297 College Street Urban Design Studies

Mark Sterling and Armstrong Hunter & Associates were retained by Tribute to provide professional planning and urban design services and to prepare a Planning and Urban Design Rationale Report evaluating and in support of Rezoning and Site Plan applications to implement a proposed 15 storey mixed use redevelopment at 297 College Street, an under-utilized property just west of Spadina Avenue in Downtown Toronto.

The lack of adjacent building context (or specific urban design built form policy framework) meant that the building had to be designed from first principles. A partial “avenue segment study” was carried out for the College Street lands between Augusta and Spadina Avenue, which are most directly adjacent and relevant to the subject property in order to investigate potential future contexts for the proposal.

A strong street wall “base” was created at the street line at 8 storeys or 29.3m, that is less than the width of College Street (30m). The proposed building massing creates an appropriate street proportion and appropriate transitions to existing and planned buildings. The upper building elements are setback from all property lines, generally in increasing amounts as the building gets taller.

Client

Tribute Communities (Tribute College Street Limited)

Location

Toronto, Ontario

Services Provided

Urban Design Focused Project Input;
Development Feasibility Analysis;
3D Digital Visualization and Urban Information Modeling;
Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw Amendments.

Credits

Core Architects;
Mark Sterling – urban design partner in charge Sweeny Sterling Finlayson &Co;
Armstrong Hunter & Associates – Land Use Planning;