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Quadrangle Architects
Founded1986
FoundersBrian Curtner and Les Klein
TypeArchitecture firm
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Key people
Anna Madeira, Caroline Robbie, Jeff Hardy, Les Klein, Richard Witt, Sami Kazemi, Sheldon Levitt and Heather Rolleston
Websitewww.quadrangle.ca

Quadrangle is a Canadian architecture, master planning and interior design firm based in Toronto, Canada. Quadrangle's work is mainly in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario, with some national and international work.[1]

In 2020, Quadrangle was named as a Gold Standard winner under Canada's Best Managed Companies by Deloitte, after winning the award consecutively since 2015.[2]

Quadrangle is currently led by principals Anna Madeira, Caroline Robbie, Jeff Hardy, Les Klein, Richard Witt, Sami Kazemi, Sheldon Levitt and Heather Rolleston, with support from Principals Emeriti Susan Ruptash and Ted Shore. Together, the principals engage in the administration of the 200+ person multi-disciplinary team of designers, architects, building technologists and other specialists.[1]

History

Quadrangle Architects was founded in 1986 when architects Brian Curtner from Curtner Brown Architects and Les Klein from Klein Taylor Goldsmith Limited merged their firms.[3] What started as a small, closely held corporation grew into a dynamic, multiple shareholder corporation over the years.[1]

The firm gained recognition in 1987, after transforming a heritage building at 299 Queen Street West into the headquarters of the CHUM media brand. The building is now know as Bell Media Queen Street. [3] In 2016, the building was awarded landmark designation by the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA).[4]

In 2010, Quadrangle initiated a joint venture with the March of Dimes Canada called AccessAbility Advantage, which was established to create more accessible built environments.[1][5] In 2018, Quadrangle decided to end this partnership with March of Dimes, and instead launched Human Space, a new brand that expanded its services in human centred design to include wellness and resilience in addition to accessibility.[5]

Along with Human Space, the practice is focused on designing accessible architecture. For example, the Axess Condos project, for developer Liberty Hamlets, will be the first in the Greater Toronto Area to make all of its 336 units fully accessible.[6] Similarly, Artworks Towers, designed for the Daniels Corporation, will include accessible, family-sized condo suites[7] as part of the developer’s Accessibility Designed Program (ADP), which was created in collaboration with Quadrangle and AccessAbility Advantage.[8]

In February 2019, Quadrangle joined BDP, a practice of architects, designers, engineers and urbanists, primarily based in the United Kingdom.[9]

Notable projects

299 Queen Street West, 2004

299 Queen Street West (1987, 2004)

299 Queen Street West is a neo-gothic heritage building with a terra-cotta facade that was purchased by television executive Moses Znaimer in 1985 as the headquarters of the media company CHUM.[10] It is currently the headquarters of Bell Media. Quadrangle completed restoration and renovation work on the building in 1987 and 2004, transitioning the building into an innovative broadcast hub. [4] To encourage the public to interact with the architecture, the firm added garage doors that exposed the studios and live tapings to the sidewalk and passerby. [11] This move changed the media industry and became a model for other broadcasters in North America.[12] Today, the building is considered a Toronto cultural landmark, having housed several local TV stations – including MuchMusic – and the Speaker’s Corner video-booth.[13] A news-truck, its wheels still rolling, protrudes through the unclad east wall. [13] As the CHUM-City Building, it was “a buzzing sentient cathedral of good vibes, good music, and good people: 'The living movie' as it came to be known.”[14]

BMW Toronto (2004)

Overlooking Toronto’s Don Valley Parkway, BMW Toronto is a retrofit of a 1950s office building into a car dealership completed in 2004. Led by Quadrangle architect Roland Rom Colthoff (currently director at RAW Design) the building introduced a new typology for automotive showrooms. Wrapped in glass on three sides, the exterior houses BMW cars in six display windows that are visible to passing motorists on the highway.[15] As Ian Chodikoff writes, “the juxtaposition of an unabashedly extroverted building adjacent to a high-speed corridor collides the image of BMW as ‘an ultimate driving machine’ into one that has become an ultimate branding machine.” [15] The project won an Urban Design Award from the City of Toronto, a National Post Design Exchange Award, and an OAA Award of Excellence.[16]

