60 Richmond Street East Housing Co-op
11-storey co-op with affordable homes, training kitchen, restaurant and veggie gardens
Toronto, ON
60 Richmond combines homes, food, and sustainability. A resident-run restaurant and training kitchen face the street, while vegetables, fruit, and herbs are grown on a sixth-floor terrace to supply them. Stormwater irrigates the planters, and kitchen scraps are composted back into the gardens in this example of urban agriculture. The project earned LEED Gold through measures such as high-performance windows, a green roof, and multiple heat-recovery systems, including laundry drain-water recovery.
Windowed corridors and a multi-storey atrium bring natural light and fresh air into the building, enabling airflow alongside efficient heating and cooling systems.
The project is an example of a dense urban building designed for energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions.
Replicability
This model is transferable to urban infill sites seeking to create affordable, mixed-income co-ops. The approach depends on local policy support for co-ops and ground-floor social enterprise, but the core elements could be adapted to similar urban sites. The compact form of this building lends itself to low-carbon construction techniques.
Neighbourhood Type
- Downtown
Building Type
- Mid-rise
Occupancy Type
- Rental
