Renderings

Site Plan

Seton Net Zero Energy Mixed-Use

The main floor of this five-storey, 68,200 ft² mixed-use building hosts the new location for Avalon’s head office as well as several other commercial spaces. Avalon’s office features open workstation areas, a fitness facility, boardrooms, a lunchroom, facilities management areas, universal bathrooms, a lobby, and equipment storage. The building also has a one-level underground parkade.

Four storeys of residential units are above the commercial floor, together comprising 56 apartment units ranging from 675ft² to 1148ft². The one and two-bedroom unit configurations are each equipped with ensuite laundry.

This mixed-use building is located in Seton, a walkable and pedestrian-friendly, residential community that will include schools, parks, a cinema, shops, recreation facilities & other amenities

We were interested in studying whether mass-timber structures could respond more directly to program; the lower office level requiring open flexible floor plans with taller spatial requirements, the upper two-bedroom units being contained between demising walls, and one-bedroom units being narrower yet. A parti was developed from observing the natural hierarchical structure of a tree from trunk to branch, to twig and how those structural parameters can inform the organization of program. This principle transpires through the articulation of balconies, glazing, and material joints; metaphorical abstractions of an organic form.

In the end, mass timber construction was ruled out given that this scale of building doesn’t require the fire resistance ratings that mass timber provides. However, the idea of the natural hierarchy of a tree remains intact in the ultimate design.

This project is located on the same site as the Seton Townhouses that Gravity also designed for Avalon.

Data

Developer: Avalon Master Builders
Architecture and Renderings: Gravity Architecture
Civil: Al- Terra
Landscaping: PI Designs
Geotechnical: Almor Testing Services
Structural: Wolsey Structural Engineering
Mechanical/Plumbing: Reinbold Engineering Group
Electrical: Nemetz
Energy Modelling: Reinbold Engineering Group
Envelope: Williams Engineering