Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 1419

There are a lot of great architecture firms in Toronto, but one that I’ve been following for years is Solares Architecture . Founded by a husband and wife – Tom Knezic and Christine Lolley – the firm focuses on “environmentally integrated homes”, which is simply their title for incredibly sustainable and efficient homes.

I discovered the firm a few years ago when I was trying to get my laneway house off the ground, and they were unbelievably helpful. That laneway house is still a work in progress (more on that in the coming week), but I’ve followed the firm ever since. They have an awesome blog  where they have meticulously profiled the renovation of their own environmentally integrated home. Their new home was also recently featured in the Globe and Mail .

As more and more people wake up to the importance of sustainability, I think that firms such as Solares Architecture are going to become even more important. This is not just about a LEED rating, it’s about a mission. And I think that’s also great for the profession of architecture because it expresses a clear value proposition: this is not just about stye (though that’s important); this is about measurable performance.

Earlier today, Christopher Hume of the Toronto Star published a review of The Residences at RCMI building currently under construction on University Avenue. He gave the building a ‘B’ grade. 

His main criticism was the faux facade that has been integrated into the base of the building:

Then there’s the question of the historic 1907 building the RCMI occupied until recently. Though listed as a heritage site in 1973, the city approved its demolition. Planners also allowed the neo-classical front façade to be replaced with a replica that will fool no one, another example of the city talking out of both sides of its mouth.

But faux facades aside, one of the things that makes this development project unique in Toronto is actually something that you can’t see from the outside: there’s no resident parking. Apparently there’s 9 spots for deliveries and other short-term uses, but for the 315 suites in the building there’s no parking.

Depending on where in the world you’re from this may not seem like a big deal. I’ve written before about minimum and maximum parking requirements , and how some cities – such as Berlin – don’t have them. But here in Toronto, we do. And the city generally takes them very seriously.

“To assume a residential development of the project’s scale might be totally car-free runs counter to expert study and experience,” municipal staffers argued. “Although there are many households in the downtown without cars, it would be highly unlikely to find 315 of them permanently concentrated in one building.”

The fact planners were dead wrong is a shocking sign of a department either out of touch or that doesn’t believe its own hype.

In so many ways – as Hume pointed out in his article – this is complete hypocrisy. We’re always talking about building walkable communities and encouraging alternate forms of mobility, but when it comes time to build anything new, we force a certain number of parking spots to be included. And so we end up encouraging the exact opposite.

This also has a significant impact on the way we build our cities. Parking minimums can actually render smaller sites “undevelopable” simply because there isn’t enough room to lay out the required parking. In fact, it might surprise you how much of what we do ends up being governed by cars, parking, and traffic.

That’s why I think this image is so impactful:

The most accurate representation of the public space we give up for cars. Courtesy of @tchebotarev :) #athiscity pic.twitter.com/KBUX0Td4fj

— Brandon G. Donnelly (@donnelly_b)

November 13, 2014

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But I’m certain that a lot of this will change as Toronto continues to grow. Progressive cities all around the world are rethinking their positions on parking, and on cars in general.

Earlier this year Sao Paulo joined the club and got rid of parking minimums for sites along major transit corridors. And they actually imposed a parking maximum: 1 spot per residence. The expectation is that this will reduce traffic and improve housing affordability.

Parking minimums may not seem like a big deal, but the reality is that their impacts are far reaching. They change development patterns, they change project economics, and they send a message about the kind of city you hope to build.

Image: Looking south on University Avenue in Toronto ( Flickr )

There are a lot of awesome people who  subscribe to Architect This City . I know this because many of you have told me what industry you’re in (when you signed up) or I’ve checked out your website by way of the email address you provided. In fact, I try and do this as often as I can. I like to get to know the people who are reading and, hopefully, enjoying ATC on a regular basis.

But one of the things that I wish I could do more of is actually reach out and get to know each and every one of you.

Unfortunately though, there’s only so much time in the day. So what I thought I would do instead – as a kind of next best option – is profile a number of you right here on Architect This City. I know that many of you are doing really interesting things, either personally or at work, and so I’d like to give you the opportunity to share those things with the entire community. It’s selfishly an opportunity for me to get to know you all a bit better, but it’s also a way for me to say thank you for subscribing.

So here’s what I propose:

If you’re a subscriber to Architect This City , you will have or will be receiving this post via email. If you’d like to have you or your company profiled, please reply to the email before Sunday, November 16th at midnight with the following 3 things (if you’re a weekly subscriber you won’t receive the email until Sunday evening, so you’ll have to act fast):

• Your name and/or the name of your company.

• One or two sentences describing what you or your company does and why it’s awesome.

• And the link to your website and/or twitter profile.

I’ll then go through all the replies and pick a total of 10 people and companies to profile. If I get lots of replies, I’ll probably bump this number up so that more of you get face time. The selection criteria will be based on awesomeness, and on trying to get a broad cross section of industries and geographies.

It would be great to get to know more of you, so I hope to see your name in my inbox. And once again, thank you for subscribing :)

Image: Dundas Square, Toronto ( Flickr )