PLANNING & URBAN DESIGN RATIONALE

Phase 2 (677 Queen Street East)
The second phase, designed by Giannone Petricone Associates, proposes a
mixed-use building, consisting of a 4-storey podium with two elements rising
above. Along Queen Street, an additional 3 storeys are located above the 4 th floor,
while the southern portion of building includes an additional 4 storeys above the
podium building and steps up to 13 storeys in the middle of the Phase 2 portion
of the site. The height of the 7-storey element is approximately 25.1 metres,
while the 13-storey element is approximately 43.8 metres in height (excluding
mechanical penthouse). The 7-storey and 13-storey elements are connected with
bridges/links at the 5 th , 6 th and 7 th floors.
The ground floor of the podium consists of grade-related uses, including a retail
store at the northeast corner of the building fronting Queen Street, a grocery store
at the northwest corner of the building, and a secondary residential/commercial
lobby off Queen Street between the retail store and grocery store. The ground
floor is set back approximately 1.2 metres from the Queen Street frontage to
provide a widened sidewalk area. To the south of the Queen Street frontage and
the parking ramp, the podium includes the residential lobby, accessed from the
north-south private street, a two-storey retail space located south of the residential
lobby, and a two-storey daycare facility and restaurant located at the south end
of the building. Above the ground and mezzanine floors, the southwest portion
of the building projects outward, creating a covered area at grade, while the east
building façade is set back from the east lot line by approximately 7.2 to 7.8
metres. Residential units occupy the remainder of the podium.
Above the 4 th floor, the portion of the building fronting Queen Street is stepped
back by 6.0 metres from the north face of the podium and 5.0 metres from the
east face, with the exception of the northwest corner of the building, which is
stepped back above the 5 th floor (by 6.3 metres along Queen Street and 4.1
metres along the private street). The south portion of the building steps back
approximately 3.0 metres above the 6 th floor along the west and south building
façades, and 1.5 metres along the east façade. The separation distance between
the 7-storey building element fronting on Queen Street and the 13-storey building
element is 11.0 metres.
The building is highly articulated through the use of stepbacks, inset and projecting
balconies, inset building elements, and a variety of materials including glass,
precast brick, precast concrete, metal panels and steel elements. The façade
along Queen Street is broken into three separate building faces, with 4-storey
and 5-storey brick facades separated by an inset glass element, and the use of
lighter coloured precast concrete on the upper floors. The treatment of the Queen
Street façade will result in fine grain massing that will complement the historic
streetscape character. The north-south portion of the building along the private
street will be broken into a vertical 13-storey element treated with glass, with inset
portions to the north and south, and a horizontal 6-storey element treated with
brick, with the use of glass for the upper two storeys.
PLANNING & URBAN DESIGN RATIONALE | 79 East Don Roadway & 677 Queen Street East 25