Development in the western GTA municipality of Oakville continues apace, and not just in the Town’s highly marketable Old Oakville and Bronte Harbor areas. Another emerging development center is growing to the north as well, in an area known as the Uptown Core, where developers Ballantry Homes and Silwell Developments Ltd are working on a multi-phased mixed-use community project, Villages of Oak Park.
Zooming in on the details of the development’s first phase, the project’s architects, Kirkor Architects Planners have offered some interesting insights into their plan to build the community up from scratch. Dubbed Oak Park 3, the first phase will see the delivery of a 12-storey residential building offering a total of 225 units, occupying the northwestern edge of the greenfield site. “Kirkor Architects are proud to have been part of the Oak Park 3 development,” Roman Pevcevicius, Partner at Kirkor, told UrbanToronto. Discussing the unique role of Oak Park 3 specifically, he explained that, “as the first building of a multi-phased site, we understood the importance of the proposal in its larger context as a touchstone for place making.”
Discussing the design of the building further, Pevcevicius focused in on the exterior expression to identify some of the primary motivations behind the approach to the mass and facade conditions. “We made a conscious effort to create active facades on every face of the building,” he said, “ensuring that it will have an engaging and inviting presence.” These active facades are free of any blank wall conditions, and feature a mixed materiality that highlights the formal changes between the building’s different volumes.
Precast paneling with a red brick finish clads the majority of the building’s lowest levels, while precast concrete paneling with a light tan tint is applied extensively to the upper portion of the building. The visual interest, however, takes place in the areas where the materials are exchanged.
The brick finish rises up to the eighth storey on the southern elevation, while the precast finish makes an appearance across the various elevations in the detailing of the grade level. Furthermore, a third material, a dark grey-tinted aluminum paneling, adds another point of material and color contrast. “We carefully selected the building materials to give the architecture a timeless appearance that would fit into the surrounding neighborhood,” said Pevcevicius.
On the interior, a number of themes are conveyed in the design of the various common spaces and amenity areas. The lounge space, for example, is defined by the extensive use of wood and the role of the natural grain as an organic motif.
In the fitness centre, the extra height of the building’s grade level plays into creating a more industrial-style setting that features nearly full height windows to highlight the size of the space. A number of more vibrant elements are added, however, to balance the industrial atmosphere, with features like patterned tiling and a bright red-colored floor.
While intensive planning is still in the works to develop designs and programming for the subsequent phases, the first phase of the Villages of Oak Park is about as complete as it can be. “We are proud of the final result,” Pevcevicius said, “and we are excited to see how it will continue to impact the area in a positive way for years to come.”
UrbanToronto will continue to follow progress on this development, but in the meantime, you can learn more about it from our Database file, linked below. If you’d like, you can join in on the conversation in the associated Project Forum thread or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.
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