Architects and building designers beware, renowned architecture critic and veteran journalist Christopher Hume is reviving his condo critiques, exclusively for storeys.com.
88 ScottDeveloper: Great GulfArchitect: Moshe Safdie/Quadrangle ArchitectsCompletion: 2019Address: 12 Bonneycastle St.
Grade: B+
The Monde condo on Queens Quay E. at Bonneycastle St. is not the best building Moshe Safdie ever designed, but here on Toronto’s waterfront, it looks great. Located a block east of Sherbourne, the 44-storey slab sits atop a large two-part podium adjacent to the northern half of Sherbourne Common. The two feel fully connected, which means the latter serves as a kind of back yard for the former. Though the tower itself has been finished mainly in glass, the base, clad in concrete, is more opaque.
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For Safdie, best known for Habitat at Expo 67, a revolutionary project that reimagined housing but which remains a one-off, Monde is his first Toronto commission. Despite efforts to design a condo tower that takes maximum advantage of its proximity to Lake Ontario, there’s nothing “nautical” about the building. The possible exceptions are the long, narrow standing-room-only balconies that could double as diving boards. On the other hand, the east-west opening that runs through the building goes a long way to make it feel residential.
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Monde is a condo that helps set the tone of one of the newest and most enlightened neighbourhoods in Toronto. Though not entirely finished, it already occupies its site with obvious confidence and a certain aplomb. It also meets the design challenge of Sherbourne Common; the two belong together..
