G4 • GLOBE REAL ESTATE
THE GLOBE AND MAIL • FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2014
Sixties loft space gets back-dated
Renovation turns dumpy storage area into a slick modernist office space suitable for Mad Men
“
Designs like this dont have
to blow the budget. This
project was under budget
for construction and for the
furniture.”
DAVE LEBLANC
THE ARCHITOURIST
Dyonne Fashina
Quadrangle interior designer
[email protected]
grandparents had a couch with this
exact look,” offers Ms. Fashina. “That
was mid-century modern to me.”
L
ookup.
When you’re walking through
a forest of 1950s and 60s apartment
towers, that is, since there may
be something hiding on those
rooftops.
Underfoot, an area rug picks up tones
from the terrazzo, and, overhead,
a “Sputnik” fixture adds a periodcorrect lighting flourish. Interestingly,
says Ms. Robbie, it was Park that provided the Sputnik after seeing one in a
concept drawing: “They said, ‘Well, we
have that,’ ” she laughs, adding that she
didn’t believe them, but, there it was at
another of their buildings.
Once upon a time, building designers didn’t treat tower rooftops
as dreary places to the problem
is, rooAftop spaces that weren’t
originally designed as revenuegenerating apartment units were
eventually forgotten about.
Overall, this area is a lovely first
impression for tenants who come to
speak with their building manager.
Such was the case with a
2,000-square-foot space perched
atop a 1961 North Toronto building
owned by Park Property Management, a 39-year-old company with
70 properties in its portfolio. Fifteen storeys up, only the building’s
superintendent was lucky enough
to enjoy panoramic views from the
little glass pavilion with a zig-zaggy
folded-concrete roof and sturdy
terrazzo floors. Except, it seems,
most of his enjoyment came from
using the place as a deluxe storage
shed and workshop, filling it with
refrigerators, stoves, gym equipment found curbside, scraps of
wood, and power tools.
“Rental is not a dirty word, not everything has to be condos,” continues
Ms. Robbie. “If you’re coming here
to see somebody about your home, it
shouldn’t feel cold and anonymous.”
Beyond, a row of Herman Miller
office desks tucks under the folded
roof, followed by two private offices.
Against the wall, a refurbished pinball
machine by Park’s Steve Weinrieb has
been placed upright as sculpture, and,
around the corner, there is a large
meeting space with bright orange
Eames shell chairs.
“I’m sorry to use the word, but it
was a dump,” says Park Property
Management’s Davinder Hora.
“I guess most of the apartment
buildings – not just [those owned
by] Park – always have some space
here-and-there which has been
misused or ill-used.”
Park Property Management
hired Quadrangle Architects
to redo the top floor of a 1961
North Toronto building they
owned. Inspired in part by
the modernist design of the
building, the designers chose a
Mad Men them for the interior.
To Park’s credit, however, Quadrangle Architects’ interior design
professionals were called in to see
if there was any hope of rehabilitation and conversion to office space.
Principal Caroline Robbie remembers telling them: “Well, first of all,
leave the ceiling alone, because it’s
beautiful,” she laughs.
“That whole era of modernist
architecture is really kind of lost,”
she continues, “but there are people
who know where it is in the city,
and walking into this space it was,
like, ahh, this is great!”
Ms. Robbie is one of them: Her
father, Rod Robbie, was a towering
figure in Canadian modernism,
responsible for Katimavik, the Canadian Pavilion’s inverted pyramid
at Expo 67 (with Colin Vaughan),
countless educational buildings,
and Skydome (now Rogers Centre).
PHOTOS BY BOB GUNDU
Completing the space is a big storage
room, a lovely little staff kitchen (the
plumbing was already in place) with
dark walnut cabinets and cheapand-cheerful backsplash tile, and a
glamorous Mad Men powder room fit
for a Joan Holloway crying jag; here,
new “Atomic Doodle” wallpaper from
Bradbury & Bradbury adorns the
walls, and a bold brass faucet washes
away mascara-tinted tears.
In use since July, 2013, the space is a
hit with employees and visitors alike.
It also proves that, even in a realestate-starved city like Toronto, space
solutions are often right under one’s
nose – or up on the roof.
“Designs like this don’t have to blow
the budget,” finishes Ms. Fashina.
“This project was under budget for
construction and for the furniture,
even with these key pieces.”
With Quadrangle’s Dyonne Fashina
suggesting a “Mad Men theme,” the
pieces quickly fell into place. Of
course those pieces had to consider
Park’s programmatic requirements –
a few private offices, workstations for
a certain number of employees, and
file storage for the 12 buildings that
would be managed from here – as
well as original features that couldn’t
change, such as radiators, interior
drainage pipes (folded plate roofs collect water that must be directed away)
and roof access points.
‘P’s that form a very curvaceous 1970s Regular readers may remember a
tree) to simulate custom wallpaper.
September 2013 Architourist column
featuring Philip Johnson’s Glass House; I
Walk a few steps, however, and one
was there shooting a web-series (which we
Once addressed, however, the fun
is thrust into a light-filled, highhope becomes a TV series) called Where
could begin – and it does begin as soon ceilinged “living room” populated by Cool Came From. That webisode is now
as one exits the elevator. Here, where
upholstered Charles Eames LCWs
online, as well as two others featuring
the ceiling is quite low, Quadrangle has (Lounge Chair Wood), an Eames cof- three other homes found in these pages.
created a cozy lobby space with black
fee table and an Eames Sofa Compact Check out wherecoolcamefrom.com
walls featuring an overlay of repeating
outfitted in Maharam’s “Exaggerated
Park Property Management logos (two Plaid” fabric by Paul Smith. “My
Quadrangle designers sought out furniture and upholstery that had a mid-century modern look