Roland Rom Colthoff of RAW Design Talks Harmony Village

One of the biggest stories of the summer was City Core Developments’ design competition in Barrie. City Core invited four of the top architects in Ontario to submit designs for Harmony Village, a seniors’ community that will be a game-changer for Barrie.

 

This week, the team at the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com met with architect Roland Rom Colthoff (RAW Design) to talk about his winning entry and what the competition was like, as well as the project’s next steps.

 

NewInHomes.com (NIH): How important was it to you for RAW to be involved in this competition?

 

Roland Rom Colthoff (RRC): This was very important for us. Anytime we are asked to do a competition, we say yes. The competition process focuses on design and challenges the competing architects to put forward their best ideas in the most engaging manner. As a bonus, all our competitors are well respected professionals with a track record of projects of this type and scale, which meant the results would be a great snapshot of current thinking about urban form, the waterfront, and the evolution of seniors’ communities.

 

 

 

 

NIH: What was the first step of designing your submission?

 

RRC: We always run major competitions through the entire office by sponsoring our own internal charrette. We ask everyone to drop what they are doing for a day and give us their ideas about the project. This very quickly crystallizes our ideas and thinking on the project, and gives us a real head start in drawing and designing.

 

NIH: What are your favourite aspects of your design? What makes it stand out?

 

RRC: Our focus was the ground plane and how, as a resident of Barrie or of the new development, you would be able to freely move from the waterfront through the site to Bradford Street. We were also the only team to focus our street and public areas to the existing fishpond and parkland to the south, making these an important amenity.

 

NIH: Was it different designing a Barrie condominium vs. a Toronto condominium?

 

RRC: The expectations for unit size are larger in Barrie, combined with a lower price point so we needed very efficient floorplans. We like the way our plans bend in different directions offering unique views to each unit.

 

NIH: Was there any difference between designing a seniors’ condominium vs. your typical downtown project?

 

RRC: There is a real emphasis on amenity areas and direct and short connections between functions in seniors’ communities. We placed the more supportive elements of the development in proximity with the new community centre and a daycare so there could be a sharing of resources and a great feature for seniors. Landscaping needs much more consideration, as seniors will be using the area close to their building very intensely for gardening or daily walks. Planning these routes and giving them consideration for seasonal change is also important.

 

NIH: When the competition was announced, you were given specific parameters about what the Judges were looking for; were there any parameters that really challenged your design?

 

RRC: The requirements of the brief were a challenge, in particular the amount of parking to be provided and how to accommodate this on site without creating a sea of parking and asphalt. Getting the towers on site while ensuring that all, or almost all, units have a view to the water was a challenge, as was dealing with the adjacent buildings. We also wanted to create street pattern and landscape that was unique to Barrie and to the waterfront location.

 

NIH: What are the next steps for you?

 

RRC: A lot of work! The next step is to start a conversation with the City of Barrie and our client to try to achieve a development, which will meet their vision for the waterfront. We will be spending a lot of time in Barrie the next little while.

The Team at the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com thanks Ronald for his time and looks forward to seeing their vision for Harmony Village come to life!