25 YORK STREET

25 YORK STREET

Located in the heart of Toronto’s downtown commercial core is this 30-storey office tower representing award-winning, modern commercial architecture for Menkes Developments Ltd. Composed of two very distinct parts, this building expresses its “tower” and “base” in a manner unique to commercial office buildings. By extending the curtain wall both horizontally and vertically beyond the building’s exterior volume, a variation in transparency results, giving the tower the appearance of lightness, more in tune with the sky than the visually heavy office towers of Toronto’s financial district.

At the base of this office tower – TELUS’ “innovation centre” – is a two-storey black zinc-clad box with glazed ends, below which other box-like forms have been added. This results in a sculptural composition of glass and metal-clad boxes, adding an unexpected dynamic of forms to the streets below.

The lobby, planned with ease of pedestrian circulation use in mind, links to the Scotiabank Arena – home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors (formerly known as Air Canada Centre at time of project completion) – and Union Station; the city’s railway hub. Escalators at the lobby’s west end rise to a bridge crossing over York Street, connecting pedestrians to Toronto’s PATH system.

Below the lobby are three levels of underground parking and loading docks tied into a system of below grade “service streets” connecting Scotiabank Arena, Union Station & 25 York Street. One level below that can be found a TTC tunnel for future subway expansion.

LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario

ARCHITECT: Adamson Associates Architects

DESIGN LEADERSHIP: Michael Poitras,
Partner-in-Charge of Design

CLIENT: Menkes Developments Ltd.

STATISTICS:

  • No. of storeys: 30
  • Total floor area (above grade):
    853,265 ft2 (79,271 m2)
  • Total floor area (below grade):
    217,895 ft2 (20,243 m2)
  • Below grade parking: 521 (includes 3 barrier-free stalls)
  • Below grade bicycle parking: 58
  • Loading dock spaces: 6

MATERIALS:

  • Curtain wall windows & doors
  • Black zinc cladding
  • DensDeck soffits (painted white)
  • Granite floors (lobby)
  • Granite pavers (exterior)
  • Outdoor landscaping

GENERAL PROGRAM:

  • Commercial office space
  • 2 “innovation” centres (TELUS program)
  • Retail
  • Pedestrian circulation connects to PATH system, Union Station and Scotiabank Arena
  • Bicycle change rooms with showers
  • Outdoor public space
  • 3 outdoor terraces

LEED: Platinum

COST: $287 million

COMPLETION: 2009

AWARDS:

  • Design Excellence Award – Ontario Association of Architects 2011
  • The Illumination Engineering Society of North America – Section Award, Commendable Achievement in Lighting Design – Michael Poitras 2010
  • The Illumination Engineering Society of North America – Award of Merit, Contribution to Lighting Design – Michael Poitras 2010
  • NAIOP 9th Annual REX Awards – 2010 Office Development of the Year
  • LEED EB: O&M Platinum Building with LEED CS and CI Gold Certifications – Triple LEED Certification 2012