Diamond Schmitt-Designed LiUNA HQs Coming to Vaughan

UrbanToronto.ca
March 5, 2018
Jack Landau

More than 10 kilometres west of Vaughan's emerging Downtown at VMC subway station, a new office building will serve as the headquarters of the Labourers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 183. Diamond Schmitt Architects has been selected to design the 295,000 ft² office building, set to rise six storeys at 8500 Huntington Road north of Langstaff Road.

The building will consist of a six-storey tower volume connected to a four-storey wing, and a 3,000-seat Assembly Hall built into a softscaped landform. In addition to the Assembly Hall, plans call for the building to contain offices, and services for union members that may include medical clinic facilities, a pharmacy, financial services, training classrooms, and recreational facilities. At ground level, a landscaped forecourt is designed to foster social interaction in a communal outdoor space.

Clad in what Diamond Schmitt refers to as a "highly transparent glazing system", the building envelope and use of soft landscaping extending over the Assembly Hall are just two of the sustainability features being implemented, and targeted to achieve LEED Silver upon completion. The Assembly Hall's special design will contribute to stormwater retention and lessening the project's heat island impact.

“The project creates an urban sense of place in a currently undifferentiated agricultural environment and, as the first building in a larger master plan, establishes a high standard for future developments,” reads a statement issued by Diamond Schmitt Principal David Dow.

Construction of the building is expected to begin this fall, with a 2020 opening date being targeted.