Hume: Building a better Bloor

February 09, 2011 Christopher Hume Star Columnist Except the corner where, wretchedly, it meets Yonge, Bloor St. has much to offer. Not only is the stretch between Yonge and Avenue Rd. Torontos fanciest shopping district, its also a place where people live, work, go to school and visit a museum. Still, its potential has never been realized; there have been positive changes in recent years, but at some point the building at on the northeast corner of Yonge and Bloor, as well as the dreary Hudsons Bay Centre, will have to go. The Manulife Centre doesnt add much to the street, but there is the Colonnade, an exuberant and important project from the 1960s, one of few from that era to raised the level of urbanity in this city. Its hard to remember now, but when the mixed-use complex opened in 1964, it was the place to go. It has been badly treated, however, and is in need of revitalization. On the other hand, Daniel Libeskinds addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Michael Lee-Chin Chrystal, has brought new life to this thoroughfare. Libeskinds decision to move the main entrance to Bloor has enhanced the street enormously. Indeed, the usually wide sidewalk in front of the ROM is just large enough to function as an informal square. The presence of thousands of University of Toronto students mercifully helps the neighbourhood from becoming too preoccupied with $10,000 bomber jackets. CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE One Bedford Rd.: This exquisitely detailed development is a beautiful example of the condo as an exercise in city-building. Sitting on the northeast corner of Bloor and Bedford, it presents one face on Bloor retail and street-oriented and another residential and set back on Bedford. Clad in limestone, the four-storey podium comes out to the sidewalk. It will help drag the High Street retail energy of the shopping district half a block west. The 34-storey glass tower on top, which caused so much distress when the project was announced, really doesnt factor into the experience of One Bedford except, perhaps, from a distance. In this way, it manages to deal with the contradictory conditions that face urban architecture. This is a structure we can relate to as we walk by, but also appreciate as an element on the skyline. The attention to materials and details brings a new level of refinement to the complex. Though not quite complete, its already clear One Bedford is an urban asset, not just a place to live. A city can ask no more. Grade: A CHRISTOPHER HUME PHOTO
One Bedford