Inside the Corus Entertainment headquarters, 2010

130 Bloor Street West (2009)

A complex adaptive re-use project, Quadrangle was asked by KingSett Capital to both renovate and add a 7-storey condo on top of an existing 1960s 14-storey commercial building (by Bregman + Hamann, now B+H Architects) that is topped by the heritage-listed modernist Torno Penthouse (restored and updated in 2012 by interior designer J.F. Brennan).[17] The penthouse was the most expensive condo in Canada in 2005.[18] [19] Sited on top of a subway line and several commercial businesses, the firm was challenged to renovate and create the addition while keeping the existing infrastructure structurally sound and allowing transit and business operations to continue.[20] Quadrangle’s design for the condo apartments includes a series of syncopated “boxes” faced with limestone.[21] The project won an RAIC Innovation in Architecture award in 2009. [22]

Corus Entertainment (2010)

Corus Quay is the headquarters of Corus Entertainment, located on Toronto's waterfront. The office building was first commissioned by Toronto Port Lands Company [23] which soon became a “catalyst for the revitalization of Toronto’s Eastern Bayfront area.” [23] The building was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects while Quadrangle was in charge of repurposing the building's 500,000 square foot interior [24] in 2010 into a workplace, broadcasting and media hub. Following the open office concept of the building, the interior “merges high design with casual comfort” [24] through colourful meeting rooms and cubicles, radio booths, graffiti murals spread out across boardrooms, and a spiral slide that spans three storeys.[24] Collaborative and communal gathering spaces are emphasized to provide a fun and creative working environment. Corus Quay has received two ARIDO Awards of Excellence in 2011[25] and has been “named one of the top 10 coolest places in the world to work, as well as one of the world’s most impressive offices.” [23]

Lululemon Yorkdale (2012)

This 3,000 square-foot Lululemon retail store located in Yorkdale Mall was a collaboration between Quadrangle, Lululemon store designer Emily Robin, and Toronto woodworkers Brothers Dressler.[26] The facade is covered in a leaf-shaped mosaic composed by the Brothers Dressler from off-cuts of reclaimed wood.[27] Unlike most retail stores located within malls, the wood mosaic, composed of 20 different species of wood, blocks views into the store.[27] The design won an Ontario Wood Works! Award.[28]

60 Atlantic Avenue (2014)

60 Atlantic Avenue is an adaptive re-use project located in Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood that was completed in 2014.[29] Quadrangle renovated an 1898 former wine warehouse into a mixed-use commercial space for Hullmark Developments. Defined by a Corten steel and glass service core that bisects the original brick façade, the new design references the neighbourhood’s industrial heritage.[30] By excavating the site and adding an addition, Quadrangle created a new outdoor courtyard and walk-out lower level that could be leased by the developer to make the entire project economically feasible.[31] 60 Atlantic received an AJ Retrofit Award from the UK for outstanding adaptive reuse, a Good Design is Good Business Award from Architectural Record in the USA, and a Toronto Urban Design Award from the City of Toronto.[32]

Samsung Experience Store (2017)

Samsung Experience Store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, 2017
Yonge Sheppard Centre, 2019

Completed in 2017, the 21,000 square foot [33] two-storey store in Toronto’s Eaton Centre is inspired by the rounded lines of Samsung Electronic’s product range, with a grand curved staircase at the centre of the space.[34] Unlike traditional retail stores, the Samsung Experience Store is designed to showcase the brand, rather than driving in-store sales.[35] It includes a demo kitchen, interactive VR zones, as well as TV displays and customer service zones.[36] The project received a 2018 ARIDO Award for its outstanding interior design.[37]

80 Atlantic Avenue (2019)

80 Atlantic Ave is an office building with a mass-timber structure that shares a courtyard with 60 Atlantic Ave, another Quadrangle-designed building.[38] The 90,000 square-foot, five-storey project is Toronto’s first wood-frame office building in over a century.[39] The interior, due for completion in 2020, features mass-timber columns and beams and timber flooring.[40] By building with wood, 80 Atlantic has attracted quality tenants who wish to align their brands with a green initiative.[41] The building has become a prototype for other wood building projects, and is well studied by other practitioners and students.[42]

Yonge Sheppard Centre (Ongoing)

Covering a total of 8.4 acres, the new Sheppard Yonge development is a mixed-use centre, which includes retail, condo, office, and rental space [43]. The retail phase of the project was completed in 2019, while the Pivot rental tower is due for completion in 2020.[44] Animating the streetscape with diverse retail, the new development is a huge transformation from its 1970 design that did not allow for transparency between the inside and outside. Quadrangle revitalized the outdated mall with easy street-level entrances, wide corridors, large windows, and renovated interiors that emphasize naturally-lit atriums.[44] Black cladding was also added on the two office towers to give the overall centre a modern aesthetic.

