QUEEN-LESLIE MID-RISE

Toronto, Ontario

112 325 sf.

Work in Progress

Located at the intersection of Queen Street East and Leslie Street, this 7-storey co-living midrise building creates a publicly accessible open space at the corner of Queen and Leslie. Originally built in 1921, it was Lee’s Food Products facility for soy sauce manufacturing. Leslieville’s architectural fabric varies, with a mix of building types, styles, and periods. The architectural expression of this building reminds the history of the site and the story of the Chinese and Indigenous community, utilizing the design, material, and color palettes.  

The podium reads as several volumes to match the existing street front of Queen Street. The design of the building provides an outdoor publicly accessible amenity space at the corner of Queen and Leslie that incorporates design elements inspired from the pre-existing China Lily factory. The form carves out a courtyard at grade level with sunken window wells, as well as a raised landscaped feature with light wells above. The 2nd level offers its residents a semi-private outdoor terrace, along with indoor and outdoor landscape amenities at the roof top, all to provide ample amenity space throughout the entirety of the built form. This project incorporates geothermal heating and cooling systems, significantly reducing the energy footprint and environmental impact of the building.