On the Courtyard
03
Impossibilities
 

Many critical aspects of our design vision violate current provincial building codes and municipal zoning bylaws: each is, for a variety of reasons, impossible today. But these same features are legal in all or several of the European cities we surveyed. If you can build this way in Basel, or Paris, or Vienna, why not here?

The following “Matrix of Impossibilities” summarizes the principal regulatory barriers that prevent these European-style courtyard blocks from being built in Toronto.

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Topic
Status
Reason
Solution
Single Stair
Impossible

Building Code

Permit single egress in Part 3 and Part 9 buildings up to six storeys

Unprotected Stair
Impossible
Building Code
Align with European codes to allow single–egress stairs to be open to 
the corridors and unprotected (unsprinklered)
Small Elevator
Impossible
Building Code 
& Standards (CSA)
Align with European codes to permit smaller elevators for 
buildings up to six storeys
No Sprinklers
Impossible
Building Code
Review building codes to allow for combustible construction without 
the need for sprinklers
Reduced Setbacks

Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Remove side–yard setback requirements entirely and reduce front- and rear-yard 
setbacks for multiplexes and apartment buildings up to six storeys
Density
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to increase FSI so multiple buildings can be 
developed more easily on a single or double lot 
Building Height
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to increase building height for six-storey buildings to 
facilitate mass-timber construction; increase height of laneway buildings to four storeys  
Angular Planes
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to remove angular planes for laneway buildings
Commercial Space in Laneway
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to permit retail uses in laneways
Bike Storage
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to permit alternative bicycle storage solutions
Amenity Space
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw to facilitate performance-based/site-specific amenity space requirements
Waste Rooms
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Amend zoning bylaw requirements for size of waste room and allow for alternative storage and waste collection solutions
Density Landscaping/Soil Volumes
Impossible
Zoning / Bylaw
Allow for a block-wide landscape, approach to soil volumes, soft 
landscape and tree requirements
Utilities
Impossible
Municipal Engineering & Construction Services
Establish a block-wide infrastructural approach to servicing (i.e., to avoid pad 
mount transformer requirements on small sites)