Co-op Housing in Toronto Goes Green
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.12.07
It has been quite a few years since Toronto got a new housing co-op, so it is nice to see that they are coming back and doing it in style.As John Bentley Mays has noted, "Public housing projects have traditionally been architecturally dull and oppressive places, like jails, meant to encourage tenants to move on as quickly as possible." Perhaps Mark Guslits has something to do with it- the head of the Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) used to be an enlightened real estate developer and architect. He says "We happen to have people here at the corporation who really, really like good architecture, so we just decided we would push architectural excellence."One interesting project is designed by Teeple Architects, who "sees sustainable design as a provocation for rethinking the art of architecture."
According to Canadian Architect,
The form of the building has been considered urbanistically by creating a solid street wall and taking advantage of the full volume of the site. The volume of the building envelope is carved to create openings and terraces at various levels, which will become the gardens and social spaces of the building, while permitting light to penetrate the building volume.
During construction, the project will see the promotion of local materials and products as well as a high percentage of recyclable materials such as cement board, metal siding and concrete with fly ash. Innovative technologies and materials involve fibreglass windows, high-performance glazing, heat recovery in both common areas and individual suites, rainwater collection for garden irrigation, a low-maintenance green roof, and an enhanced automated building system.::Canadian Architect
I am going to Toronto next week and would love to learn about what is happening in green building in Toronto. Any suggestions on what I should see?
That looks like a really nice building! It also fixes a lot of the reasons I couldn't live in a high-density city.
This brings up another reason: Is there any car-friendly co-housing?
I'd love to live in a close community like a co-housing group, but I'm not ready to give up working on my car. I enjoy working on them more than driving them, really, so I'd need a garage space that can accommodate a car that spends most of it's time disassembled. Even if I weren't tinkering with a car, I'd spend my spare time working on something.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'd love to not need my car, and I'd love to live in a real intentional community.
We were in toronto a couple of weeks ago and as green as the city is - we only saw 4 Priuses and 4 Smart cars. When asked why, we were told that they're a little less likely to embrace new technology quickly. even electric banking is just starting to spring to life. Toronto rocks by the way - diverse, full of life, clean, and they are green... just need a bit more push that technology won't hurt.
As to a need for a garage, I'd suggest renting one. In San Diego a friend of mine lived downtown but rented essentially a storage unit a few miles away where he tinkered with his cars. It worked. His footprint was small and only used things for what he needed it for.