When we began planning the Brewery Lofts in the mid-1990s, the project was the first loft conversion of an industrial warehouse in Toronto. Although similar adaptive reuse developments existed already in New York City, Chicago and other metropolises, breaking this new ground here in the north meant working with local politicians, city planners and community associations to bring awareness and understanding of the benefits of this type of open-plan living.

Built originally in an area of the city devoted to receiving and sorting goods shipped from overseas, 90 Sumach Street was erected by the CBC in 1956 to house design and production facilities for the props, costumes and sets that would populate its emerging television programming. That creative work continued in the building right up to the mid-1990s, when the CBC moved all these units to its new headquarters on Front Street.

Once redevelopment was approved by all parties, the transformation of the structure included turning the ground floor into two levels of indoor parking and extensive exterior renovation—namely, the demolition of north side bays and the creation of new window openings to allow for residential use. In the end, the old concrete box was converted into 102 units with an abundance of natural light and became a driver of regeneration for Corktown. Those who populate the building—including a good number of its original owners—consider it not just a place to live, but a mini-neighbourhood within a building.

The design and construction of this Modern-designed subdivision in Bayview Village—an infill development of a former school site—was a gamble that paid off. While minimalist one-offs had been popping up here and there across Toronto for years, nobody had ever tried to build twenty of them.

Following extensive pre-consultation with the community and ward councillor, we began construction on a group of houses similarly designed, but which comprised nine different floorplans. What they have in common is authenticity. These are not standard subdivision houses finished with a flat roof and a Modernist applique on the outside. They were designed and constructed collaboratively from the start, and from inside out in the Modern style—featuring open spaces, clean lines, no crown molding to mask imperfections and superbly-designed fixtures throughout. When people enter these houses, the differences are subtle but immediately recognizable.

On the land around each of the homes, we built exterior courtyards featuring high walls that essentially transform the outdoor space into another room—a seamless continuation of the home.

Waverley completed a Development Feasibility Assessment in December of 2017.  The City owns a 6 acre, partially tenanted, retail site strategically located adjacent the waterfront. Orillia’s official plan called for completion of its street grid the repair of a lost  connection between the downtown and the harbour. Thus the City sought a redevelopment proposal to achieve this planned result. But they also sought ideas that would underpin a quick start housing redevelopment to bring people back to the core.  And the plan needed to support a strong existing main street retail fabric.

To meet a 2 year development horizon Waverley recommended a phased redevelopment of the existing retail plaza – retaining the current food store use – while adding missing middle housing forms to meet local housing demand. Product recommendations for the preferred scenario were based on rear lane town homes fronting the water. The towns would include a secondary suite – potentially a laneway suite – to assist in housing affordability.  Interior small lot cottage homes, organized around shared green courtyards, provided a second family market solution. Live work towns represented a compatible link from the main retail street to the waterfront. None of these house forms are available in the downtown. Waverley recommended that mid rise condo forms be situated in later phases to allow the faster absorbing ground related housing to provide a new residential context in the harbour.

The assessment report addressed  details of planning, servicing, market demand, product valuation, phasing and residual land values.  The adopted scenario will be the basis of a proposal call to be issued by the City in 2018 for the redevelopment of its lands. The Orillia Waterfront is an excellent location for the construction of missing middle house forms.