ARCH 21 - The Front Steps

The Front Steps project consists of a 45-storey Condominium Tower, 15-storey Subsidized Apartment, and a 3-Storey Podium allotted for Commercial and Community spaces. The name “Front Steps” is derived from its location on a brownfield site along Front Street East in the middle of Old Toronto, combined with the concept of adaptability, transition, or takiing a new “step” to another level. This step is physically visualized via the massing of the Condominium Tower as well as the Podium, which serves as a transition between the public street area and the private residential towers. The green roofing and garden topping the Podium levels serve as buffer and transition between the busy streets of Old Toronto and the anticipated leisurely atmosphere of the residential units. This greenery contrasts the built environment surrounding the proposed development. On the other hand, the materials used throughout is a modern take of the historical brick façade found on the buildings in the area, retaining the architectural identity of the place while still giving the proposed high-rise its own character. The adaptability concept is also evident in the planning of the building. With the lot being L-shaped, the buildings are oriented and designed to follow this shape, maximizing the lot area as well as the natural sunlight and wind coming from the southwest direction. 

The residential units being divided into Condominium Units and Subsidized Apartments provide potential residents different choices depending on their financial capabilities, allowing them to take one “step” at a time regarding their home or lifestyle. Despite the different price points, the units for both towers are designed to still be as comfortable and leisurely as possible. All the units has balcony providing view of the surrounding area, including the smallest units, the Bachelor Unit in the Subsidized Apartment, which has a balcony overlooking Downtown Toronto on the west. Other unit types for the Subsidized Apartment include One-Bedroom Units and Two-Bedroom Units. The Condominium Tower also has One-Bedroom and Two-Bedroom Units, as well as a variation of both with Den that can be used as an office space.

All these residential units have access to amenities located at the Podium, consisting of an Indoor Pool, Gym, Sauna, Party Area, and Lounge, as well as the garden on top of the Podium. Other spaces in the Podium are Commercial spaces, including a Grocery Store that serves as an anchor space at the corner of Front Street East and Princess Street. Other Commercial spaces are Retail Units for lease. These spaces have public access along Front Street East and Lower Sherbourne Street, and a private access for service drop-off and staff entrance at the back of the building. This driveway can also be utilized as drop-off area for the Residential Towers and has access to the ramp towards the 3-level Underground Parking. The Community Spaces located below the Subsidized Apartments consist of a Daycare, Walk-in Clinic, a Game Room, Meeting Rooms, and a Banquet Hall with Kitchen that can be used for a variety of activities and events for the local community.

The structure of the project consists of mostly precast concrete members which reduce construciton time and fossil fuel emission of the project. The proposed project also incorporated other sustainability and urban design strategies such as providing large walkable area for pedestrian. This walkable area is located not only on street level but also on all the common Podium levels, with landscaping consisting of local plants that can filter out air and noise pollution from the busy streets of Old Toronto. The aforementioned curtain wall utilized as cladding of the proposed project mostly consisted of double low-e coated glazing that improve thermal performance of all the interior spaces while allowing natural daylighting inside. Solar panels are also provided at the top of the towers to utilize the natural sunlight for renewable energy.

Implementing these sustainable strategies can result to positive environmental and economical effect not only to the proposed Mixed-Use High-Rise project itself but also to its surroundings. Understanding and developing these architectural and urban design approaches especially for a brownfield site like where the project is located is a good “step” towards a better and more efficient practice in the architectural and construction industry not only for the professionals of the present times but also for the future generations.