Rackhouse D Tower

The design for the hotel/residential Rackhouse Tower is based on a tower taking root in the industrial heritage of its site. The project deals in a meaningful way with the historic context it occupies in Toronto’s Distillery District and adds an infusion of iconic, contemporary architectural expression to emphasize the historical value of the area. In its respectful, yet progressive design approach, the new building promises to become a fulcrum of activity, a noteworthy destination for hotel visitors to the city and a signature residential project in Toronto. At once firmly grounded in the historic base building, which contains the hotel facilities, the design of the new tower evokes a notion of evaporating architecture. As the tower rises, the building becomes more and more reflective and ephemeral in nature. Intermediate levels of two storey units appear in the colour palate of the Rackhouse building. The concept essentially starts with four volumes that are created/replicated according to the approximate size and height of the Rackhouse and the buildings in the surrounding context. These new volumes are not laid out horizontally but rather positioned vertically above the Rackhouse building, then supported to form the new architecture. This method of design respects the scale of the built environment even in a taller building. Used to store alcohol for decades, the historic Rackhouse base building contains floor plates that do not actually touch its façade. In order to turn this unique space into a hotel, the architects decided to create a new architectonic object to envelop these floor plates. Since the hotel rooms contained on the floor plates only touch the façade on the east and west elevation, the new hotel project literally connects to the exterior skin of the existing building on the east and west sides by means of telescopic windows that direct light into the guest rooms. The spacing of these new light shafts also admits ample light into the lobby of the historic base building. The top level of the base building contains amenities such as a pool and exercise facilities; as the tower rises up from the Rackhouse, the project becomes completely residential. Every few storeys, the tower floor plans are mirrored to allow a variety in orientations for the units. The levels designated by the ruddy textures of weathered steel contain the penthouse/townhouse units, which are two storeys in height.