The race is on for the tallest of the tall timber buildings in Canada. In Toronto, one contender is 77 Wade Avenue, designed by Bogdan Newman Caranci (BNC) Architects and Urban Design. If completed today, it would be the tallest modern mass timber commercial building in Canada, at 8 storeys and approximately 150,000 square feet. Developed and managed by Next Property Group, this purpose-designed office and collaboration environment targets the high tech sector, and will be a prototype for mid-rise office buildings.
A view of the front façade of the proposed building at 77 Wade.
In Alva Roy point of view the key design intent of the project was to fuse contrasting materials to enhance the inherent warmth of an exposed wood structure. Overall, the structure is a composite of mass timber, concrete and steel structural assemblies. Unlike the construction of 20th century post-and-beam buildings, construction of 77 Wade optimizes the use of a mass timber hybrid structural system by way of pre-fabricated components and just-in-time delivery and construction practices. By doing so, it achieves spans akin to traditional concrete and steel superstructure projects for modern commercial office buildings.
View of the lobby.
The building’s envelope will predominately be clad in a folded-plane curtain wall to expose the innovative structure within, while also adding a dynamic form for the streetscape.
A profile view shows the angular geometry of the curtain wall.
The approach to the building is unified with an origami-based geometric soffit and organic front entrance, retail and flexible collaboration spaces. Perched above the form is a wood canopy that creates shading for the outdoor amenity and social space. The rear of the building has a sunken parking area as well as bike storage, connecting pedestrians and cyclists though the site, from the adjacent elevated GO Barrie line corridor to be constructed alongside a linear park (a Metrolinx project known as the “Davenport Diamond”).
A wood-lined canopy at the building entrance.
The angled fold of the curtain wall along the Wade Avenue façade engages with the movement of the sun, with one side appearing transparent and the other appearing opaque depending on the angle of reflection. It also clearly demarcates the entryway, with the fold line extending into the Lobby space.
To reflect the elongated rectangular form of the site, the massing spans 80 metres along Wade Avenue and only 24 metres deep into the site. Instead of a condensed core typical of most office floorplates, the services are extended along a linear strip with a central throughway to connect the west and east sides of the core, intended to maximize natural light penetration for the occupants.
The building connects to the future Davenport Diamond multi-use trail.
Today, tech-oriented and innovative companies desire work environments that hum with architectural character. 77 Wade achieves this with the use of wood construction and the fusion of contrasting materials. The provision of communal spaces for both the building’s users and the public, paralleled with the use of appropriate landscape design and softer and transparent cladding materials, makes 77 Wade Avenue a state-of-the-art contemporary office building that addresses the City and its urban citizens with a unique and innovative architectural language.
In fact, although architects design the houses for their clients, they are also designers of structures that appeal to all those who live around it. They design a part of the neighbourhood, not just a house. I talked to Alva Roy, who was one of the architects who shaped our living spaces, about his career and projects.
Alva Roy
REAL ESTATE – INTERVIEW
by Meryem Aksoy
The value of a house is not only determined by the size of the house, the quality of the materials used and the design. Perhaps the most important point is its location and the quality of the houses around it. Perhaps architects add value to each other’s works by the quality of the new houses they design, and in this way, they create more livable areas in a collective way. In 2003, Alva Roy established its own practice and worked in the Middle East and Europe. After coming to Canada in 2010, he combined his expertise in residential construction with his experiences, he offered his clients both exterior and interior design services. Since 2015, he has been developing projects with the label of Alva Roy Architects, the new name of his company. I talked with Alva Roy about his career and the details of his architectural projects.
Alva, before talking about architecture, I would like to learn more about you. Could you tell us about yourself? Who is Alva Roy?
I am a Canadain architect who lives in Toronto and a single dad with a twelve years old boy. I love mountain climbing, playing tennis and chess, socializing and drinking wine. I love to travel all across the world and making myself educated with different cultures across the world. I am so curious about almost everything and love to find a solution for every question or concern.
Alva Roy Architects
How did your interest in architecture has begun? What inspired you to pursue a career in architecture?
