Waterworks Presentation Centre: A Confluence of Heritage and Innovation

Cecconi Simone's Award-Winning Design Merges Past and Future in a Unique Condominium Sales Centre

The Waterworks Presentation Centre is housed in a heritage-designated building, which previously served as a food market and a water filtration plant. The design team, led by principal designer Anna Simone, sought to respect and highlight the building's historical roots while showcasing the uniqueness of the upcoming residential development. The result is a space that not only stands out in Toronto's bustling condominium market but also offers potential buyers an immersive, standout sales experience.

The design's unique properties lie in its creative manipulation of scale and space. Large-scale still-life photography and wall panels were used to create a sense of undiscovered spaces, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. The designers worked closely with photographers to scale the images to life-size proportions, adding layers of black and white and sepia in post-production for a more realistic representation. The result is a space where the real and the photographed seamlessly blend, creating a sense of intrigue and discovery.

Creating an intimate space that felt like home to potential buyers, without losing the impact of the building's grand scale and Art Deco influences, was a challenge. To overcome this, the designers used warm seating areas of wood and worn leather, raw metal accents, and large-scale photography that hints at new worlds. Kitchen and bathroom model vignettes flow naturally within the space, representing the final units and showcasing the finishes on offer.

The project, completed in October 2016, was not without its challenges. The designers had to honour the past while celebrating the future, a task that required a delicate balance of design and materials. Despite these challenges, the Waterworks Presentation Centre stands as a testament to the power of innovative design, earning it the Silver A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award in 2018.

Through new materials, innovative large-scale photography, and a design flow that naturally follows the sales process, Cecconi Simone has created a space that honours an industrial heritage-designated building and tells the story of a future mixed-use condominium project that celebrates its roots in Toronto’s past. The Waterworks Presentation Centre is a testament to the transformative power of design, offering a glimpse into the past while showcasing a promising future.