RAC Tower Zoning approved for 2014
In an important step forward, Toronto City Council voted Wednesday April 3, 2013, to approve the new Harmonized Zoning bylaw, including the new Residential Apartment-Commercial (RAC) Zone. Starting in 2014, the RAC Zone will be rolled out in key Toronto neighbourhoods. These include:
[ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on April 4, 2013 | Permalink | No Comments » Saunders: A nation of suburban apartment dwellers Apartment Cluster, Mississauga Ontario
Doug Saunders, columnist for the Globe and Mail and author of the remarkable book Arrival City, among other notable works, recently wrote a good piece on Tower Renewal, challenging Canada to rethink itself as a “nation of suburban apartment dwellers”. One in five within the Toronto region lives in a high-rise building outside of the urban downtown centre, which makes us a world leader in this residential form. The article cites German architect Thomas Sieverts, who warns these peripheral apartments areas, high in population and low in services, have become “cities without cities”. In conversation with ERA’s Graeme Stewart, the article discusses Tower Renewal, and points to opportunities for how to think of our suburb apartments as places of opportunity for newcomers and the city as a whole.
To read Saunders’ full article, please go to the Globe & Mail.
[ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on April 3, 2013 | Permalink | No Comments » Canada Screen Award to NFB’s “HIGHRISE”
Last week the NFB’s Highrise: One Millionth Tower won a Canada Screen Award for “Original Program Produced for Digital Media, Non-Fiction.” ERA and the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) had the pleasure of working with the NFB on this remarkable series, directed by Kat Cizek, which examines the current conditions and future potential of post-war high-rise living around the world. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on March 5, 2013 | Permalink | No Comments » Graeme Stewart interviewed: Toronto ZoningAs part of the Tower Neighbourhood Renewal project, the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) continues to work with United Way Toronto, the City of Toronto, and key stakeholders to establish a new approach to zoning that will enable Toronto’s hundreds of Apartment Neighbourhoods to emerge as more complete, better-served communities. Recently, Canadian Apartment Magazine interviewed ERA’s Graeme Stewart, as well as Aird & Berlis LLP partner Tom Halinski, on exciting changes coming to Toronto’s zoning laws. Play the video above for Graeme’s segment, or visit Canadian Apartment Magazine to see both videos. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on March 1, 2013 | Permalink | No Comments » New Apartment Tower RAC Zoning in Ontario Planning Journal
The newly proposed ‘Apartment Residential Commercial Zoning‘, developed by the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal, City of Toronto, United Way and other partners features as the cover story in the January / February 2013 issue of the Ontario Planning Journal. Article authors, Elise Hug (Tower Renewal Office, City of Toronto), Jason Thorne (CUG+R, planningAlliance), and ERA’s Graeme Stewart explore the opportunities of the proposed zoning framework, next steps for implementation, and further research and policy initiatives moving forward. The issue of the journal can be downloaded here. A background to the development of the RAC zoning can be found here. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on December 23, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Tower Renewal on The Urbanist
Monocle Radio recently interviewed ERA’s Graeme Stewart on The Urbanist, a weekly program on the people and ideas that shape urban life. In this week’s edition, Andrew Tuck speaks with Graeme about Toronto’s modernist legacy and the Tower Renewal program. You can listen to this interview online at Monocle.com #61. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on December 14, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Tower Renewal Panel at Innis College
On December 11, 2012, Toronto’s Tower Renewal Office hosted a panel that brought together leading Toronto participants in the Tower Renewal program, including ERA’s Graeme Stewart, with Keynote speaker Dr. Rebecca Leshinsky. A professor of law, Dr. Leshinsky has conducted research on the sustainable retrofit of apartment buildings in Melbourne and the State of Victoria in Australia. Dr. Leshinsky noted that Toronto and Melbourne share opportunities related to Tower Renewal. Her research relates to the legal and governance mechanisms that present barriers for uptake of retrofits, yet provide avenues for reform. Victoria’s regulations (which are similar to Toronto’s condominium regulations) makes decision-making on building-wide issues a challenge. Dr. Leshinsky recommends better information tools for understanding and communicating retrofit opportunities and legislative reform to empower owners and community members to instigate change. Continue Reading This Post [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on December 12, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Toronto Zoning Reform to Empower Apartment Neighbourhoods
