Light Grain

The project is an exercise in using few architectural elements to create an accessible structure with a generous program that can re-organize and transform a range of service and left-over spaces between two old buildings into a bakery. Although, the two buildings and the space in between have had a range of programmatic lives, now, the project is to use bread, the rituals around it, and its production to transform this space to a place of gathering for the neighbourhood in its most spontaneous way.

Programmed around the idea of three rooms anchored around a single column, the series of spaces fills and frames the edge of an existing parking lot while the space between the buildings accommodates the public functions of the bakery. With the production space nested within the existing building, and the parking lot serving as a programmable forecourt, the three public rooms will become a set of episodic thresholds, each at different datums, to access, connect and serve the community and the co-working tenants of the main building.

Architect: JA Architects

Client: Forno Cultura

Year: 2021 - Ongoing

Location: Toronto, ON

Design Team:

Nima Javidi & Behnaz Assadi, partner

Kyle O'Brien, Tianyu Zhang, Quping Li & Sky Ece Ulusoy

Awards: 2023 ARCHITECT Progressive Architecture Awards