I was born in an artistic family and one of my uncle “Jazeh Tabatabaie” was famous sculptor that his sculptures shown in Metropolitan, Louver and other museums and galleries across the world with more than 18 international prizes. I, as a kid, remembered how he assembled the old machinery and cars parts into creative figures and metal sculptures, in the other words I learned and inspired of how he turned cold junk metals into a sculpture with silence spirit. I unconsciously learned how to play with small wooden cubes and eagerly enjoyed making my own sculptures, that is my story and has not been cming to the end yet!
Could you tell us about your educational background and your professional career?
I came to Canada in 2010 where I achieved my professional architecture licence and has been recognized as a Canadian design practice. I received my professional Master Degree in architecture from AZAD University of Tehran. I interned in Sharestan on numerous award-winning institutional and high rise residential projects before founding AX Architects in 2003, a Tehran/Dubai based practice supporting clients in the Middle East and Europe.
Alva Roy Architects
After working in notable architectural firms, why did you decide to establish your own firm?
Although owning my own architecture business takes a lot of hard (non-design) work to be successful but it lives up to such a romantic notion to pursue my dream of how I affect our community as an architect. The idea of having the freedom to seek out the projects I most want to do and the creative freedom to make the final decision on a design sounds like the ideal way to work as an architect.
Could you tell us about Alva Roy Architects and your team?
Alva Roy Architect’s design team works on both large-scale architectural projects as well as independent commissions. Our interior team works with our clients to articulate brand identify and to create an experience for the customer. The team provides design services to a wide range of clients including commercial, residential and hospitality.
Alva Roy Architects
What type of projects does Alva Roy Architects specialize in? What kind of services do you offer your customers?
We offer the full range of professional architectural services for all type of buildings such as single family housed, town and row houses, middle and high rises, commercial building such as plazas and shopping malls, assembly buildings like museums, performance art centres and community centres, industrial building and manufactures, office buildings from programming and feasibility study to construction and tender drawings and construction administration. We provide contracting services for single family and townhouses likewise.
Alva Roy Architects also provide full service of interior design and exhibition design upon the client’s request with a team of talented interior designers and architects.
How could you define your architectural approach?
I always try to interpret our client’s requirements into the architectural realm. Into a special physical relationship with life. I never approached primarily to the architecture as either a message or a symbol, but as an envelope and background for life which goes on in and around it, a sensitive container for the rhythm of footsteps on the floor, for the concentration of work, for the silence of sleep.
Alva Roy Architects
How has exposure to different Architectural cultures of Europe and the Middle East affected your architectural vision?
When I think about architecture, images come into my mind. Many of these images are connected with my training and work as an architect in different places in Europe and the Middle East. They contain professional knowledge about architecture that I have gathered over the years. Some of the other images have to do with my childhood when I experienced architecture without thinking about it and some relating to now. Memories like these contain the deepest architectural experience that I know. They are the reservoirs of the architectural atmosphere and images that I explore in my work as an architect. When I design a building, I find myself sinking into old -half-forgotten memories, and then I try to recollect what the remembered architectural situation was really like, what it had meant to me at the time and I try to think about how it could help me to revive that vibrant atmosphere pervaded by the simple presence of things, in which everything had its own specific place and form.
Alva Roy Architects
What are the advantages of being an award-winning architect? Could you tell us about the awards that you won?
Honesty we can’t take any advantages of being an award-winning architect in the whole process of design but we only have one privilege compare to the other architects and that one is we often meet more sophisticated clients than normal and our chance of working on challenging projects is higher. We won the international architectural competition for HOMA II for designing Iran Airline an exhibition building. We awarded between more than 100 competitors cross the world, also an architectural competition for designing BMW, and NATUZZI showrooms and designing and constructing booth for TOTAL Oil and Gas in Tehran, and Dubai.
Besides your awards, a lot of your projects have been featured in notable publications. What do you feel when you see your works in magazine pages?
With no doubt, definitely, it is a very pleasurable feeling that we see our projects publish in architectural magazines all across the world from the Far East to Europe and North and South America. It enhances our energy and makes us spend more time on our projects and bring more responsibility to our work life as architects.
