Adjaye Associates designs mass-timber building covered in plants for Toronto's waterfront

Architecture studio Adjaye Associates has designed a plant-covered building called Timber House as part of a developement on Toronto's waterfront that will include buildings by Alison Brooks Architects and Henning Larsen.

Set back from the waterfront, the long and narrow Timber House will reportedly be one of the largest residential mass-timber structures in Canada, when it completes.

Set to contain affordable housing units as well as homes for senior citizens, the building's facade will be crisscrossed by narrow beams and have patios for greenery.

It has been announced as part of the Quayside development in Toronto, alongside structures by Alison Brooks Architects and Danish studio Henning Larsen.

Adjaye Associate's mass-timber building (top) will be built as part of Toronto's Quayside development (above)

Designed for developers Dream Unlimited and Great Gulf, Quayside will include five towers, urban green space, and cultural buildings dedicated to the local Indigenous nation.

It will occupy 12 acres along the lakefront of the Canadian city.

Timber House will have rooftop gardens and greenhouses

According to Waterfront Toronto, a governmental organisation leading the development of the site, Quayside will be "the first all-electric, zero-carbon community at this scale".

"We set out to make Quayside the kind of community that meaningfully improves the lives of its residents, neighbours and visitors," said George Zegarac, president of Waterfront Toronto.

An urban forest between the buildings will be a car-free zone

The proposal includes more than 800 units of affordable housing across all of the buildings.

In addition to Adjaye Associate's Timber House, Quayside will include Western Curve, an Alison Brook Architects-designed tower that rises up from slender arches. Sited directly next to Western Curve will be Dutch studio Henning Larsen's tower called The Overstorey.

Alison Brooks' Western Curve will be covered in round balconies and plants

A community forest by SLA Landscape Architects will occupy the space between the narrow Timber House and the row of towers. This two-acre space will provide "a network of car-free green spaces for residents and visitors".

The design for teh developments cultural buildings has not yet been revealed, but it will be geared towards celebrating the Indigenous community.

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"As Host First Nation, we will continue to work to ensure that Quayside will be a place that celebrates Indigenous history and presence and lays the foundation for a good future based on inclusion, respect and reconciliation," said Stacey LaForme, chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

There will also be a community care hub for healthcare and "offering a range of programs and services to support aging-in-place" as well as infrastructure for recreation for the community.

Henning Larsen's Overstorey building will be situated across from Adjaye Associates block

Previously, the site was going to be developed by Sidewalk Toronto, a project of Sidewalk Labs, the subsidiary of Google.

Those plans included designs by Snøhetta and Heatherwick Studio for a smart, mass-timber neighbourhood. The plans were ultimately scrapped in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Other projects under development in Toronto include Safdie Architect's Orca, a set of housing blocks connected by bridges as well as plans by Diamond Schmitt Architects to transform Ontario Place into a wellness destination.

The images are courtesy of Waterfront Toronto.

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Adjaye Associates proposes inverted supertall skyscraper for New York

Architecture studio Adjaye Associates has designed a supertall skyscraper in New York, which has a series of cantilevers to give it a dramatic form.

Named Affirmation Tower, the skyscraper was designed for a 1.2-acre vacant plot of land at 418 11th Avenue in Manhattan where New York State has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in order to fill the site.

Affirmation Tower would be built in Manhattan

Adjaye Associates designed the 1,663-feet-tall (498-metre) supertall skyscraper – a building over 300 metres – to cantilever outwards five times so that the upper levels are much larger than the lower levels. This would give it an inverted appearance compared to a traditional skyscraper.

Outwardly defined by these stepped blocks, the building would include two hotels and office space, as well as an ice skating rink and an observation deck.

The skyscraper would include an observation deck

Local developer Peebles Corporation has submitted the supertall to the Empire State Development Corporation in a bid to build the skyscraper on the vacant site, which is called Site K.

It is positioned next to Manhattan's Javits Center, one block away from the city's High Line, as well as the Hudson Yards real estate development and Number 7 subway line.

Offices with terraced space would feature in the design

If built, the project would be Adjaye Associates' tallest tower to date, and would also be the second tallest building in Manhattan after One World Trade Center.

