Republic Towers & North Toronto Collegiate Institute

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Developer: Tridel
Architects: Burka Architects (Condo Towers), CS&P Architects (School)

The Republic Condominium project represents a great example of creative land use planning and high-density urban development. Tridel, a leading private developer joined forces with the Toronto District School Board to create a win-win scenario for both: a new state-of-the-art-school for the district’s community, and a prestigious high-rise condominium project in a high demand neighbourhood, for the builder and its future occupants.

The development incorporates two condominium towers (24 and 27 stories) on top of a modern, new collegiate institute. The institute replaced an adjacent century-old secondary school that continued to function until the end of construction, when it was finally torn down to make way for a new sports field.  Both towers and the school are fully integrated and share a common underground parking garage.

North Toronto Collegiate Institute 
The new high-performance school has achieved a LEED Gold designation. Strategies to promote energy efficiency were incorporated throughout. The four-storey school includes classrooms, 400-seat auditorium, library and triple gymnasium. The ground level features a dramatic, three-storey theatre lobby and performance hall. The 156,000-square-foot collegiate institute also incorporates heritage components of the older school.

HGC Engineering Responsiblities
HGC Engineering was retained to provide comprehensive acoustical engineering services for both the high-rise residential towers and the new school.

Sound isolation between the school and the residential towers was of particular concern to the developer. The new school’s 400-seat auditorium was built as a theatrical and musical performance venue and so the auditorium stage was designed as a “building with in a building” to mitigate sound transfer to the residential areas of the joint development. Acoustical provisions were also specified for the auditorium’s mechanical room to address the potential for  sound flanking from the auditorium through the mechanical room to the condominiums.

School Specific Acoustics
We were requested to review and address transformer noise related issues in the mezzanine of the theatre and its control room.

Furthermore, we measured and assessed the reverberation characteristics in the Drama/Rehearsal Room where there had been concerns about the reverberation inside the room and the impact on its suitability as a rehearsal space.

Republic Towers Specific Acoustics
In the design phase of the residential side of the project, we reviewed drawings and identified potential  sources of noise and vibration throughout the development, particularly from mechanical systems, and then proposed cost-effective remedies. For example, the cooling plant included chillers on the rooftop mechanical levels, directly over penthouse suites in both towers. We design engineered special supplementary architectural treatments such as suspended ceilings to reduce chiller noise.