This name of the blog is “The Angular Plane,” so I thought I’d take some time to explain what they are.
Angular planes are an architectural feature that are somewhat unique to new mid-rise developments in Toronto, where buildings are built with a staircase-style design on a 45-degree angle in an attempt to avoid casting shadows on the street.
These architectural features are a part of the City of Toronto’s Mid-Rise Performance Standards, which dictate that mid-rise housing on main streets need to be “mindful of limiting shadows on sidewalks and neighbouring properties, and should stimulate pedestrian environments through the careful use of scale, setbacks and step-backs.”
These standards have been developed at the request of numerous so-called “residents’ organizations” or “homeowners’ organizations.” These groups are generally made up of wealthy homeowners who oppose new development in their neighbourhood that would supposedly undermine the “character of the neighbourhood” and cause shadows to cast on their street.
But policies that force developers to build angular planes end up producing buildings that are less energy efficient and produce fewer units at a higher price.
In general, apartment units and condos are a lot more energy efficient to heat compared to detached houses, as heat can only escape through one wall rather that four walls and a ceiling. But angular planes create more units that have ceilings and walls exposed to the elements.
But the worst side effect of angular planes is how they reduce the number of units and keep housing unaffordable.
For example, we can look at a planning study done by Ryerson University researchers for 1113-1117 Dundas Street West.
The address in question currently consists of a rowhouse and a parking lot. The researchers looked at what housing structures could be possible on the property.
If a developer were to build an eight-storey mid-rise box building, one could be built with 97 units, including 77 affordable and 20 at market rate. The total development cost would be $55,420,425, which means each unit would cost around $571,344 to build.
But if such a building was required to follow the City of Toronto guidelines on angular planes, an eight-story development would only result in 42 affordable units along with 23 market units costing $42,050,226 in total. Each unit would also cost $646,926 on average.
A 10-storey box building would also result in 122 units (97 affordable, 25 market rate) at the cost of $69,254,764 ($567,662 per unit). But with angular planes, we would only see 67 units (43 affordable, 24 market rate) at the cost of $43,284,492 ($646,037 per unit).
This means that angular planes reduce the number of affordable units by around 45-55 per cent and makes developments around 12 per cent more expensive per unit.
All this to save prevent some shadows? It’s clear that the city needs to revisit its Mid-Rise Performance Standards and put an end to these ridiculous guidelines.
Photo credit: City of Toronto/Public Domain
