Arcadia Co-op is an example of the specific needs community housing realized under the provincial co-op legislation that was swiftly eliminated by the Conservative provincial government after its election in 1995. The design was the product of an intensive consultation process with artists, organized through the Toronto Federation of Housing.

The eight-storey building contains 94 units, arranged in two wings joined by a cylindrical element on the east corner. The ceilings are three metres, higher than normal, but not tall enough to make true lofts, except on the north face of the building, which has two-storey units with tall windows and a full mezzanine. The apartments have a few unfinished concrete surfaces, some occupant removable/replaceable walls, and extra storage. Some of these features might not be so much specific needs as widespread desires; in this sense, Arcadia might be described as a precursor to the domestication of the loft that took place in the 1990s. Although rent remains geared to income, the general sense of the place is that it houses upwardly mobile workers who work mainly in Toronto’s film industry.

The unsatisfactory grade relationship on the south face has a stilted quality. The lakeside site is attractive but isolated, and almost seems to demand car ownership. It also means that the building itself has to constitute the community, which it does with numerous collective facilities, including a members’ gallery in place of the usual common room, but whether outsiders often visit the gallery is not clear. New park facilities and the recent Bathurst community centre by Patkau Architects are an improvement for the whole district, where public housing was built to atone for the development sins of the 1980s.

Kenneth Hayes