Downtown Markham (Ongoing)

Located on a greenfield site near the Rouge River Valley, Downtown Markham is a mixed-use master-planned community with an urban feel in Markham, a largely car-centric bedroom community north of Toronto. [45] Designed for Remington Group, the sustainable, pedestrian and transit-friendly project features a mix of residential, shopping, office space, recreation spaces, and public art installations with parks and green space leading to the Rouge River System.[46] The project received a BILD Award in the Best New Community (Built) category at the 2017 BILD Awards.[47]

Awards

As Quadrangle has grown and evolved since its establishment, they have gained a strong reputation which is highlighted through the numerous and diverse awards given for their work.[weasel words]

Ontario Association of Architects Awards – Award of Excellence, 2004
Ontario Association of Architects Awards – Landmark Award, 2016
Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario Awards – Award of Excellence, 2011
Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario Awards – Award of Merit, 2015
  • 60 Atlantic Avenue, 2014 [51]
Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario Awards, 2018
  • [Samsung Experience Store, 2017 [52]
  • The Travel Centre, 2017 [52]
  • Toronto Marriott Markham Guest Rooms, 2018 [52]
BILD Awards – Places to Grow Community of the Year (High Rise) Award, 2012
  • Downtown Markham Master Plan, 2009 + Ongoing [53]
BILD Awards – Best New Community (Built), 2017
  • Downtown Markham Master Plan, 2009 + Ongoing [54]
AJ Retrofit Awards – International Innovation, 2015
  • 60 Atlantic Avenue, 2014 [55]
Architectural Record – Good Design is Good Business, 2016
  • 60 Atlantic Avenue, 2014 [56]
Toronto Urban Design Awards – Award of Excellence (Private Buildings in Context, Low-Scale Category), 2015
  • 60 Atlantic Avenue, 2014 [57]
Toronto Urban Design Awards – Award of Merit, 2017
  • 619 Queen Street West, 2016 [58]
Wood Design & Building Awards – Citation Award, 2019
  • 80 Atlantic Avenue, 2020 [59]
Wood Works! Ontario Awards – Mass Timber Wood Design Award, 2019
  • 80 Atlantic Avenue, 2020 [60]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Julia Gilbert, Communications Coordinator, Quadrangle, 2020.
  2. ^ "Meet our winners | Canada's Best Managed Companies". Deloitte Canada. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  3. ^ a b Williams, P. (2011). Quadrangle architects marks 25 years of imprinting space. Daily Commercial News and Construction Record, 84(103), 1.
  4. ^ a b "299 Queen West Receives Landmark Designation from OAA | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  5. ^ a b "Human Space: Quadrangle launches social impact design consultancy". Canadian Interiors. 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  6. ^ "This new Pickering condo project is designed for people with disabilities". thestar.com. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  7. ^ "Accessible Family-Sized Layouts Available at Artworks Tower | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  8. ^ "Daniels Introduces Program For Accessible Condominium Units | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  9. ^ WHAT'S NEW. (2019). The Canadian Architect, 64(3), 8-8,10.
  10. ^ VideoAge. "Moses Znaimer: A New McLuhan, But With a Mission To Reinvent Television". VideoAge International. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  11. ^ "How Redevelopment Of 299 Queen St W Created A Cultural Icon". Bisnow. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  12. ^ VideoAge. "Moses Znaimer: A New McLuhan, But With a Mission To Reinvent Television". VideoAge International. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  13. ^ a b Wallpaper* City Guide Toronto. Wallpaper. 2017. pp. 10–11. ISBN 9780714872728.
  14. ^ "The rise and fall of MuchMusic, from crucial TV to bust". www.blogto.com. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  15. ^ a b "Roadside Attraction". Canadian Architect. 2004-08-31. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  16. ^ "AIArchitect, June 7, 2004 - Quadrangle Architects' BMW Toronto Wins Ontario Association of Architects Award of Excellence". info.aia.org. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  17. ^ "Inspiration in a $30-million Toronto condo". Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  18. ^ "A condo in a class all its own". Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  19. ^ "Inside Canada's most expensive condo". Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  20. ^ "130 Bloor Street West". Canadian Architect. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  21. ^ "130 Bloor Street West". Canadian Architect. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  22. ^ raic.org https://raic.org/raic/awards-excellence-%E2%80%94-2009-recipient-2. Retrieved 2020-04-27. