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Architecture

When David Daniels hired now LEED-accredited architect Paul Dowsett (then a Principal at Scott Morris Architects), to design an ambitious "green" renovation of his 1930s Art Deco home, the award-winning results were so impressive that when Dowsett decided to set up his own "green" practice Daniels suggested they join forces and Sustainable.TO Architecture + Building was born.

Daniels, son of legendary developer John Daniels, and Dowsett recognize that energy and resource-efficient design and building is a complex and evolving business and charting a clear path through the "green jungle" of differing philosophies, jargon, auditing organizations (15 building-related in Canada and counting) and thousands of so-called "green" products is a huge challenge. More and more home and business owners want to go "green," but few know how to go about it and it is too easy to be defeated by frustration and confusion.

In response to this challenge, Sustainable.TO provides Optimal Sustainable Solutions -- realistic, achievable and affordable "green" design guidance and building expertise, customized for each client in a straightforward, plain-spoken and user-friendly manner.

Current residential, commercial and institutional projects range from consultation-only, to addition /renovation design and build, to LEED-certified design and build of new homes and cottages, locally and abroad. Sustainable.TO is also consulting on heritage property and new multi-unit projects.

Paul Dowsett, OAA, MRAIC, LEED™ AP also serves on the RC Harris Filtration Plant Public Advisory Committee, specializing in architectural heritage issues, and is a member of the Canada Green Building Council.

David Daniels is a Principal with real estate developer, Daniels Capital Group.

Sustainable.TO is a member of the Green Collar Association.

Sustainable practices and technologies are prominently featured in our work including:

  • heritage preservation;
  • adaptive re-use /retrofit;
  • tenant improvement for commercial /institutional; and
  • custom residential projects, for both new construction and renovations /addition;
  • both off-grid and grid-connected.

+ Building

A brief history of John Andrews' and Paul Dowsett's Construction Management expertise, especially in user-occupied, historically-sensitive, 24/7 facilities.

Andrews and Dowsett at sustainable.TO are extremely well-suited for almost any task and will be pleased to provide a proposal for Construction Management services.

In 2009, Andrews and Dowsett started sustainable.TO to provide design and construction management services under their own banner. Previously, Dowsett was with Scott Morris Architects (SMA) since 1995 and Andrews was with Acrobat Construction /Enterprise Management Inc. (Acrobat) since 2000.

Their Construction Management projects with sustainable.TO to date have included multiple:

  • Residential and condo suite renovations;
  • Upgrades to user-occupied rental apartment facilities;
  • Renovations to BDO Dunwoody and the Ontario College of Early Childhood Educator's offices;
  • After-hours renovations to high-security retail bank facilities; and
  • Upgrades in the user-occupied, high-security Ministry of the Attorney General at 720 Bay Street with Dundee Realty.

Prior to 2009, while with Acrobat & SMA respectively, Andrews and Dowsett construction managed many tenant fit-ups and base-building upgrades including:

  • The Ontario College of Early Childhood Educators new offices and base-building upgrades at 438 University Avenue for Dundee Realty;
  • Imagine Canada; The Career Foundation; Silk Road Resources; Hud Bay Minerals;
  • Multiple locations for BDO Dunwoody throughout the GTA;
  • Initial location and a 5th year relocation for the Ontario College of Social Workers & Social Service Workers;
  • HSBC Bank Headquarters to consolidate their existing 7 locations into 2 -- at 70 York Street and 250 University Avenue -- while maintaining ongoing business operations; and
  • Individual condo suite renovations, among many others.

When the Kings Health Centre ceased operations in 2000, the principals of SMA, with Andrews as the Site Supervisor, created Acrobat Construction /Enterprise Management Inc., providing construction management services for projects designed by SMA.

In 2000, in the former Kings Health Centre space, Andrews and Dowsett construction managed the SMA designed:

  • New Headquarters and Trading Floor facilities for Merrill-Lynch HSBC, with a required vital 24/7 server room;
  • Consolidated medical suites for the new Osgoode Medical Centre;
  • Relocated facilities for MDS Laboratories; and
  • New facilities for the Toronto Facial Rejuvenation Clinic.

In the late 1990's, while at SMA, Dowsett was the Project Architect /Project Manager for the initial Main Street Redevelopment at the Hospital for Sick Children. The Hospital hired one of their traditional General Contractors. Dowsett noted that the process could have been streamlined, both in terms of time & budget, through construction management. Subsequent projects along Main Street were construction managed by Andrews and Dowsett to great success. Like a hotel, a hospital is a 24/7 operation, with the added complexity that patient care and transport is of life & death importance.

In 1995, Andrews and Dowsett first met -- Andrews as the Owner's Representative /Property Manager /Construction Manager and Dowsett as the Project Architect /Project Manager -- for the SMA designed Kings Health Centre, a top-to-bottom retrofit in the historically-sensitive, former Bank of Canada Building at Queen & University in Toronto. The decor of the facility was modeled on the King Edward Hotel. Beyond the "luxury-on-a-budget" fit-up of state-of-the-art medical suites with the attendant mechanical and electrical upgrades required, alterations to the building included: new air handling units and air shafts; widened stair shafts; elevator upgrades; conversion of disused loading docks into rentable floor space; and new entrance doors from Queen Street. The project commenced with the fit-up of the top 3 floors. When these were occupied, construction continued on a floor-by-floor basis through the balance of the 11 floors, including 2 below grade.

Prior to 1995, Andrews was involved with the:

  • User-occupied remodeling of Rexdale Mews -- upgrades to an 80-unit Townhouse complex with Common Patio Areas and with Commercial space below;
  • Parkway Apartments, New Jersey -- complete Heating and Hot Water Replacement from a Coal/Oil Fired System to a state-of-the-art Gas Low Pressure Steam System, comprised of 16 13/88 Weil McClain Boilers which supplied Heat/Hot Water to 3,000 Apartments, all of which required servicing during occupancy to accommodate the new system;
  • Remodel and Upgrade of 15 user-occupied High Rise Residential Buildings located from Burlington to Windsor, ranging in size from 80 to 200 units -- upgrades included all Common Areas and Elevators, Kitchen & Bathroom Remodels, New Tiled floors and upgrades to the Electrical Systems;
  • Toyota Plant, Cambridge -- Site Leveling, grading and Excavation for Foundations;
  • Cawsand Bay Resort Hotel -- built from the ground up and comprised of Accommodations, Bars, Restaurants, Fast Food, Gift Shop and Beach Concessions;
  • Sunlife Centre, Islington & Bloor -- complete rebuild and Upgrade of Food Court. Food Court Closed for six months remainder of the complex continued to operate; and
  • Dowsett provided Construction Management services for various tenant improvements in user-occupied commercial facilities; including 3 floors for Kimberley Clark at the Sussex Centre, Mississauga, and entrance lobby upgrades in active commercial buildings throughout the GTA.

Dowsett is currently an active volunteer on the Public Advisory Committee to the RC Harris Filtration Plant -- one of the crown jewels of the City's architectural heritage facilities.

As recently noted by Jo Ann Pynn, Supervisor of Cultural Assets, City of Toronto, an architect and active with Dowsett on the renovation /restoration plans by the Canadian Film Centre at the historic EP Taylor Estate, "Those of us involved in the heritage sector seem to know how to put our egos aside and do what is best for the preservation of the asset." Dowsett agrees, acknowledging that the assets can not always become museum pieces, but are often best served by being given a new life.