• Login / Join
  • About
  • •
  • Contact
  • •
  • Advertising
bustler logo
bustler logo
  • News
  • Competitions
  • Events
  • Bustler is powered by Archinect
  • Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

  • Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • Search

    Search in

  • Submit

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event
  • Login / Join
  • News|Competitions|Events
  • Search
    | Submit
    | Follow
  • Search in

    What are you submitting?

    News Pitch
    Competition
    Event

    Follow these Bustler feeds:

  • About|Contact|Advertising
  • Login / Join
Tagged: adaptive reuse

Hariri Pontarini Architects-led team will transform Toronto's Brutalist landmark into Canada’s first zero-carbon performing arts center

By Niall Patrick Walsh|

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2023

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

A team led by Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) has been announced as winners of an international competition to upgrade and reimagine Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. The winning scheme, designed by HPA, LMN Architects, Tawaw Architecture Collective, Smoke Architecture, and SLA, was chosen from a shortlist of five teams.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The winning scheme, titled Transparence, seeks to create a “bold connection with [the center’s] historic neighborhood and establish a new cultural hub in the heart of the city.” The Brutalist form and materials of the existing center will be preserved, while a major reconfiguration of the interior will include rotating the main theater 90 degrees to address a new public plaza.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The design process behind the scheme was informed by Indigenous design elements, including the role of Wampum belts as an expression of collective agreement and celebration. “We took the symbolic and figurative quality of the belt, which brings together diverse groups, to create one long, luminous line from end to end, gathering and unifying the complex in a single move envisioned as an embrace of culture and connection to community,” explained HPA founder Siamak Hariri.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

“Our ancestors planned for a world made more resilient by working equitably with each other and with all life systems,” said Smoke Architecture principal Eladia Smoke and Tawaw Architecture Collective principal Wanda Dalla Costa in a joint statement. “In this place of transformation and imagination, Indigenous design perspectives will help that world emerge.”

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

Elsewhere, the proposal sees a high-performance transparent facade wrapping the structure, while the interior lobby and public amenities have been arranged in an L-shaped plan. Above, the second and third floors of the building will feature creative spaces including studios, rehearsal rooms, and informal performance areas. Throughout the scheme, the team has specified wood-lined interiors to “radiate a warmth that reflects the idea of openness and accessibility as one continuous moving image to the city.”

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The center’s anchoring functions will be a 600-1000-seat main theater and a 300-seat acoustic hall. Both spaces have been designed to “support maximum configuration flexibility” through retractable seating and partitions, while the 300-seat acoustic hall is elevated to provide access to a green terrace.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The design will be presented to Toronto City Council in the third quarter of 2023. Upon completion, the team hopes the building will become the first zero-carbon performing arts center in Canada.

News of the scheme comes weeks after Selldor, Diamond Schmitt, and Two Row revealed their expansion design for the Art Gallery of Ontario, while progress was also made on a revived Toronto Quayside master plan. Earlier in February, Toronto-based Montgomery Sisam revealed their design for a net-zero timber research center for the University of Toronto on the outskirts of the city. 

RELATED NEWS Toronto announces 2022 Winter Stations winners
RELATED NEWS Hariri Pontarini's Baha’i Temple of South America wins 2019 RAIC International Prize

Related

toronto ● canada ● competition ● theater design ● adaptive reuse
LMN Architects
LMN Architects
SLA Landscape Architects
SLA Landscape Architects
Hariri Pontarini Architects
Hariri Pontarini Architects

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Hariri Pontarini Architects-led team will transform Toronto's Brutalist landmark into Canada’s first zero-carbon performing arts center

AJ Retrofit Awards reveals 2023 shortlist

3XN's upcycled Quay Quarter Tower is the 2022 World Building of the Year

Winning European Parliament redesign seeks to minimize carbon emissions through reuse

Three adaptive reuse projects announced as the 2022 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award winners

Hackney School of Food by Surman Weston wins 2022 Stephen Lawrence Prize

Thompson Center Design Ideas Competition: three winners of the 2021 Chicago Prize announced

Hitler's birthplace to be redesigned as a police station

2019 Landmarks Illinois Driehaus Preservation Awards highlight outstanding restoration efforts across the U.S.

Sign up for Bustler's Email Newsletters

2019 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence announces Gold and Silver Medalists

Six finalists compete to be architect for University of Kentucky, College of Design's new home in Reynolds Building

Adaptive reuse projects across the country honored at the 2018 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards

New ProMedica Corporate HQ honored with 2018 IDEAS2 National Steel Award for top-notch adaptive reuse

