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Toronto Star | Luxury living at The Perry
May 2, 2012
Article by TRACY HANES
Condos in the Yorkville and Annex neighbourhood have come to exemplify style, sophistication and luxury.
So the principals at Mansouri Living knew the bar would be high for the project they planned to build at 128 Pears Ave.
The result is The Perry, a modern elegant building that will establish some firsts on the Toronto condo scene. It’s the first development in North America to include kitchen and other components by international design firm Poliform. Plus an innovative window system will allow interior living spaces to open expansively to the outdoors. And buyers will receive a one-year membership to an exclusive concierge service. The Perry will open to the public in June.
“The underlying vision for project was to create a boutique, intimate building,” says Maryam Mansouri, vice president of Mansouri Living, which represents the evolution of a home construction business founded 30 years ago by her father, Sharok, the company president.
He and his wife, Fereshteh, are architects who met as university students in their native Iran and came to Canada in 1984. Maryam’s sister, Nargues, is also a company vice president and the sisters are concentrating on building a lifestyle brand focusing on urban condo projects.
“In the early stages of The Perry, we worked with the neighbourhood and the city to find something appropriate for site and the market place. We went with an 11-storey building, which is pretty rare in the Toronto condo world. It has only 45 suites and is fairly exclusive,” says Mansouri.
The Perry will include 2,500 square feet of commercial space at street level that will house a high-end fitness and wellness centre with private access from Pears Ave.
The Perry team was carefully chosen and includes Drummond Hassan of Young + Wright/IBI Group Architects, interior designers Matt Davis and Anwar Mekayech of The Design Agency. They came together for an integrated design process that also included Mansouri, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Waterloo’s school of architecture.
“The essence of the project is contemporary but we’ve incorporated really rich finishes and details into the suites and common areas,” says Mansouri. “The palate of today’s buyer is very refined and they definitely have an appreciation for a contemporary aesthetic, but it’s not always easily achieved.
“You have to spend more time in the design process and in refining details. You can’t distract the eye with busy details or extra accessories or components.
“Drummond has such an intelligent approach when it comes to design,” she adds. “ He looks at it very cohesively and holistically and was very conscious of the context of the site and building. We appreciated his sensitivity to design.”
The entrance to The Perry from Pears Ave. will be distinguished by custom-crafted solid wood doors with a classic chevron pattern, stained in dark grey for a contemporary flair.
Separate from the rest of the building will be two street-level urban townhouses framed in charcoal limestone and with open-concept interior layouts.
Mansouri also was impressed by the clean, modern interiors created by The Design Agency that blended cohesively with the architecture. The gallery-style lobby will boast a modern fireplace, Calcutta marble floors and a custom-made sculptural concierge desk.
“They (Davis and Mekayech) are very grounded. It’s very easy for some designers to put their interior design brand first and make that a centrepiece. For us, it’s about good design and good intention and good components,” says Mansouri. “They created a lot of proprietary design details especially when it came to the kitchen and Poliform is a huge part of project.”
Among the signature elements of The Perry will be the components created by Poliform, a high-end Italian company which recently opened a showroom in Toronto.
“Poliform has been involved in a few condo projects but in minor parts of interiors, such as upgraded kitchens or wardrobes,” says Mansouri. “For us, it’s a package and every suite will come with Poliform vanities, kitchens and wardrobes. Offer luxury as a standard has been our mantra since the beginning.”
The Perry kitchens will also include high-end Gaggeneau appliances.
The suites will have nine-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, which will employ an innovative lift and slide system so the living room becomes a true indoor/outdoor living space opening to a Juliet balcony, standard balcony or terrace.
Another perk for buyers will be a year’s free membership to Quintessentially, a private members’ club with a 24-hour global concierge that can accommodate requests for everything from travel arrangements to dry cleaning to restaurant reservations. The Perry will also have its own 24-hour concierge.
Mansouri says it was important to offer an intimate green space and Gerrard came up with an “amazing” outdoor amenity that will be clad in blue and mulberry granite.
“We call it the Serenity Terrace and it will be wrapped in white pine trees,” Mansouri says. “We partnered with Kiosk in Toronto to furnish the common areas in the entire building from their selection of pieces and the exterior terrace will have beautiful, crafted artful pieces by Paola Lenti (a luxury furniture brand based in Milan).”
“The terrace will have a dining space, an outdoor fireplace and an intimate, quite elegant, environment. It’s a space you can really make use of.”
The pine trees surrounding the terrace will be lit from below at night.
Mansouri says the building is geared to the end user as “it’s truly a building people will live in and feel at home in. We are very excited about it.”
Details
Project: The Perry, theperry.com
Developer: Mansouri Living, mansouriliving.com
Location: 128 Pears Ave. at Davenport and Avenue Rds.
Description: 11-storey contemporary building with 45 suites
Suite sizes: 687 to 3,950 sq. ft.
Price range: Starting in the mid $500,000s
Amenities: Piano lounge, outdoor terrace, private dining room with caterer’s kitchen, meeting room, guest suite, 24-hour concierge and access to fitness and wellness centre on premises. Buyers receive one year free membership to Quintessentially, a 24-hour luxury global concierge service.
Sales centre: 199 Avenue Rd. (by appointment only), www.theperry.com
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