Cross-posted from No Mean City, Alex’s personal blog on architecture.
Here’s a story I wrote for Metropolis Magazine about the interiors at Corus Quay. That’s the new office building on Toronto’s central waterfront, built by the city’s economic development agency and designed by Diamond Schmitt. The architecture earned plenty of criticism from the waterfront design review panel back in 2007, and yawns from some critics. For the record, I think the building is nicely detailed, sited well (especially in connection to Sugar Beach, which I love) – and, still, wrong for the site. This spot ideally should have a building that is visually bolder and generates much more street life.
The interiors by Quadrangle Architects are a different story, more inventive and memorable. They range from theme-park-kitschy to quite beautiful. Says the architect: “These people are hip. The last thing they wanted was to move into an office building.”
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While the architect from Quadrangle might not think the people working at Corus wanted an office building, they probably did want something more from the floors where actual work happens than row upon row of cubicles punctuated by dark (because windowless) meeting rooms.