Alva Roy Architects
What is the importance of communication between the architect and the client in the process of developing an architectural project? How do you manage this process?
From the very beginning stage of a project, communication between all involved parties is crucial. Communication between architect-client, client – project manager, architect- other consultants and architect-project manager and the contractor is the most important factor to make a project successful at the highest level and help the project to achieve its goals. The role of architects as champions for the project vision, the importance of listening and understanding client needs, actively engaging and generating connections with clients, providing technically outstanding work, and always striving to learn and improve on existing skills.
What are the main steps of residential projects? How do you work?
The main steps for designing and constructing such a low rise residential projects is understanding the client’s needs and find the faster way to getting closer to his/her set of project’s pictures as much as possible in order to have a more vivid overview of entire project process where we interpret the client’s requirements into an architectural space while the client’s expectations of the project in both function and form will maintain.
We design single family and multiple family low rise residential houses and most of the time we act as a contractor or project manager for these type of projects.
Alva Roy Architects
What are the most important factors that affect project cost?
There are several factors which affect the project cost such as short project delivery, client-specific requirements, high-quality material and specific jobs which need very high profile skillful workmen but the most important factor is the place of the project. Usually, projects located at impracticable places need higher project budget.
What should your clients decide before contacting you? What is your first question in your first meeting with a new client?
I always ask two questions at the instruction meeting from my clients, “what is the defined fee for design” and how much is the “construction budget”. With defining these two at the beginning stage of the project, I, as a project architect, will have a vivid view of the whole designing process.
Alva Roy Architects
You have lots of completed and in-progress projects. Which one is your favorite?
I love most of my projects but “Garden Void House”, “Tower of Love”, In and Between the Shadows” and “Blanche Chapel House” are more specific to me.
In your opinion, what is the relation between Low Budget – Short Project Time – High Quality? Is it possible to combine all in one project?
Always connection and maintain a balance between these three elements play a crucial role in the design and conduct any type of building from the very beginning stage of design to the delivery to the client. This balance is mandatory for making any project successful. In general, all clients always ask architects to keep projects at a very low cost with higher quality and in a very short time but this is a role of architects to educate their clients of how they need to compromise one element in lieu of achieving the others. For example, fast track and high quality need a higher budget and vise-versa.
Alva Roy Architects
What is the best advice you have received, and what advice would you give to young architects?
The best advice that I received within the years of my practice from different sources are NEVER given up on my courage, and there are always solutions in response to our ARCHITECTURAL projects.
My advice is the same and in addition, pay more attention to details, how materials meet at the buildings.
How can our readers follow Alva Roy Architects?
We have Instagram account “@alvaroyarchitects”, facebook account “alva roy” & “alva roy architects”, and our website “www.alvaroy.ca”
What is coming up next for you?
We are expecting to start architectural design and prepare construction drawings for our highrise project “Tower of Love” in Ontario, Canada at 2021.
In his Towers of Love, Toronto-based architect Alva Roy takes the notion of love and shoots it from deep beneath the earth’s soil, towards the sky. His design allows onlookers to pause to apprehend the mystery; allowing visitors to walk its hallways and through its corridors; and, of course, those who live there, they will have the chance to be fully immersed in the recesses of its heart.
Architect: Alva Roy Architects Location: Toronto, Canada Project End Date: April 2022 Project Manager: Alva Roy Engineers: MCA Engineers
From the architect: The two towers stand alone – yet together – a testament to the depths of romantic love and the union it bears. Both towers carefully contoured to draw the naked eye and to defer to its loyal companion. “Love is when two entities join to become one,” says Roy. “So I went to meticulous care to make sure that this design would be emblematic of this inextricable bond that is the very essence of love.”
This multi-use facility, contains hotel, residential and commercial space: hotel, bar and restaurant and office at the shorter building, and commercial at the main floor and residential at the higher floors of the higher building. Total floors for shorter building is 22 stories and 24 floors at the higher building.
“Architecture is not just a wall, a floor and a ceiling to house ourselves,” says Roy. “It is a place where we connect to the deepest emotions of the human heart. Where we invoke peace and calm – and where we summon the richest parts of our being and existence.”