As part of ongoing work on Tower Neighbourhood Renewal, the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) has been working with partners United Way Toronto and the City of Toronto to establish a new approach to zoning that will enable Toronto’s hundreds of Apartment Neighbourhoods to emerge as more complete and better-served communities. This work has recently taken a significant step forward, as Toronto’s Planning and Growth Management Committee has endorsed a new zoning category: the “Apartment Residential Commercial” Zone (RAC), developed by the City of Toronto’s Zoning Division in partnership with CUG+R and United Way Toronto this past summer. Continue Reading This Post [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on October 15, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Visualizations: Toward Healthy Apartment Neighbourhoods
As part of the recent reports developed for United Way Toronto and Toronto Public Health, a series of diagrams were developed illustrating the use of various strategies for more healthy and better served communities at the small, intermediate and larger scales. These reports, Toward Healthy Apartment Neighbourhoods, and A New Approach to Zoning in Apartment Neighbourhoods, discuss thirty-one strategies for healthy and vibrant communities, and the policy and zoning framework for their realization. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on September 28, 2012 | Permalink | Comments Off New Report from CUG+R and United Way Toronto: Strong Neighbourhoods and Complete Communities: A New Approach to Zoning for Apartment Neighbourhoods
As a follow up to the findings of Poverty by Postal Code 2: Vertical Poverty, the Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) and United Way Toronto are pleased to release a new report entitled Strong Neighbourhoods and Complete Communities: A New Approach to Zoning for Apartment Neighbourhoods. The aim of this report is to identify existing policy barriers and consider policy alternatives to enable Toronto’s hundreds of apartment neighbourhoods to reach their potential as healthy, vibrant, and more complete communities. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on September 24, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » New Report from CUG+R and Toronto Public Health: Toward Healthy Apartment Neighbourhoods
The Centre for Urban Growth and Renewal (CUG+R) and Toronto Public Health are pleased to release Toward Healthy Apartment Neighbourhoods: A Healthy Toronto by Design Report.
As part of the ongoing work related to Tower Neighbourhood Renewal, this report was commissioned by Toronto Public Health in 2011 to examine design tools for improved community health outcomes in Toronto’s hundreds of apartment neighbourhoods. As has been demonstrated in numerous previous studies, growing poverty is linked to poor health outcomes in Toronto’s inner suburbs, particularly its apartment neighbourhoods. This new study illustrates how public health objectives can be achieved through strategies specific to the unique urban geography and demographics of apartment neighbourhoods. To assess the opportunities of apartment neighbourhoods, this report utilizes the following themes, developed from the Toronto Public Health report Healthy Toronto by Design (2011), and applies them to the apartment neighbourhood context:
Using these health themes, thirty-one strategies and design opportunities have been developed. Many of these strategies are relatively straightforward, others more complicated. In the hands of a range of stakeholders, from residents and property owners to City staff, they provide strategic direction for the investment and action required to build better served, healthier, and more complete communities moving forward. The report also assesses the relationship of each strategy to current policies in the Toronto Official Plan and Zoning By-Laws. This assessment clearly shows which strategies can be achieved in the short term and which policy barriers need to be addressed in the long term to achieve a full range of health benefits.
[ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on September 24, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Youth build decking for Scarborough shade structure
Beginning in early July, six youth from the Kingston-Galloway-Orton Park community were hired for a five-week period by the East Scarborough Storefront to continue work on a series of community-oriented landscape improvements. These features were designed as part of the Community Design Initiative (C.D.I.) program, to which these youth have previously volunteered hundreds of hours. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Ajeev Bhatia on August 16, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Construction and river valley tour, East Scarborough
Photos: Holly Pagnacco Progress on the East Scarborough Storefront’s (ESS) soon-to-be grapevine pergola is running on time. We have just completed some 50 trellis modules which will form the roof structure for the grapevines to grow on. The youth spent weeks building these modules and have become confident measuring and cutting wood, along with many other skills. As part of this ongoing learning process, our youth landscapers recently presented on the transformations the community could expect at ESS, including the pergola and deck, which the team has been working on since early July. Participants were surprised and inspired to see the impressive projects community youth are working on. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Ajeev Bhatia on August 8, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Construction begins at the Storefront
