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Description:
This project series documents a competition entry for the Holt Renfrew flagship store on Bloor Street in Toronto in 1997. The office identified the project number as 69705. This project consisted of a proposal for the exterior facades and rooftop terrace for the high-end department store. The proposal focused greatly on movement that would naturally attract passing pedestrians and drivers to the store's entrances and window merchandizing. The main entrance would be comprised of glass doors with custom bronze pulls, sheltered by a steel and glass canopy and sandwiched between limestone surfaces. Above the main doors would be a two-storey window display and surfaces that could be manipulated to display brand logos and other graphics. This also allowed natural light to shine into the main atrium of the store's interior. Windows at street level, used for visual marketing, would be punched into limestone facades and accentuated with canvas awnings, creating an intimate customer experience. The new rooftop terrace would be created through an addition to the fourth floor, setback from the other levels, and sheltered by a projecting roof. The terrace would be lined in a continuous rim of evergreen hedges. Addition entrances, new lighting fixtures, and interior window displays were also proposed in this project. The project is recorded through drawings, watercolour paintings and textual records dating from 1997. The drawings consist of sketch elevations and perspectives, while the paintings were used for presentation purposes. The textual records consist of the project proposal with associated digital renderings.