Burano (building)

Burano is a 50 storey, 163 metre tall residential high-rise condominium complex on Bay Street between Grenville St. and Grosvenor St. in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[4][1][5] The redevelopment of the site was part of a period of urban renewal of the Toronto financial district in the early 21st century.[6][7] Toronto City Planning stated that the Burano has "significantly contributed to the improvement of the streetscape and the public realm."[8]

Burano
The north facade of the Burano building has a three storey lobby, with a large mural on the original structure's wall. Note how the tower's footprint is a rhombus, its corners are not right angles.[1]
General information
TypeResidential
Location832 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
Coordinates43°39′42″N 79°23′11″W
CompletedJuly 2012
Height
Roof163 m (535 ft)[2]
Technical details
Floor count50[2]
Floor area38,803 m2 (417,670 sq ft)[3]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Peter Clewes of architectsAlliance
DeveloperLanterra Developments

History

Burano was financed by Lanterra Developments.[9] It was designed by Peter Clewes of architectsAlliance,[10] and is located across the street from Murano,[1] another one of his Toronto projects.[11][12] It is named for an island in Italy.[13]

The Burano was designed to be built within the footprint of a heritage structure: a 1925 auto dealership[1][14] which had been designated a heritage structure in 1999.[5] By 2010, the foundations were complete and the building was under construction.[15]

As well as architectural elements from the former building, public art was also incorporated into the Burano, including a large abstract fresco created by Italian artist Sandro Martini installed in the building's atrium, on the side of the heritage building.[16][4][17][18]

McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom
Main article: McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

Construction of the Burano preserved the facade of the former Samuel McLaughlin's McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom, a two-storey heritage building designated in 1999 under the Ontario Heritage Act.[1] Built in 1925 as the R.S. McLaughlin Building, the Gothic Revival building was one of the first automobile dealerships in Toronto, and remained continuously occupied by car dealerships for eighty-two years.[5] Despite its long history, that use ended as part of a reorganization and consolidation of the car dealership industry in Canada.[19]

Due to the soft soil at the site, and to facilitate excavation, the historic facade was dismantled and stored off-site during construction of the seven-floor underground garage. After the garage and foundation appropriate for the fifty floors above ground were completed, the facade was reconstructed, incorporating the important heritage components.[20]

The historic building is marked with a plaque, placed in 2013 by Heritage Toronto.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Burano Condominiums". news.library.ryerson.ca. Ryerson University Library & Archives. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  2. "Burano". The Skyscraper Center. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. "Burano, Toronto". SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  4. Landau, Jack (19 February 2015). "Throwback Thursday: Burano". Urban Toronto. CHART Communications Inc. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  5. Knoeck, Kyle (21 August 2006). "City of Toronto Staff Report" (PDF). Toronto.ca. Toronto and East York Community Council. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  6. LeBlanc, Dave (30 April 2015). "Amid Toronto's condo boom, high-rises have created a street-level energy". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  7. Micallef, Shawn (2 April 2015). "Bay St. neighbourhood a work in progress that's starting to work: Micallef". Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  8. "Toronto Urban Design Guidelines - North Downtown/Yonge" (PDF). City of Toronto. Toronto City Planning. June 2013. p. 20. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  9. "This Canadian real estate investment firm is betting big on upscale mobile homes in the U.S. ‘sun belt’". National Post, Katia Dmitrieva, Bloomberg News | March 25, 2014
  10. "Burano". Lanterra Developments. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  11. "Catalogue". architectsalliance.com. architectsAlliance. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  12. UrbanRealtyToronto Archived December 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Artistic highrise inspired by Italian island". Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. 30 June 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. "Facadism: the good, the bad and the ugly". NOW Toronto. by Richard Longley, May 18, 2016
  15. "It took 100 years, but a tower begins to rise". National Post, Apr 23, 2010 . Adam McDowell.
  16. "Toronto Urban Design Guidelines - North Downtown/Yonge" (PDF). City of Toronto. Toronto City Planning. June 2013. p. 60. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  17. "Italy’s Sandro Martini Delivers Art of the Fresco to Canada". Canadian Art, September 18, 2012. BY Corrado Painafre
  18. "A Quick Peek into Burano's new Art-filled Restaurant Space". Urban Toronto, September 7, 2012 6:08 pm | by Craig White
  19. Turnbull, Barbara (15 June 2009). "Un-pave car dealer's lots to put up paradise". The Star. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  20. E.R.A. Architects Inc. (14 March 2008). "Heritage Impact Statement (Conservation Strategy), Supplementary Report, The Burano" (PDF). City of Toronto. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  21. "McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom Historical Plaque". torontoplaques.com. Alan L Brown. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
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