The Harbour Light is the new flagship facility of the Salvation Army in the downtown core of Toronto. The seven-storey building houses a community church, transitional housing, sup- portive housing and community & family services which include ESL classes for immigrants and refugees. The 86,000 square foot building is located on the corner of Jarvis Street and Shuter Street. The church is clad in polycarbonate panels that are backlit to produce a bea- con of light, symbolic of the centre’s mandate as a place of hope. The core of the building is a short-term residential addiction recovery facility operated in conjunction with the Ministry of Health Long Term Care (MOHLTC) that houses 48 single, double and triple dwelling rooms over six floors. The large glass volume along Jarvis Street contains the public programmatic elements - the recreational lounge and group room. A central corridor on the ground floor links all of the programs together; it extends through the length of the building adjacent to the residential and church courtyards.
Harbour Light, Salvation Army
DEVELOPER
The Salvation Army
ARCHITECT
Diamond and Schmitt Architects
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
du Toit Allsopp Hillier
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
The Atlas Corporation
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Comments
the tall building is mediocre at best. the corner building is ridiculously inappropriate, the windows on the corner are waaay too low, the second floor has no windows, and most especially, dont you love how it blends into the community to the west? ya, fantastic.
knock down this piece of shit. save our city the eyesore.
I would've liked a different coloured brick, but overall, a pretty cool building that's different and nice to look at, especially at night.
More functionalist orthodoxy from Diamond + Schmitt. Is Phyllis Lambert on their payroll?
Why does this building have a hat? Alright, it's pretty cool.
If anyone has ever passed by any other of the Salvation Army's buildings you would say this one is a grand success. Mostly because you are not getting accosted outside on the street from the numerous people hanging around it. The Salvation Army mostly make areas seem like slums and they absolutely destroy neighbourhoods not enhance them. (especially their safety) But who knows maybe with this building this organization will think to turn the other buildings around too. Let's hope because otherwise Ward 28 may become Slum Ward 28.
Well if I say I hate this place people are going to come down on me. I won't. All I can say is that at least its not called Edge Lofts.
This place has some nice courtyard gardens dispite it's hard downtown location. The indoor church part is amazing when seen at night through the windows on the corner. They've done a great job of hiding the bulk of this building by using different materials and massings, which maintain the feeling of a row of buildings instead of one huge block.
I do like this building, but do want to air on the side of caution about Diamond and Schmitt Architects. The similarities between Harbour Light, the Four Season's Centre, the proposed Montreal Symphony, and the to be built Marinsky Theatre are quite common.
I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. I haven't made up my mind yet.