Princess Place - Tower 2 (High-Rise)

Hume, Christopher. (2005, 8 January). "Princess Place gives sense of scale Yonge-Finch corner provides challenge". Toronto Star.

The corner of Yonge and Finch is not one of Toronto's most promising. To an optimist, it's an area in transition; to a pessimist, it's a wasteland. Certainly, the former North York suburb is turning into something more urban, but the transition hasn't been entirely happy. In fact, things are a bit of a disaster at the moment. The clash of slick corporate towers with glitzy residential slabs, all looming over a low-rise post-war neighbourhood, leads to a feeling of placelessness and cold anonymity. This could be anywhere in North America. It's one of those awkward places where things meet head on. Densities are all over the place. The subway exits onto a highway.

In contrast to the norm, here most of the really tall buildings are not on the main street, Yonge, but on lesser roads to the east and west. Many of the older structures on Yonge, no more than two or three storeys high, date from a different era.

The advent of a project such as Princess Place, 20-28 Byng Ave., is a sign of the times. This enormous development comprises four towers, 15 to 25 storeys, surrounded by three-storey townhouses. Each townhouse has a tiny fenced-in yard in front; the material is masonry, red and yellow brick, with green metal window frames and balconies.

What's interesting is to see how this complex must address a variety of conditions. Finch, a major artery, is on the north; there's a laneway to the west and on the south, Olive Ave., a smaller local street. The townhouses make sense on the south and west, but not on the north, where Finch functions as a highway. Though there's one convenience shop on the Finch side, perhaps retail would have been more appropriate than residential.

The complex itself isn't architecturally exciting, but it manages to bring a sense of solidity and scale to this most confused of areas. The townhouses may not all be appropriate in terms of use, but they play a useful formal role as a way of reducing bulk and bringing the development down to a more comfortable scale. The appearance of brick also helps as a means of providing some material warmth to a very cold corner.

Christopher Hume Grade:B

Princess Place - Tower 2 Edit Building

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