Today Cromwell reveals its stunning restoration of 11 Walmer in Toronto. It was designed in the late 1960s by architect Uno Prii, now listed as a heritage property by the City of Toronto Preservation Board.
As Cromwell’s second acquisition of a design by the Estonian-born architect, the Farewell Apartments is among the most original creations in the Annex district with its curved balconies. The 7-story building is eye-catching in its originality. However, it was severely criticized at the time by Torontonians for its ugliness, its marginality, and its lack of integration with the environment.
In the early 1960s, after designing several straight towers that Uno Prii described as boring, he chose to give his new designs a different style. The rounded balconies of 11 Walmer give it an almost circular profile, characteristic of Prii’s work of this period.
The common areas, the units and the exterior courtyard have all been completely redesigned to meet the needs of nowadays tenants and the machinery systems have been completely modernized. A competent team of collaborators has allowed us to realize this magnificent project of incomparable quality.
By revealing 11 Walmer, Cromwell recognizes and celebrates the genius of this man who dared to find a way to break the monotony of rectilinear towers and who was never awarded an architectural prize in his lifetime.
Source : Torontoist : Historicist : Space-Age, Ahead of its Time, by Kevin Plummer, Nov 1, 2014
