Burke Condos

Situated in the heart of St. James Town, the forthcoming Burke Condos promises to marry both tradition with renewal, and privacy with community. The tall and slender, glass-clad tower at 603 Sherbourne Street will reach to 53 storeys high, with heritage elements and thoughtful landscaping on the ground level to create a sense of welcome. And along with the building comes a rather appropriate slogan: “A Condo. A Community. A Culture.”

The condo takes its name from Edmund Burke, evoking the area’s rich history. Burke is the architect who designed the Anson Jones House, a late-19th-century home that sits on the property and will eventually be home to retail stores. Built for Anson Jones and family in 1895, the home showcases the Queen Anne Revival style, which Burke presumably introduced to Toronto.

Juxtaposing this longstanding structure is the modern tower at 603 Sherbourne, which features architecture by IBI Group and landscape architecture by Janet Rosenberg & Studio. IBI Group, on the other hand, is a major player in the world of architecture (as well as engineering, planning, transportation, and technology), with offices in several countries and headquarters in Toronto. IBI has worked on extraordinary projects around the world, including the Royal Atlantis in Dubai.

Horizontal white bars wrap around the façade, helping the tower to stand out among the sea of glass that characterizes downtown Toronto’s cityscape. And though the tower features an expanse of glass, red brick around the condo’s base allows the building to blend in seamlessly with the older buildings found in St. James Town.

The development of 603 Sherbourne is being overseen by Concert Properties, a developer that has been responsible for establishing major residential properties across the country for over 30 years. In recent years Concert has brought impressive buildings like 88 Scott and the Berczy at 55 Front Street East to Toronto’s downtown core.

The tower at 603 Sherbourne is so much more than a collection of homes. Taking advantage of the enormous size of the building, a generous set of amenities is spread out over three storeys at the Burke Condos. Residents who enjoy entertaining will no doubt get plenty of use out of the building’s chef’s kitchen, private dining room, fireside terrace, and pool tables; and for those who get more of a kick out of being productive, Burke Condos is also equipped with a state-of-the-art gym and co-working and meeting spaces.