The official opening of the Artscape Wychwood Barns isn't until this Thursday, but already the freshly restored TTC streetcar repair barns have been showing themselves off at some pre-launch parties. Last night I checked them out for the first time at a gala fundraiser and I have to say that even without the excellent Albert's Jamaican jerk chicken being served I would have walked away very impressed.

To be fair, a comparison to the Distillery District may not be the most appropriate here. The project isn't centered around selling condos! But, the architecture and the presence of more than two dozen artist live/work studios isn't too far off from what we've seen at the Case Goods Warehouse. For many more details, Lisa Rochon of the Globe and Mail took an extensive look at the new development in Saturday's paper.

Suffice it to say, this has been a very good week for Toronto culture and architecture. Between the AGO and the LEED-certified Wychwood Barns, the city all of a sudden has two new destinations where clearly those behind them got it right.

For photos of the barns prior to the opening (during the tail end of the construction phase), it's worth a look at two photo sets on Flickr from Studio Theatre:

Photo set from October 24th
Photo set of construction in early October

Here's a video of Mayor David Miller speaking at the barns last night:

Photo by Theatre Direct on Flickr