Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto (Ontario), Canada

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.

Client
Cityzen Development Group, Fernbrook Homes, Castlepoint Numa

Collaboration
Studio Daniel Libeskind, Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects, Harley Valentine (public art)

Area
3 700 m2 (0.9 acres)

Year
2006-2015

Status
Built

Categories
Heritage
Institutional
Master Plan
Plaza / Garden
Skyscraper
Photo - Industryous Photography
Photo - Industryous Photography
Photo - Industryous Photography
Photo - Industryous Photography
Photo - Industryous Photography
Photo - CC+A
Photo - CC+A
Photo - Industryous Photography
Rendering, CC+A
Rendering, CC+A
Aerial View of Sony Center Plaza, Toronto, Dominus
Plan, CC+A
Plan, CC+A
Sony Center - Detail - Curve/Bench - Toronto, CC+A
Site plan, CC+A
Conceptual geometry
Inspiration, Black Square and Red Square, Kasimir Malevitch, 1915
Aerial view, existing condition, CC+A
Section, CC+A
Paving detail, CC+A