Coldstream
Mixed-Use Residential and Synagogue, Bathurst and Coldstream, Toronto
Located at the intersection of Bathurst and Coldstream in Toronto, this mixed-use development brings together a new residential building and a community synagogue on a shared site. The project emerged from a partnership between a local congregation and a private developer: in place of an aging synagogue no longer adequate to the community's needs, the proposal introduces a new shul alongside a residential tower. Two independent buildings, conceived as a coherent ensemble. Negotiating the arrangement required working simultaneously with two distinct clients, each with their own priorities, timelines, and institutional needs. A complexity that shaped the project from its earliest stages and informed the decision to design the buildings as related yet autonomous works.
Mixed-Use Residential and Synagogue, Bathurst and Coldstream, Toronto
Located at the intersection of Bathurst and Coldstream in Toronto, this mixed-use development brings together a new residential building and a community synagogue on a shared site. The project emerged from a partnership between a local congregation and a private developer: in place of an aging synagogue no longer adequate to the community's needs, the proposal introduces a new shul alongside a residential tower. Two independent buildings, conceived as a coherent ensemble. Negotiating the arrangement required working simultaneously with two distinct clients, each with their own priorities, timelines, and institutional needs. A complexity that shaped the project from its earliest stages and informed the decision to design the buildings as related yet autonomous works.
The central challenge was to find a shared architectural language across two programs of distinct character without collapsing their differences. The synagogue reads as a low, grounded pavilion, its entrance marked by a tall arched portal set within a rhythmic screen of vertical fins — a gesture that is at once contemporary and rooted in the civic dignity of traditional sacred architecture. The residential tower rises above as a disciplined composition, its facade organised by a deep structural grid that absorbs the balconies into the rhythm of the elevation rather than treating them as attachments. Each building retains its own scale and presence while remaining part of the same family.
Precast concrete unifies the composition. Chosen for its weight and permanence, it is detailed to be simultaneously massive and precise — its texture catching light in a way that is both heavy and delicate. The same impulse runs through the project as a whole: a language that feels grounded and dignified without resorting to imitation.
Precast concrete unifies the composition. Chosen for its weight and permanence, it is detailed to be simultaneously massive and precise — its texture catching light in a way that is both heavy and delicate. The same impulse runs through the project as a whole: a language that feels grounded and dignified without resorting to imitation.
Location:
Bathurst and Coldstream, Toronto, Canada
Program:
Residential, Synagogue, Shul, Retail
Architect:
Hout Architecture Inc.
Samer Hout Design Lead. Markiyan Levandivskyy.
Client:
Private
Bathurst and Coldstream, Toronto, Canada
Program:
Residential, Synagogue, Shul, Retail
Architect:
Hout Architecture Inc.
Samer Hout Design Lead. Markiyan Levandivskyy.
Client:
Private