flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

The Plant brings terrace-to-table living to Toronto

Mixed-Use

The Plant brings terrace-to-table living to Toronto

Curated Properties and Windmill Developments have teamed up to create a mixed-use building with food as the crux of the project.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | March 27, 2017

Rendering courtesy of Curated Properties

It may not reach the heights of Willy Wonka’s everything-is-edible room, but The Plant, a new mixed-use community planned for Toronto’s West Queen West neighborhood, puts an emphasis on surrounding residents with food.

It is this focus on food that differentiates The Plant from other mixed-use projects. “It might seem extreme, but we orientated this entire project around our connection to food,” says Gary Eisen, Partner at Curated Properties, in a release.

The majority of the building’s amenities are food centric, such as an internal greenhouse to cultivate seeds and act as a nursery for starting up plants and an industrial style kitchen designed to host seasonal preparations of food and host social events.

Each unit comes with custom micro-garden beds for fresh herbs built into sidecars in the kitchen. The units also all come with balconies or terraces with space for plants, furniture, and a barbeque. Angular construction enables sunlight to flow into the suites to aid in growing plants indoors.

 

Rendering courtesy of Curated Properties.

 

“The balconies and terraces at The Plant are really more like an 8-story porch,” says Jonathan Westeinde, CEO of Windmill Developments, in a release. “They have their own structure, with railings and lattices, as well as a thermal break. So not only are they large and spacious, but they’re orientated to work with the sun and encourage plant life to take hold.”

In addition to the residential aspect, the mixed-use community will offer ground floor retail and office space on the second floor. It is the hopes of the developers that the business and tenants that rent out these spaces will share the same ideals of sustainability and social responsibility.

Curated Properties and Windmill Developments have teamed up on the 10-story building that will offer units ranging from one-bedroom suites to four-bedroom townhomes. The main goal of The Plant is to work towards a self-sustaining, self-reliant residence and be a beacon for “agri-tecture.”

A total of 77 units will be included in the project with prices starting at $500,000.

 

Rendering courtesy of Curated Properties.

 

Rendering courtesy of Curated Properties.

 

Rendering courtesy of Curated Properties.

Related Stories

Mixed-Use | Jun 29, 2023

Massive work-live-play development opens in LA's new Cumulus District

VOX at Cumulus, a 14-acre work-live-play development in Los Angeles, offers 910 housing units and 100,000 sf of retail space anchored by a Whole Foods outlet. VOX, one of the largest mixed-use communities to open in the Los Angeles area, features apartments and townhomes with more than one dozen floorplans.

Standards | Jun 26, 2023

New Wi-Fi standard boosts indoor navigation, tracking accuracy in buildings

The recently released Wi-Fi standard, IEEE 802.11az enables more refined and accurate indoor location capabilities. As technology manufacturers incorporate the new standard in various devices, it will enable buildings, including malls, arenas, and stadiums, to provide new wayfinding and tracking features.

Mixed-Use | Jun 12, 2023

Goettsch Partners completes its largest China project to date: a mixed-used, five-tower complex

Chicago-based global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) recently announced the completion of its largest project in China to date: the China Resources Qianhai Center, a mixed-use complex in the Qianhai district of Shenzhen. Developed by CR Land, the project includes five towers totaling almost 472,000 square meters (4.6 million sf). 

Architects | Jun 6, 2023

Taking storytelling to a new level in building design, with Gensler's Bob Weis and Andy Cohen

Bob Weis, formerly the head of Disney Imagineering, was recently hired by Gensler as its Global Immersive Experience Design Leader. He joins the firm's co-CEO Andy Cohen to discuss how Gensler will focus on storytelling to connect people to its projects.

Mixed-Use | Jun 6, 2023

Public-private partnerships crucial to central business district revitalization

Central Business Districts are under pressure to keep themselves relevant as they face competition from new, vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods emerging across the world’s largest cities.

Urban Planning | Jun 2, 2023

Designing a pedestrian-focused city in downtown Phoenix

What makes a city walkable? Shepley Bulfinch's Omar Bailey, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA, believes pedestrian focused cities benefit most when they're not only easy to navigate, but also create spaces where people can live, work, and play.

Mixed-Use | Jun 1, 2023

The Moore Building, a 16-story office and retail development, opens in Nashville’s Music Row district

Named after Elvis Presley’s onetime guitarist, The Moore Building, a 16-story office building with ground-floor retail space, has opened in Nashville’s Music Row district. Developed by Portman and Creed Investment Company and designed by Gresham Smith, The Moore Building offers 236,000 sf of office space and 8,500 sf of ground-floor retail. 

| Apr 28, 2023

$1 billion mixed-use multifamily development will add 1,200 units to South Florida market

A giant $1 billion residential project, The District in Davie, will bring 1.6 million sf of new Class A residential apartments to the hot South Florida market. Located near Ft. Lauderdale and greater Miami, the development will include 36,000 sf of restaurants and retail space. The development will also provide 1.1 million sf of access controlled onsite parking with 2,650 parking spaces. 

Mixed-Use | Apr 27, 2023

New Jersey turns a brownfield site into Steel Tech, a 3.3-acre mixed-use development

In Jersey City, N.J., a 3.3-acre redevelopment project called Steel Tech will turn a brownfield site into a mixed-use residential high-rise building, a community center, two public plazas, and a business incubator facility. Steel Tech received site plan approval in recent weeks.

Green | Apr 21, 2023

Top 10 green building projects for 2023

The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Boston and the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis are among the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards honorees for 2023. 

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category


MFPRO+ Special Reports

Top 10 trends in affordable housing

Among affordable housing developers today, there’s one commonality tying projects together: uncertainty. AEC firms share their latest insights and philosophies on the future of affordable housing in BD+C's 2023 Multifamily Annual Report.



halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021