Noble Street Studios Wins Urban Design Award
September 16th, 2013
On Wednesday September 9, 2013 Henry Gooderham, the owner of 17 Noble Street and Noble Street Studios received one of the Toronto Urban Design Awards for 2012-2013. Along with the architects, Athos Zaghi and Robert Kastelic (AKB) the building design team won an Award Of Excellence in the Private Buildings In Context – Low Scale category.
All of the project team members are justifiably mentioned in this award:
- Athos Zaghi Architects in association with Atelier Kastelic Buffey -Architects.
- Group One Acoustics – Acoustician
- Gardens In The Sky / Flynn – Landscape
- Weinstein, Taylor and Associates – Electrical Engineer
- L J White & Associates – Mechanical Engineer
- M G Pacoe & Associates Ltd. – Structural Engineer
- Radiant Sound – Project Manager
The jury called it a “positive precedent for an urban area transitioning from its industrial past”. They also appreciated that this is a new and significant green component in “maintaining a landscape courtyard” with it’s living wall “that acts as both gathering space and parking”.
Being that the building was actually built for a recording studio it is unique and very specialized. The jury comments spoke to a lot of the principles and ideas the design team agreed on, such as a unique but friendly presentation and the scale of the building, utilizing “industrial materials (that) speak to the past use of the site; the introduction of landscape and green roof (speaking) to the change in use and changing attitudes”.
“We tried to build a creative and positive environment to inspire the musicians who record here and make it easy for them to enjoy their time in and around the studio,” says Gooderham. “It is an honour to be recognized for something we all worked so hard to achieve. This biennial award is the equivalent of a Juno for Toronto Urban designers.”