In his Towers of Love, Toronto-based architect Alva Roy takes the notion of love and shoots it from deep beneath the earth’s soil, towards the sky. His design allows onlookers to pause to apprehend the mystery; allowing visitors to walk its hallways and through its corridors; and, of course, those who live there, they will have the chance to be fully immersed in the recesses of its heart.
The two towers stand alone—yet together—a testament to the depths of romantic love and the union it bears. Both towers carefully contoured to draw the naked eye and to defer to its loyal companion. “Love is when two entities join to become one,” says Roy. “So I went to meticulous care to make sure that this design would be emblematic of this inextricable bond that is the very essence of love.”
This multi-use facility, contains hotel, residential and commercial space: hotel, bar and restaurant and office at the shorter building, and commercial at the main floor and residential at the higher floors of the higher building. Total floors for shorter building is 22 stories and 24 floors at the higher building.
“Architecture is not just a wall, a floor and a ceiling to house ourselves,” says Roy. “It is a place where we connect to the deepest emotions of the human heart. Where we invoke peace and calm—and where we summon the richest parts of our being and existence.”
Towers of Love, Toronto – Building Information
Client name: Not Disclosed Location: Toronto area Architect: Alva Roy Architects Project Manager: Alva Roy Engineers: MCA Engineers Budget: Not disclosed Project End Date: April 2022
Photography: ALVA ROY ARCHITECTS
Towers of Love in Toronto images / information received 190318
Designed by Alva Roy Architects, the Towers of Love are intended to symbolize the unity of romantic love. Photo courtesy Alva Roy Architects
When designing the Towers of Love, Toronto-based architect Alva Roy aimed to evoke an emotional response from onlookers. The 22- and 24-storey towers stand alone, yet together. Each structure is contoured in such a way as to draw the eye to its mate. The result, Roy says, is a testament to the depths of romantic love and union.
“Love is when two entities join to become one,” says Roy. “I went to meticulous care to make sure that this design would be emblematic of this inextricable bond that is the very essence of love.”
With an end-date of April 2022, plans for the multi-use facility include hotel, restaurant, and office space in one building, while the other will house commercial and residential units. The proposed development will be built in the Toronto area.
“Architecture is not just a wall, a floor and a ceiling to house ourselves,” says Roy. “It is a place where we connect to the deepest emotions of the human heart. Where we invoke peace and calm—and where we summon the richest parts of our being and existence.”#ARCHITECTURE#DESIGN#ONTARIO#ROMANCE#TORONTO
The Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence is an annual awards program open to all architects registered in Canada and to Canadian architectural graduates for buildings designed in Canada and abroad. Awards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors will consider the scheme’s response to the client’s program, site, and geographic and social context. They will evaluate its physical organization, form, structure, materials and environmental features.
Attendees will meet by the guest services desk in the North building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Level 200, street level, 255 Front St. West.
Price :
$15;
Tickets :
REGISTER FOR THIS SEMINAR CEU: 0.2 IDCEC: SE-10418-274; OAA Continuing Education
Join #IIDEX16 attendees for a downtown walking tour featuring some of Toronto’s most exciting contemporary art, theatre, and cinema-related buildings hosted by the Toronto Society of Architects. The Art & Performance Tour features dynamic and controversial structures designed by top international and Canadian architects.