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ^ a b c "Corus Quay". Corus Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  24. ^ a b c "Interior Flash". Metropolis. 2011-06-01. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  25. ^ "ARIDO Awards Photo Gallery : 2011 – ARIDO". b.arido.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  26. ^ "» Lululemon Yorkdale store by Quadrangle Architects & Brothers Dressler, Toronto". retaildesignblog.net. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  27. ^ a b "Lemon aid". Canadian Interiors. 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  28. ^ WORKS!, Ontario Wood. "Ontario Wood WORKS! Award Winners Announced: Sustainable, cost-saving wood solutions just the beginning". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  29. ^ "60 Atlantic | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  30. ^ "Quadrangle Architects' award-winning 60 Atlantic Avenue in Toronto". Canadian Interiors. 2015-09-17. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  31. ^ "60 Atlantic Avenue by Quadrangle Architects". www.architecturalrecord.com. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  32. ^ "Quadrangle Architects' award-winning 60 Atlantic Avenue in Toronto". Canadian Interiors. 2015-09-17. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  33. ^ "Quadrangle | Architecture and Interior Design Firm". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ "Inside Samsung's newest store at Toronto's Eaton Centre". MobileSyrup. 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  35. ^ Bozikovic, Alex. "Samsung's retail 'showroom' adapts a new branding philosophy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2020-04-29. {{cite news}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 50 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  36. ^ "Quadrangle-Designed Samsung Store to Open at Eaton Centre | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  37. ^ "Samsung's Experience Store is a playground for techphiles | ARIDO". Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  38. ^ "60 Atlantic Avenue by Quadrangle Architects". www.architecturalrecord.com. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  39. ^ "80 Atlantic is Toronto's first timber office building in generations". Archpaper.com. 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  40. ^ "Brick & Beam 2.0: 80 Atlantic, Toronto, Ontario". Canadian Architect. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  41. ^ "Designers share lessons from 80 Atlantic project - constructconnect.com". Daily Commercial News. 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  42. ^ "The future of wood building arrives in Toronto". Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  43. ^ "Local Community Celebrates Yonge Sheppard Centre Revitalization | UrbanToronto". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  44. ^ a b "Suburbia goes urban in rethink of a Toronto mall". Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  45. ^ "Toronto suburb puts the emphasis on urban". Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  46. ^ "Breaking the suburban mould with 'Downtown Markham' development". Retrieved 2020-04-27. {{cite news}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 52 (help)
  47. ^ "BILD Awards celebrate building industry's best, brightest". thestar.com. 2017-05-06. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  48. ^ "BMW Toronto". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  49. ^ "Ontario Association of Architects Awards – Landmark Award, 2016: 299 Queen Street Wes". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  50. ^ "ARIDO Awards Photo Gallery : 2011 – ARIDO". b.arido.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  51. ^ "ARIDO Awards Photo Gallery : 2015 – ARIDO". b.arido.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  52. ^ a b c "ARIDO Awards 2018". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  53. ^ "BILD Awards – Places to Grow Community of the Year, 2012: Downtown Markham Master Plan". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  54. ^ "BILD Awards – Best New Community (Built), 2017: Downtown Markham Master Plan". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  55. ^ "AJ Retrofit Awards – International Innovation: 60 Atlantic". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  56. ^ "Architectural Record – Good Design is Good Business, 2016: 60 Atlantic". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  57. ^ "Toronto Urban Design Awards – Building in Context Low Rise Scale, 2015: 60 Atlantic". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  58. ^ "Post". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  59. ^ "80 Atlantic recognized by the Wood Design & Building Awards". Quadrangle. Retrieved 2020-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  60. ^ "2019 Ontario Wood Works! Awards Winners Announced! – Wood-Works". Retrieved 2020-03-24.
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