Architecture office Partisans have recently revealed the design of a new high-rise planned for downtown Toronto, on 15-17 Elm Street. The shape of the tower takes inspiration from the process of cloud formation, more specifically from the cirrocumulus, a meteorological term describing the curl-like shapes that form cloud systems. The 32-story building will accommodate 174 residential units equipped with personal balconies and necessary amenities.
The 32-story cloud-inspired high-rise will accommodate 174 residential units
Known for its forward-thinking approach to design, Partisans seeks to incorporate the light, tranquil feeling of a cloud into the tower. The building’s 32 floors are stacked into three nesting rectangles. While primarily residential, the building has two floors reserved for amenities. Three hundred personal and shared balconies will give residents every opportunity to take advantage of the outdoors as well as enjoy spacious interiors.
”Gaudi was also inspired by nature and forms generated by gravitationally informed forces. We see ourselves as part of a continuum of architects exploring the value of organic formal solutions”
“The idea of the cloud is not just three dimensional, it is not just about the natural phenomenon, it’s also an architecture pun, as the revision cloud has such a strong resonance and graphic quality,” said Partisans co-founder Alex Josephson. “Gaudi was also inspired by nature and forms generated by gravitationally informed forces. We see ourselves as part of a continuum of architects exploring the value of organic formal solutions.”
The tower will be divided roughly into three parts with a podium at the base with the preceding two sections each set back slightly from the one before. Each section will have a slightly different frequency of the wavey facade pattern. “The building is a series of stacked rectangular forms that are clad with organically shaped edges and balconies which allows us to explore those cloud-like forms as they rise,” said Josephson. Josephson also said that the studio is considering using glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) for the facade.