ZHA's Port House in Antwerp named 'Best Refurbished Building' at 2018 MIPIM Awards

A historic brewery once operated by monks has been given a modern extension as the new Paulaner headquarters

Next page » Loading

Hariri Pontarini Architects-led team will transform Toronto's Brutalist landmark into Canada’s first zero-carbon performing arts center

By Niall Patrick Walsh|

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2023

Share

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

Related

toronto ● canada ● competition ● theater design ● adaptive reuse
LMN Architects
LMN Architects
SLA Landscape Architects
SLA Landscape Architects
Hariri Pontarini Architects
Hariri Pontarini Architects

A team led by Hariri Pontarini Architects (HPA) has been announced as winners of an international competition to upgrade and reimagine Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. The winning scheme, designed by HPA, LMN Architects, Tawaw Architecture Collective, Smoke Architecture, and SLA, was chosen from a shortlist of five teams.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The winning scheme, titled Transparence, seeks to create a “bold connection with [the center’s] historic neighborhood and establish a new cultural hub in the heart of the city.” The Brutalist form and materials of the existing center will be preserved, while a major reconfiguration of the interior will include rotating the main theater 90 degrees to address a new public plaza.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The design process behind the scheme was informed by Indigenous design elements, including the role of Wampum belts as an expression of collective agreement and celebration. “We took the symbolic and figurative quality of the belt, which brings together diverse groups, to create one long, luminous line from end to end, gathering and unifying the complex in a single move envisioned as an embrace of culture and connection to community,” explained HPA founder Siamak Hariri.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

“Our ancestors planned for a world made more resilient by working equitably with each other and with all life systems,” said Smoke Architecture principal Eladia Smoke and Tawaw Architecture Collective principal Wanda Dalla Costa in a joint statement. “In this place of transformation and imagination, Indigenous design perspectives will help that world emerge.”

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

Elsewhere, the proposal sees a high-performance transparent facade wrapping the structure, while the interior lobby and public amenities have been arranged in an L-shaped plan. Above, the second and third floors of the building will feature creative spaces including studios, rehearsal rooms, and informal performance areas. Throughout the scheme, the team has specified wood-lined interiors to “radiate a warmth that reflects the idea of openness and accessibility as one continuous moving image to the city.”

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The center’s anchoring functions will be a 600-1000-seat main theater and a 300-seat acoustic hall. Both spaces have been designed to “support maximum configuration flexibility” through retractable seating and partitions, while the 300-seat acoustic hall is elevated to provide access to a green terrace.

Image render credit: Hariri Pontarini Architects; LMN Architects; Tawaw Architecture Collective; Smoke Architecture; and SLA.

The design will be presented to Toronto City Council in the third quarter of 2023. Upon completion, the team hopes the building will become the first zero-carbon performing arts center in Canada.

News of the scheme comes weeks after Selldor, Diamond Schmitt, and Two Row revealed their expansion design for the Art Gallery of Ontario, while progress was also made on a revived Toronto Quayside master plan. Earlier in February, Toronto-based Montgomery Sisam revealed their design for a net-zero timber research center for the University of Toronto on the outskirts of the city. 

RELATED NEWS Toronto announces 2022 Winter Stations winners
RELATED NEWS Hariri Pontarini's Baha’i Temple of South America wins 2019 RAIC International Prize

Share

  • Follow

    0 Comments

  • Comment as :

Archinect JobsArchinect Jobs

The Archinect Job Board attracts the world's top architectural design talents.

VIEW ALL JOBS POST A JOB

Senior Facade Designer / Facade Architect

MW-skins

Senior Facade Designer / Facade Architect

New York, NY, US

Project Manager / Senior Designer

Le Architecture

Project Manager / Senior Designer

Los Angeles, CA, US

Junior Architect - Hybrid

Heitler Houstoun Architects

Junior Architect - Hybrid

New York, NY, US

Intermediate Designer/ Architect

Totum

Intermediate Designer/ Architect

Los Angeles, CA, US

Project Architect

GLUCK+ (formerly Peter Gluck and Partners Architects)

Project Architect

New York, NY, US

Project Architect/Manager - 6-12 Years Experience - Hybrid

Heitler Houstoun Architects

Project Architect/Manager - 6-12 Years Experience - Hybrid

New York, NY, US

Architectural Designer

kyle minor design

Architectural Designer

San Francisco, CA, US

 Designer

HATCH ARCHITECTURE

Designer

Los Angeles, CA, US

Architectural Designer

von Staden Architects

Architectural Designer

Royal Oak, MI, US

interiors architect

David Bers Architecture

interiors architect

Brooklyn, NY, US

Next page » Loading