Restoration of a Heritage Modernist Theatre and Development of a Signature Residential Tower
Originally designed by Peter Dickinson and opened in 1960, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts has been restored as part of the L-Tower development – an iconic 57-storey residential tower designed by Daniel Libeskind. The open space between the minimalist stone-clad theatre and the blue-steel of the tower’s shard volumes is the Sony Plaza. Elevated above the street and bordered by angular building and landscape forms, the plaza is also partially surrounded by an illuminated fog system to create an ephemeral buffer against the busy adjacent streets. Public art is integrated to create a public experience that is dynamic and theatrical. The surface is paved with a skewed checkerboard pattern in black and white granite that responds to the acute angles defined by theatre and the intersection of Yonge and Front Streets.