DESCRIPTION Some of Toronto’s most exciting contemporary buildings are related to art, theatre, and cinema. The Toronto Society of Architects outdoor walking architecture tour features dynamic and controversial structures designed by top international and Canadian architects. You’ll see some of the results of Toronto’s Cultural Renaissance, an exciting program of buildings that solidified our city’s reputation as an arts centre. Highlights of the tour include the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Bell Lightbox, Sharp Centre at Ontario College of Art & Design University, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Featured Buildings
• CBC Broadcast Centre, 1988-92 John Burgee Architects Inc. with Phillip Johnson; with Bregman + Hamann Architects / Scott Associates Architects Inc. in joint venture • Roy Thomson Hall, 1978-82 Arthur Erickson with Mathers & Haldenby; interior transformed 2000-02 KPMB • Princess of Wales Theatre, 1991-93 Peter Smith of Lett/Smith Architects • TIFF Bell Lightbox, 2007-10 KPMB • Artscape Sandbox, 2015 Kirkor Architects with interior by +tongtong • proposed John Street Arts & Culture Promenade • Umbra Concept Store, 2007 Kohn Shnier Architects • Pachter Hall / Moose Factory Gallery, 2005 Stephen Teeple • Sharp Centre, Ontario College of Art and Design University, 2004 Will Alsop with Robbie/Young + Wright Architects • Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), 2003–08 Gehry International Architects
with Adamson Associates Architects
Tour Guide Bio: Eric Gertner is a retired attorney who has always had a passion for world travel and architecture. After being on the receiving end of walking tours in other cities he travelled to, he decided to share is passion by volunteering with the Toronto Society of Architects. Eric was part of the founding group of tour guides in 2010 and the most seasoned Towers Tour guide on our team.
AMPLA E ACOLHEDORA, MORADA DESTACA ABUNDANTE ILUMINAÇÃO NATURAL
Nos interiores, destaca-se o cantinho verde que aparece junto às escadas e que permite o acesso da garagem para as demais acomodações. Garantindo bem-estar e aconchego aos moradores, a casa é contemplada, a partir do estar, com uma bela vista do entorno. Além disso, proporcionando o máximo de privacidade, a residência abriga estrategicamente os cinco cômodos íntimos em seus níveis, separando os dormitórios infantis e o dormitório do casal. Além disso, a arquitetura apresenta características sustentáveis, uma vez que está equipada com paineis solares para captar e produzir energia limpa a toda a morada.Com arquitetura assinada pelo escritório Alva Roy Architects, a Garden Void House é composta por materiais naturais, destacando o uso do vidro. Localizada em Toronto, Canadá, a residência organiza a área social e os espaços íntimos em dois níveis compreendendo aproximadamente 372 m², e recebe diversas aberturas que levam, de forma única, a luz solar para dentro dos ambientes.
Six exemplary projects have been announced as winners of the 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Presented once every three years, the award was established by the Aga Khan in 1977 to “identify and encourage building concepts that successfully addressed the needs and aspirations of communities in which Muslims have a significant presence.” To be considered for the award, projects must exhibit not only architectural excellence, but also the ability to improve users overall quality of life.
The Award’s “Master Jury” is appointed by a steering committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan (the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims), who together establish the eligibility criteria for project submissions and provide thematic direction in response to “emerging priorities and issues” that relate to the architectural sphere.
Part of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which also engages in a series of programs related to the revitalization of historic Islamic cities from India and Syria to Pakistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Award also supports a major online resource on architecture in Muslim societies. This archive—ArchNet—collaborates with the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to “improve the teaching” of Islamic art, architecture, urbanism and visual culture while “[increasing] the visibility of Islamic cultural heritage in the modern Muslim world.” Their primary aim is to advance the practice, analysis, and understanding of Islamic architecture as both a discipline, and a cultural force.
From September 29 to October 1, the Media Architecture Summit 2016Presented by York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design and Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts & Technologies, The Media Architecture Summit 2016 explores the role of urban screens, interactive media façades, and large-scale public projections in architecture, public art, civic engagement and urban renewal. Beyond mere decoration, civic spectacle and city branding, Media Architecture shapes our collective identity through digital place-making, 24-hour architecture, and reanimating public space. Held for the first time in North America, MAS 2016 brings together artists and designers, architects, scholars, and representatives from the cultural sector and industry presenting a range of projects including context aware illuminated spaces, architectural projection, animated building façades, and interactive installations inviting spontaneous public performance.
MAS 2016 welcomes attendees from around the world to the TIFF Bell Lightbox, home of the Toronto International Film Festival. MAS opens with an evening keynote from internationally acclaimed media artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The summit continues with a day of featured talks, panel discussions followed by an evening social hosted at InterAccess. The final day of the summit features workshops and an industry panel. MAS closes with a curated walk at Nuit Blanche Toronto, one of the world’s largest outdoor dusk-to-dawn art events.
TIFF Bell Lightbox 350 King Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3X5 September 29 – October 1, 2016
