International Architecture Awards Tell a friend

Architects: Hariri Pontarini Architects; BDP; Adamson Associates Architects; architects-Alliance; Wallman Architects
Landscape Architects: Claude Cormier + Associés
General Contractor: EllisDon Corporation and Delterra
Clients: Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust; RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust; and DiamondCorp plc
Photographers: Doublespace Photography; Industryous Photography; Norm Li; Nick Caville

The Well is a major urban development that opened in 2023 on 8 acres of downtown Toronto. The project transforms a previously non-descript low-rise industrial area nestled between the city’s principal rail corridor and the heritage King West neighbourhood with density and diversity in an all-pedestrian precinct that redefines urban living and well-being. 

The Well emerged from a rare partnership of leading developers and close collaboration among six architecture firms to realize this grand vision. The diversified program is truly mixed-use, with a 50-50 split between commercial (office 1.2-million sf and retail 320,000 sf) and approximately 1.5-million sf of residential.

The design for this work-live-play community took inspiration from what was already there – King West’s converted warehouses, now home to restaurants, hotels and nightclubs, all interlaced with brick-lined passageways and courtyards that lend a distinctive ambience. The Well integrates and extends this experience with a very high degree of porosity and connection. The desire lines of pedestrian passage through King W. flow seamlessly into The Well. The project’s scale and landscaping and materiality all support this integration but one could argue the best, most effective way for a 3-million-square-foot development to introduce itself into a neighbourhood of such character is by not building any doors. The Well is open access on all four sides via nine passageways – some grand, some discreet. There is no obvious back-of-house and deliveries and servicing is conducted below grade. 

The Well consists of seven buildings all connected by a ‘spine’, an open-air, multi-tiered promenade beneath a large, undulating glazed canopy. The emphasis on a fresh air environment proved auspicious for a design created prior to the Covid pandemic. The buildings are set back in a colonnade with retail services and are connected by a multitude of bridges that criss-cross the spine, which opens onto a large public gathering space fashioned like an amphitheatre with programmed events and activities. The granite paving and dog-friendly environment throughout further distinguishes The Well from an enclosed, climate-controlled space. There is no other comparable facility in Toronto or perhaps even in North America, to incorporate the density and diversity of The Well in a cohesive, open-air setting protected from the elements.

The spine does not bisect the site down its centre, but rather, provides a smaller footprint on the north side above which three mid-rise residential buildings reference the scale of the King W. neighbourhood. The larger, south side of The Well allows for three taller residential towers that address similarly-scaled condos on the other side of the sunken rail corridor. Buildings step down in height towards the rear property line of 19th-century homes on Draper Street on The Well’s western edge, and whose residents requested direct access into The Well, which was provided via a new parkette.

The landscaping revives a plan from the mid-19th-century that called for Wellington Street, which runs across the north side of The Well (thus the name, The Well), to be a linear park connecting Clarence Square and Victoria Square, two parks at either end of The Well that still exist today. Wellington St.’s wide right of way has setbacks that were never capitalized on until The Well’s urban integration accentuated this rare public allowance. Benches, gardens, and the terraces of numerous restaurants at The Well now animate this treed boulevard.   

At 38 stories, the office building anchors The Well at a major intersection. To accommodate a large opening at the tower’s base, the building is side-loaded with a glazed elevator core on the north side and a distinctive, aluminum-clad stairway. This configuration also allows for greater views and open space without a centre core dividing office floorplates. The stepped back massing intentionally reduces midday shadow on Clarence Square. The marble-lined lobby is enlivened throughout the day with a three-storey café.  

The Well is LEED Platinum certified and employs Toronto’s highly innovative Deep Lake Water Cooling system that pumps 38 degree F. water from the bottom of Lake Ontario to a heat transfer station to an 8.5-million-litre tank beneath The Well that acts as a thermal ‘battery’, storing energy at night during off-peak times to reduce reliance on the electricity grid. This provides low-carbon heating and cooling to the entire complex with capacity to expand in King West. The system also freed up roof space normally dedicated to mechanical systems and allowed for a stunning 7,000 sf terrace above the office tower’s top floor restaurant.