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Residential

Canada's first all-female team celebrate Reina build for Etobicoke community

Rising nine storeys every aspect of Reina, a midrise boutique condominium, was led by women

by Alison Carter 14 October 2020

Taya Cook, Director of Development, Urban Capital and Sherry Larjani, Managing Partner at Spotlight Developments joined forces to conceptualise a condominium designed and developed by women, but for everyone. The result is a thoughtful design in a forward thinking amenity programme with modern offerings like stroller parking throughout the building and a snack shack for all ages.

Together, Cook and Larjani assembled a team of female experts from a range of industries including but not limited to construction management, architecture, engineering, including structural, mechanical and electrical, legals, marketing and sales.

Every aspect of Reina has been run by a woman in a leadership role with the goal of drawing awareness to the significant gender imbalance that exists in real estate development and providing role models to encourage more women to enter these fields.

Once assembled, the team embarked on an extensive, year long consultation process, garnering feedback from a diverse array of users, including multigenerational families, parents with young or adolescent children, and singles. The resulting design is a striking, contemporary midrise with atypically large, flexible floor plans and a forward thinking amenity programme geared towards fostering community and familiarity between residents.

Designed by Quadrangle and rising on the Queensway, Reina's soft and feminine exterior showcases the transformation potential for the Etobicoke community.

We all know that there are certain pain points when it comes to living in condos. Reina is our chance to respond to these challenges innovatively while celebrating female achievement and building more professional opportunities for women. Future residents can look forward to better storage solutions, more thoughtful amenities, and the chance to build a more connected community.

S. Larjani, Managing Partner, Spotlight Development

With architecture and interiors by Quadrangle, Reina articulates a softer, lighter presence on the Queensway, proving you don’t have to be loud to transform a streetscape. A white brick exterior façade features a “quilted” effect, with soft curves and rounded corners, offering generous setbacks on the east and west. Picketed balconies wrap around Reina's exterior as the building steps back, with beautiful south facing views of the new oasis-like courtyard and Etobicoke's lakefront.

Reina is modern and at the same time soft and welcoming. In our design it was important to make the building engaging on all four sides and to integrate into the neighbourhood. Reina is a game changer for Etobicoke and a symbol of the transformation potential in the community.

H. Rolleston, Principal, Quadrangle

Reina’s community focused point of view was honed throughout the consultation process and informed the project’s robust amenity programme. By viewing amenities through a holistic, community focused lens the team strived to elevate Reina’s amenities above standard offerings. Starting with the amenity space itself which has been designed to be 25% larger than what the city requires, every demographic has been considered in its activation.

Not only are the gym and yoga studio equipped with weights and resistance training to offer workouts for a range of abilities, they’re also strategically located by the kids' playroom and have windows for parents who need to keep an eye on children while working on their fitness goals.

A hobby room is designed as a “messy” room where residents are invited to unleash their inner artist and get lost in creating, while a snack shack, born from a consultation session with the Girl Guides serves as a one stop spot for staple items like healthy snacks, juice, and everyday essentials like toilet paper. The sound(less) room can be used for music lessons, to meditate, or to host a karaoke party. Additional amenities include a library, a parcel room, a games room, and a community room for all hosting needs. To ensure a genuine sense of community is achieved, a Property Manager will be tasked with animating and programming amenities with activities suitable for all ages.

Reina's amenity programme is geared at building community within the property and takes into account the feedback received throughout the project's year long community consultation process. The childrens' playroom is strategically located by the fitness studio with windows connecting the two spaces so parents can keep an eye on their kids without sacrificing their fitness goals.

Sized at 6,500 sq ft, the south facing exterior courtyard extends Reina’s emphasis on community, with a series of barbecues, dining “harvest tables,” shared outdoor workstations and a childrens' play area. A significant upgrade from the landscape as it stands today, the courtyard is a multipurpose space where residents can revel in the beauty of the outdoors while providing solutions for parents with children and residents who are seeking relaxation.

A new linear walkway by PMA Landscape Architects connects Penhurst and Wesley Streets behind the building to serve the wider community, offering a safe and whimsical passageway for residents and children who attend nearby schools. This is one of the ways Reina looks to integrate and give back to the neighbourhood.

Inside the building, Reina’s light-filled lobby is outfitted in wood finishes and neutral palettes with pops of jewel tones. The double-height windows on the north and south sides create porosity, with inviting glimpses of the courtyard’s impressive landscape beyond. The focus on inclusivity and community is woven throughout the development, punctuated by ground floor, live-work suites designed for multigenerational living. These suites feature two entrances, a full-sized kitchen, and a smaller kitchenette making them the ideal space for families with adolescent children or aging parents.

As more and more families raise children in condominiums, Reina’s design set out to exceed standards from the City of Toronto’s “Growing up Urban” Design Guidelines by incorporating three bedroom and two bedroom floor plans at a larger size than required. Recognising the consensus of storage shortages in condominium living, almost all floors of Reina have stroller parking available, and suites are arranged to maximise existing storage opportunities or support add ons.

Suites offer ceilings of nine feet in an exposed concrete or smooth finish, and floor-to-ceiling rolling doors with wide-plank laminate flooring throughout. Open concept kitchens provide a spacious, built in pantry and integrated bookshelf to the living room, while the bathrooms offer vanities with undermount sinks, mirror medicine cabinet hybrids, stone countertops, and contemporary fixtures. Expansive terraces on the south side of the building, along with spectacular double storey penthouses on the eighth and ninth floors overlook the courtyard and the Etobicoke lakefront beyond.

BDP Quadrangle
Canada

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