Over the past couple of years, ERA has been working with The East Scarborough Storefront (ESS) on the Community Design Initiative (CDI), where Scarborough youth are educated in architecture and design by mentors from ERA, Sustainable.TO, and ArchiTEXT. In the current phase, we are working to bring more shade and plant life to the site. This will include several garden and landscape features, a pergola structure for grapevines, and a green-roof pavilion known as the Sky-o-swale. Beginning earlier in July, five youth from the Kingston-Galloway-Orton Park community, who have cumulatively dedicated hundreds of hours to the CDI program, were hired by the ESS for a five-week period to physically build an exterior deck for public use (located under the Sky-o-swale), as well as 50 trellis modules that will form the roof structure for the grapevine pergola. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Ajeev Bhatia on August 2, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Monocle covers Tower Renewal
In the 2012 Quality of Life Issue of Monocle Magazine, ERA’s Graeme Stewart fields a few questions on Toronto’s Tower Renewal Project from Christopher Frey, Monocle correspondent and former Chief Editor for Toronto Standard. To find out more about this issue, see Monocle v.6, no. 55. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Josh Thorpe on July 23, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » United Way AGM: Graeme Stewart’s Keynote Address
On Thursday, June 21, ERA’s Graeme Stewart addresses a crowd of 400 community leaders as keynote speaker at the United Way’s 2012 AGM. In 2010, ERA and CUG+R published Tower Neighbourhood Renewal in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which looks at a broad range of historical trends, planning issues, sustainability concerns, social needs, and opportunity for renewal in and around Toronto’s tower block neighbourhoods. In 2011, United Way published Vertical Poverty, which focuses much-needed attention on poverty, equity, and quality-of-life issues experienced by residents of high-rise housing. We continue to work together with the City of Toronto and other partners to achieve positive change in Toronto’s hundreds of tower block communities through research, policy change, and real action. The kickstart this strategy, the Untied Way Toronto has today announced $800,000 in community investment in Tower Neighbourhood Renewal to be rolled out of the next two years. For more information on this exciting funding announcement and Tower Renewal, see the following articles in the Toronto Star, and Globe and Mail. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on June 19, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Micro-enterprise on Toronto’s streets
In early June, Working Habitat and Scadding Court Community Centre (SCCC) hosted a charrette exploring opportunities for small-scale enterprise and pop-up vendors in Toronto. The charrette introduced important lessons and concepts from Scadding Court’s experiences with Market 707. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on June 18, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Miles Glendinning, Tower Blocks and Toronto
In May 2012, ERA hosted Miles Glendinning of the University of Edinburgh for a research tour of Toronto’s modern tower blocks and a public lecture at the Arts and Letters Club entitled “Hundred Year’s War: A Century of Mass Housing ‘Campaigns’ Around the World.” Miles is director of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies and chair of Docomomo International Committee on Urbanism. He is the author of several books including Architecture’s Evil Empire (Reaktion, 2010), a concise history of modern architecture from the late 19th century onwards and a candid look at the development of architectural practice at the turn of the 21st Century. He is also the co-author of Tower Block (Yale University Press, 1994), a definitive text on post-war mass housing in the UK, and continues to research, catalogue and advocate for the preservation of tower blocks globally, from Rio, to Tallinn, to Singapore. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on May 26, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » East Scarborough Storefront: Update
As we have mentioned previously on this blog, ERA Architects is collaborating with ArchiTEXT and Sustainable.TO on the exciting Community.Design.Initiative at the East Scarborough Storefront. The East Scarborough Storefront is a key community agency hub and service agency in an Apartment Neighbourhood in East Scarborough. Over the course of an intensive 19-week mentorship semester we worked with community youth on the design new features as part of the Storefront’s ongoing renewal, including a kitchen garden and patio, a unique green-roof pavilion, a bee and butterfly garden, and a small orchard. Summer and fall 2012 will see further collaboration with the community as we move toward construction of this dynamic new environment. Continue Reading This Post [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on May 16, 2012 | Permalink | No Comments » Apartment Infill in Toronto: A Ten Year Review
Map displaying location of infill development within Apartment Tower properties (red); additional Apartment Tower properties (blue); existing and planned rapid transit; and CMHC rent zones (shades of grey). In March 2012, the City of Toronto released the report Apartment Infill in Toronto: A Ten Year Review. This study examines Apartment Tower sites where new residential and mixed-use development has taken place, or is planned to take place, within their properties. The report has found 39 such examples across the city. These cases were cataloged by their location, number of built or proposed units, tenure (condo or rental), and finally whether infill projects were developed as private market housing, private affordable housing, or Toronto Community Public Housing. [ Leave A Comment ] Posted by Graeme Stewart on April 2, 2012 | Permalink | 1 Comment » |
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