The Webster’s first international location – which revived a long-neglected 1880s Victorian into a blossoming pink gem in the heart Yorkville – has been acknowledged by The Architect’s Newspaper, winning the Best of Design prize in the Commercial-Retail category. Cumulus Architects collaborated with First Capital REIT and Paris-based interior designer Stéphane Parmentier, to bring the Miami retailer’s vision to life- which folds a distinct, experimental, and South Beach flavour into Toronto’s luxury retail district.
The Architect’s Newspaper Best Of Design Awards is an international competition open to firms and projects around the globe. The jury is comprised of leadership at the publication as well as peers and distinguished practitioners in the industry. 2022 marked one of the most competitive years in the award’s history with projects, in some cases, beating out twice as many submissions as the year prior to earn the honour.
“I appreciate the Webster because it creates a series of individual little moments and experiences for the shopper, so they’re going to very different spaces. It feels like it was designed around the shopping experience,” noted Jury member Sekou Cooke in the paper’s official announcement.
The project marks Cumulus’ first collaboration with Agence Stéphane Parmentier - an international partnership which combined globally-renowned vision and deep roots in the fashion world with Cumulus’ unique knowledge of experiential and boutique retail, heritage, and adaptive reuse alongside local expertise.
“Being able to combine Cumulus’ detail-oriented heritage and high-end luxury retail teams, to have so much diverse expertise at the table, it really helped shape the final product,” noted project Principal – and Cumulus Director - Sheldon Catarino, “and of course, ‘collaborative’ does not adequately describe how collegial the working relationship between the two firms was. Stéphane and his team were a pleasure to work with and real champions for the vision of the project.”
Client: First Capital REIT
Project Architect: Cumulus Architects
Interior Design: Agencè Stéphane Parmentier
Mechanical: TMP
Electrical: Hammerschlag & Joffe Inc.
Structural: Leonard Kalishenko & Associates
Building Envelope: Forsmith Building Science Consultants
Heritage Consultant: ERA Architects