clad in distinctive black metal panels and our canopy, which shelters a stainless steel vestibule with integrated lighting, is twice the height of the rest of the development so that plenty of natural light spills into the lobby,” explains Michel Aubé, Partner Architect at Lemay Michaud. “Because there are two towers above, the architecture had to allow for supporting concrete walls between the rooms and we have been able to use these to acoustical and spatial advantage.” Rooms do feel particularly spacious and this is due in part to generous-sized windows and clever millwork features installed in place of traditional furniture pieces. In-built anigre veneer work and display units are located around the exteriors, integrating


practical amenities including flatscreen high-definition televisions. The warm African wood is contrasted with simple white walls, an exposed concrete feature wall, tinted black, and a textured custom-design carpet from Tandus Flooring. Bespoke reclining chairs with an ottoman subtly shaped like a hockey puck hint at the sports surroundings, while black and white headboard photography by Toronto-based Matthew Plexman makes the association clearer. The hotel commissioned a series of images, capturing local professional athletes in challenging workout poses. Keeping the rooms free of clutter,


wardrobes and luggage racks are absorbed into the open-plan bathrooms, again constructed around large millwork pieces. Comfort comes courtesy of an olive ceramic tile, akin to the texture of soft leather, which paves the bathroom floor and certain walls.


WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2011 071


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