Sherbourne Lanes stands out as a defining example of the impact of Toronto’s reform movement on the city’s architecture. The project represents an innovative way of providing high density housing in downtown Toronto. Following an era when most development involved the demolition of substantial tracts of the city’s traditional Victorian fabric to make way for apartment towers, this scheme proved that a high density residential project could be carefully inserted without disrupting the scale, material qualities, and urban virtues of the existing fabric. A city block of substantial Victorian homes, originally slated for demolition to make way for two 28-storey towers, was saved when Diamond and Myers produced a scheme that provided as many units as the two towers and maintained most of the existing houses. These were renovated to accommodate multiple units, and a six-storey apartment block was discreetly inserted at the rear of the houses’ original deep lots, preserving Sherbourne Street’s historic character. This was the first project by the City’s new non-profit housing company, CityHome, and it represented an important watershed in the City’s approach to urban renewal. Sherbourne Lanes received a Heritage Canada National Honour Award, a City of Toronto Non-Profit Housing Corporation Award, and an Ontario Association of Architects Award of Excellence.

Marco Polo