Choose your mood

Courtyards, a multi-phase condominium project being developed by North York-based Greatwise Developments not far from the Queensway Carleton Hospital, promises not just 598 up-to-the-minute condo units, but an enticing checklist of outdoor options as well.

The scale model of the project in the on-site sales office shows six buildings of various sizes and configurations on a block of land bounded by Baseline Road, Morrison Drive and Draper Avenue. Connected to each of the buildings is a themed courtyard with names like Relaxation Zen Garden, Animation Café and Recreation Bocce Court.

There’s also a central courtyard modelled on an Italian piazza, a town square where locals have traditionally gathered to chew over whatever needs to be chewed over. The courtyards are accessible by walkways from anywhere in the project and should be a highlight of the multi-year development.

“The main thing we wanted was different courtyards, but with a continuity of pedestrian traffic,” says Rudy Levstek of Larocque Levstek Consulting Services, the project’s landscape architects. “It was an opportunity to do something different, where the exterior is just as important as the inside.”

Kathie McMahon likes the inside very much — or at least the sleek, contemporary model unit she saw at the sales centre. In fact, she’s already bought a condo in Courtyards One, the six-storey, 73-unit building that is the first phase of the project.

“I loved the feel,” says McMahon, a former interior decorator. “And it won’t be too hard to clean.”

McMahon, who paid about $300,000 including parking for her 683-square-foot unit on the fifth floor with one bedroom and a study, was one of the first to buy. Currently living in Australia, the recently widowed woman is eager to move to Ottawa to be close to her children and grandchildren.

“My daughter lives nearby and I’m very comfortable with this neighbourhood. I’ve seen how it’s developed over the past few years. I’ve just been waiting for this building to open so I could buy.”

McMahon has returned to Australia to wrap up her life there while Greatwise gets on with building Courtyards One, which should be ready for occupancy in December 2013.

When she moves in, she can expect to enjoy standard granite countertops in the kitchen and bathroom, nine-foot ceilings, stacking washer and dryer, and laminate flooring everywhere except the bathroom, where it’s ceramic tile. She’s also looking forward to life on her east-facing balcony, although condo living means giving up the garden she now has Down Under.

Units on the top floor above her will include ceramic tile in the foyer and crown moulding throughout as standard features.

At the ground level, meanwhile, there will be a kitchen-equipped lounge with an adjacent exercise room and an outdoor terrace area with a barbecue.

By the time McMahon moves in, the eight-storey Courtyards Two next door to her building could be under way. That will eventually be followed by a couple of 12-storey, linked buildings as well as two low-rise, L-shaped buildings at the rear of the property along Draper Avenue.

Ottawa architect Roderick Lahey designed Courtyards. It’s based on an original concept by architect Douglas Hardie and The Regional Group, who were going to build the project until Greatwise took over.

Among other features, Lahey points to the open, ground-level archway in the link between the central buildings. As you enter the property from Baseline Road, you’ll be able to see through the archway to Draper Avenue at the rear, a visual surprise that will also underscore the site’s flowing design.

The windows, balconies and other exterior features of Lahey’s buildings emphasize squares and rectangles, with surfaces that protrude and recede in a tantalizing fashion.

“The square is a beautiful form in itself,” he says. “There’s a lot of activity (on the exterior), but as you move through the site and the courtyards, there’s much less activity. We tried to create a bit of an urban space with all these little courtyards.”

The area that will become that urban space is currently occupied by 84 rental townhomes known as the Redwood Community. Tenants and neighbours reacted strongly to The Regional Group’s original proposal for redevelopment, which included a 20-storey tower and a total of 537 units. Their fears included increased traffic and a worry that tenants in the existing townhomes would be unable to find other affordable accommodation.

Compromises on building height helped the project win city council approval in 2009. The development is also in line with the city’s intensification plans.