Wellington House offers small-scale, intimate living
March 18, 2017
You’ve heard of wide-shallow design in the detached home market, but here’s a twist – in the condo marketplace. Lamb Development Corp. is uniting an historic Victorian mansion on a narrow lot with a contemporary 19-storey tower. It’s a masterful coupling of equal parts preservation and innovation, while harmonizing with the surrounding streetscape where old and new exist side by side.
Wellington House will take shape on a 240-ft. deep lot on Wellington Street West, the width of the Victorian grand dame that will command the street in front. Slim and modern in design, the tower will stand tall alongside contemporary neighbours, yet at 19 storeys and 115 suites, it isn’t a high-density residence. At most, there will be eight suites per floor with most featuring three suites and a single suite on the top floor.
“We call it ‘small-scale intimate,’” says developer Brad Lamb of Lamb Development Corp. “It’s where people want to live.” By pursuing design challenges like this, Lamb Development Corp. has been at the helm of eye-catching projects like Flatiron Lofts, King Charlotte, East Fifty Five and Parc Lofts in Toronto, Soba and Gotham, Ottawa, and equally noteworthy projects in Calgary and Edmonton.
There are easier ways to build and easier places to build, but Lamb says, “What makes a building beautiful is the oddity of design. This isn’t an easy development site, but it’s the difficult properties that create interesting solutions. When it’s done, there will be nothing like it in the city.”
As part of the 3.5-year plan, the Victorian mansion will be preserved and moved forward, and then developed to include a five-star restaurant and outdoor patio. The entire project, including the tower, will feature retail, live/work condos and 115 suites ranging from 451 to 2,273 sq. ft. Condo pricing starts at $441,900. Residential and retail tenants will be taking up residency during early 2020.
There is obvious fascination with the provenance of a Victorian mansion, but that doesn’t diminish the appeal of its intriguing contemporary addition. Its uncommonly narrow footprint affords all suites at least one full wall along their entire length of floor-to-ceiling windows! Two- and three-bedroom suites offer views from both sides of the suite. Those with a balcony offer a third view over the city – an unheard-of feature in highrise condominium living.
It is an architectural challenge to impart so much living within such limitations, yet it was creatively fulfilled by architectsAlliance with such aplomb and skill that any other design pales in comparison. The result is an inspiring canvas for the interior design work of U31.
Interiors boast ceiling heights of nine ft. with exposed concrete ceilings, feature walls and columns, while stone lines kitchen surfaces and counters to complement European-style cabinetry. Bathrooms feature deep soaker tubs and porcelain or stone tile on walls and underfoot. Engineered wood floors are found throughout the living areas.
As the Wellington/Spadina area prepares to explode with development, Wellington House will have a front-row seat. Across from it, work is beginning on The Well, one-million sq. ft. of retail, office and residential space expected to draw in tens of thousands of people to work, shop and live. Lamb anticipates Wellington House to become a destination for the design curious as well as those looking to live in the city’s newest hot spot.
On foot, by bike or by Uber, you’re minutes from Spadina, King West, Adelaide and the Entertainment District. Cafes and restaurants await in all directions – Spice Route, Brassaii, SPIN Toronto, Gusto 101, Buca, Wilbur Mexicana and Patria – and Bar Hop, Wahlburgers, Town Crier, Pai, Byblos and Sweet Jesus for pre- or post-theatre tete-a-tetes or post-game analyses. Queen offers even more night life, dining and shopping. For a little greenspace, there’s Clarence Square Park on Spadina. The Rogers Centre, CN Tower and Queen’s Quay are nearby neighbours. Of course, the Gardener and Lakeshore accesses are closer than close.