383 Sorauren | Johnson Chou Inc.

383 Sorauren is a sales centre for a ten-storey condominium located in the heart of Roncesvalles, a neighbourhood known for its industrial roots. Filled with all the modern amenities to fit an urban lifestyle, a more functional, purposeful and studio-like narrative was envisioned for the design of the suites and amenity areas.

The interiors for the sales centre and model suite are inspired by and designed to evoke the neighbourhood’s rich industrial heritage and its emergence as an art and design district. The idea was to seamlessly blend the textures and materials associated with its historical past against a backdrop of contemporary modern aesthetic and lifestyle.              

Viewed from the street, two large, rectangular windows frame the two main sections of the sales centre: the presentation space, containing the reception, offices, lounge and closing areas, and the model suite. A wood fence encloses the site, but also leads one from the exterior, past the glazed front doors, and directly into the presentation space.  A large glass partition divides and allows views into either the model suite or presentation space.  Rather than entering directly into the model suite, a carefully defined route leads one into an anteroom housing the material sample boards and then into the model suite proper.

The use of raw, unadorned materials such as oil-finished wood and hot-rolled stainless steel - found in the public areas and the residential suites - define and reinterpret the industrial roots of the project’s context.

Along with the building model facing the street, a custom-designed hot-rolled steel closing table defines the presentation space.  A rotating apparatus housing the touchscreen monitors can be pivoted to face the closing tables or the street during the evenings to engage passersby