As developments in the City of Toronto continue to include greenspace and incorporate opportunities for urban food production, Curated Properties and Windmill Developments have teamed up to introduce residential agri-tecture to their newest project.
Located at the former Dufflet Bakery site at Dovercourt Road and Sudbury Street in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood, The Plant is a mixed-use community rooted in sustainability and residential agriculture. Food-focused building amenities include an internal greenhouse to cultivate seeds and act as a nursery for newly-sprouting plants. An industrial-style kitchen in a common area of the building can be used to host social events.
“Urban living used to mean choosing between a cool neighbourhood full of amenities or having enough land to cultivate a robust garden,” said Adam Ochshorn, partner at Curated Properties, in a press release. “When you consider two-thirds of all humans will soon be city-dwellers, having to choose between an urban residence or the ability to comfortably grow herbs and vegetables no longer makes sense.”
The Plant’s ground floor will feature retail spaces, while offices will occupy the second floor. The developers hope like-minded businesses and office tenants will choose to set down roots at The Plant to help amplify its dedication to sustainability and reinforce a project-wide lifestyle.
Each suite at The Plant features a custom micro-garden bed for fresh herbs built into a sidecar in the kitchen. Suites are wide and shallow to maximize sun exposure. Each unit will come with a terrace or balcony with space for plants, furniture and a barbeque. Outdoor space will be optimized through an angular construction to allow sunlight to flow into the suites.
“The balconies and terraces at The Plant are really more like an eight-storey porch,” added Jonathan Westeinde, CEO of Windmill. “They have their own structure, with railings and lattices, as well as a thermal break. So not only are they large and spacious, but they’re orientated to work with the sun and encourage plant life to take hold.”
The 10-storey development will have interiors designed by +tongtong, a company that has worked with Queen West staple The Drake. Suites will range from one bedroom condominium units to four bedroom townhomes, with units starting at $500,000.
“We wanted to design the suites and common areas to incubate a community around food, agriculture and local ingredients,” said lead designer, John Tong. “With The Plant, we have accomplished terrace-to-table food production, and that’s just the start of it.”
