Revera Barrie on the Bay is a 15-storey landmark retirement residence that will bring 290 units of retirement living, assisted living and memory care to downtown Barrie.
An important city-building initiative, the project revitalizes an underutilized vacant lot and injects new life into the City’s downtown core with active at-grade amenity spaces, streetscape improvements and hundreds of new residents soon to frequent local businesses.
Located at the corner of Owen Street and Collier Street, Barrie on the Bay will offer residents proximity to the City’s waterfront, parks, arts and culture destinations, shops, restaurants, places of worship and public transit. The building also features ample internal amenity spaces such as a salon, an arts and crafts room, a golf simulator, a theatre, a pool, a spa, a fitness centre, a library, lounge, bar, and bistro seating, as well as a great hall and reception area with a fireplace. The main amenities at grade spill onto a large outdoor terrace that is sheltered from prevailing winds. The terrace opens up to the south and provides animation to the lobby. The main dining hall, located on the top floor of the building offers spectacular views over Heritage Park, the marina and the bay.
The design solution works to create a much stronger streetscape and enhanced pedestrian connection to the recently revitalized Memorial Square / Meridian Place, Kempenfelt Bay and Heritage Park. The building features a 3-4 storey podium base that rationalizes a steep change in grade. The design exhibits a scale, rhythm, and materiality that is compatible and consistent with the scale and character of surrounding buildings. A carefully stepped-back tower is not experienced at grade, making the pedestrian experience that of a low-rise building. The varying setbacks of the building face along the northern facade of the podium provides for horizontal and vertical articulation that supports the scale and character of the podium in relation to existing buildings along Collier Street, Owen Street, and Dunlop Street.