According to the studio it would be the first skyscraper built by a team of Black architects, developers, lenders and builders in New York City's history.

There are plans to house the headquarters of the NAACP's Mid-Manhattan branch within the building.

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"Unfortunately for most of New York's history, African-Americans and people of color have been rendered as mere economic tourists who gaze upward at one of the greatest skylines in the world with the intrinsic knowledge they will never be able to participate in what really makes New York unique," said Rev Dr Charles Curtis, Head of NY Interfaith Commission For Housing Equality.

"The awarding of this project to this team will send a statement across the globe that architects, developers, engineers and financial professionals of color are now full participants in this great miracle of global capitalism called New York City."

Cantilevers would define the supertall's structure

The supertall would be the second New York tower designed by Adjaye Associates following 130 William, a concrete residential skyscraper designed by the firm, which was founded by Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye in 2000.

The building would be the latest in a series of supertall skyscrapers built in New York with buildings over 300 metres designed by BIG, Foster + Partners and SHoP currently under development in the city.

The images are courtesy of the Peebles Corporation.

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Adjaye Associates designing 101 hospitals "to transform Ghana's medical system"

Architecture studio Adjaye Associates is designing over 100 hospitals for sites across Ghana as part of the country's Agenda 111 program.

The studio, which is led by British-Ghanian architect David Adjaye, will design the facilities as part of an overhaul of the country's healthcare system that will see 111 hospitals built.

Above: Adjaye Associates has designed 101 hospitals in Ghana. Top: they will be located across the country

"The District Hospitals presents an opportunity to transform Ghana's medical system by establishing unparalleled access to healthcare facilities throughout the country," said Adjaye Associates.

"Guided by the ambition to define a next-generation hospital experience, the design concept merges 21st-century technology with a contextual and holistic approach crucial to the delivery of state-of-the-art healthcare."

Linear blocks will be divided by walkways

As part of the Agenda 111 program, Adjaye Associates is designing 101 hospitals. The 8,500-square-metre facilities will consist of a series of single-storey blocks within a walled campus.

Each of the hospitals will contain an A&E department and surgery along with pediatric, maternity, isolation and surgical wards.

Alongside these primary care facilities, the buildings will also contain a mortuary, residences for doctors, laundry, an energy centre, kitchens and stores.

The hospitals will be surrounded by green spaces

The buildings will be arranged linearly with security and entrance blocks at the front followed by primary healthcare facilities, with wards at the rear.

Patient ward blocks will have butterfly roofs to let in large amounts of natural light, while the surgery, A&E and other spaces will have gabled roofs.

All of the blocks will be arranged around a central courtyard and surrounded by green spaces.

"By approaching the hospital as more than just a place for the provision of medical services, the design scheme aims to unlock the potential of this ambitious initiative by repositioning the hospital as a piece of community infrastructure that embodies sustainability, efficiency, and generously provides green spaces to facilitate wellness and healing," said Adjaye.

Patient wards are designed to have large amounts of natural light

The hospitals will have a similar layout but be adapted to each of the 101 sites, which are located across the whole country.

According to the studio, they will be built from prefabricated elements to reduce the building's carbon impact.

The 101 hospitals will all have similar layouts

"Acknowledging that the building design will need to adapt to over 101 locations in different urban and rural settings across the country, the design scheme embraces smart strategies and ecologically responsive systems able to conform to each unique geographic condition," explained the studio.

"The use of prefabricated systems work conductively with materials to maintain the lowest possible carbon footprint whilst also maximizing the ability to reproduce efficiently and rapidly."

Adjaye Associates, which was founded in 2010, is led by Adjaye who recently won the RIBA Gold Medal. The studio is also designing a new cathedral in Accra, Ghana, which will be topped with a dramatic concave roof.

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Project credits:

Architect: Adjaye Associates

Design coordinator : Sutherland & Sutherland Architects

Biomed: Titan Biomedical Engineering

Contractor: Varies

Electrical engineer: Global Engineering & Technology

Kitchen consultant: Smollensky’s

Hospital consultant: Ministry of Health

Landscape: Brix Landscaping

Mechanical engineer: Global Engineering & Technology

QS: CC&M Consult

Signage: Mainline

Structural & mechanical engineer: CSEng

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