Master class with Sandi Pei

Sandi Pei’s in town.

Second-generation in one of the finest architectural dynasties of our times, Li Chung (Sandi) Pei and his brother Chien Chung (Didi) Pei are the founding partners of the Manhattan-based Pei Partnership Architects and two of four sons of I.M. Pei, whose Commerce Court is one of Toronto’s iconic towers. Collectively, they’ve been responsible for a staggering number of square feet; Harvard alum Sandi alone has directed more than five million square metres of building, and some large-scale urban developments in the U.S., Mexico, China, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Pei is here this week to talk up 2221 Yonge, a new condo project on Yonge at Eglinton, immediately north of the Minto tower, which is in development by Tower Hill.

Tower Hill, too, has some tangible Toronto heritage: the distinctive mid-century Tower Hill apartments at St. Clair and Spadina Road were developed by Reuben Dennis, who once owned 5,000 apartment units in Toronto, prompting the Globe and Mail to dub him “Toronto’s biggest landlord” in 1965. His grandsons Russell and Randy Masters, along with their father Robert, are at the helm of the 14-year-old Tower Hill Development Corp.

With 2221, they are having what Oprah would call a full-circle moment: Pei and partner Toh Tsun Lim, along with Toronto partners Quadrangle Architects, took their inspiration from the Tower Hill building, along with the Masters’ minimalist instructions to “not build another glass box” and designed a distinctive precast-and-glass building that both harkens to their heritage, and makes a bold stroke that will stand out in midtown. It would, in fact, stand out wherever it was.

Pei and Lim met with assorted journalists at Quadrangle’s Liberty Village offices yesterday to explain some of the finer points.

2221 Yonge is 56 storeys in total, a 50-storey tower on top of a six-storey podium. The numbers might change, but it’s essentially a description we’ve heard over and over again in these last few years of crazy condo boom in Hogtown. But this one, by all appearances, is actually something a little different. It’s a project that could only be built on this very site, because the site is a big part of what shaped it. They say God is in the details, and if that’s the case, Pei must have friends in very high places.

In response to the site’s proximity to Minto, one of the first things Pei did was offset the tower a few degrees, so it sits askew atop the podium, maximizing the distance between 2221 Yonge and its neighbour to the south. The effect is simple, and yet immediately striking. (It made me wonder how much more fun the Toronto streetscape would be if all our future towers were offset a touch.)

“The proximity to the buildings to the south forced us to create this bend in the façade,” Pei says. “To direct the views away from the adjacent tower, we did two things: created a sculptural form, giving more interest to the shape, and created a long, lean massing that helped increase the distance between the buildings.”

It also created some interesting outdoor spaces on top of the podium, and outdoor space is abundant here. Pei has created enormous precast balconies, and before you dismiss “precast,” remember that the material enjoys a long and storied history in Toronto’s grab-bag of architecture. “Exploration of precast was a big part of the modernist era,” Lim says. “It has a sculptural quality, and the economies of it allowed a lot of experimentation. We were able to use that mentality where the concrete itself becomes the expressive element of the building.”

The long north and south-facing facades get an undulating treatment, while the short east and west-facing facades get a more linear look. The huge balconies — there are 10 units on each floor, and the corner units in particular get a corner-wrapping terrace that outshines the standard tab balconies about a thousand-fold — are smartly used to modulate the façade, as well as creating privacy in what is, by city ordinance even, a dense area becoming even denser.

“We took the balconies and made them an articulated impression of the building,” Pei says. “One type of precast is used on the west side with solid, narrow articulation; on the south and north sides, we created these upturned tabs, creating zones of privacy and of openness.” The canting of the tower and the design and scope of the balconies also help with the energy loss that happens in glass-wall towers.

The podium houses suites as well as ground-level retail, and the façade matches the streetline, to keep the look consistent with the buildings around it and also help animate the street from a pedestrian perspective. From the pedestrian entrance on Yonge Street, you’ll see right through to the car drop-off porte-cochere on Cowbell Lane. Within the lobby is another perfect realized detail: on top of the sloped roof that leads from Cowbell to the underground parking garage, an enclosed garden will offer residents and passers-by something gorgeously green, whatever the weather; it’s not an accessible space to anyone but maintenance, but rather an esthetic touch in keeping with Pei’s sharp eye for the minutiae.

“None of this emerges out of thin air,” he says. “It evolves out of the traditions here we are trying to evoke. The precast, the wraparound balconies, the specificity of the site — that’s the hallmark of our practice. We look for clues, for cues, from what’s around us, and in so doing try to reinforce the fabric and hopefully crate something positive that will then have a larger, wider impact on the development of the area. Yonge and Eglinton is an important part of Toronto, a special intersection, and we wanted something that was consistent with the long-term objectives of the neighbourhood.”

From what I’ve seen, they’ve succeeded on every front. Or rather, every façade. Well done, Tower Hill. Welcome to Toronto, Pei Partnership.