University Plaza Edit Building

Identification

Approximate Address - Simcoe & Richmond [map]

City - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Region - Greater Golden Horseshoe

Nearby Buildings - Boutique Condos - Building 1, Boutique Condos - Bulding 2

Technical

Type - High-Rise

Designation - Condominium

Status - Complete

Floors - 17

Companies

Developer - Plazacorp Investments

Building Record History

2004-12 - Complete

Reference Material

Contributors: Bob Krawczyk, Rod Taylor

• Hume, Christopher. (2005, 5 February). "Slab's detailing gets it all wrong". Toronto Star.

  Though the massing of this vast box-like structure makes sense, the detailing is all wrong. It's appropriate the building should fill the site out to the sidewalks and rise 17 storeys. The two-storey base also feels right, as does the masonry above. Adding a cornice on the seventh storey helps break down the façade into smaller, more humanly scaled, sections.

  Even the raised square towers, one in each corner, add some visual interest to what otherwise might resemble a warehouse. Not that there's anything wrong with warehouses, of course. Indeed, University Plaza might have been better off if its designers had opted for a warehouse rather than a suburban-style slab.

  But why on earth would they have come up with something that looks so out of place - all those balcony details, the phoney 19th-century light fixtures and the general fussiness?

  Christopher Hume Grade:C

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