he exterior says it all. It's bold and boxy, yet utterly functional. It has Toronto design written all over it. The grand opening of Toronto’s five-storey opera house managed to lure in over 600 politicians, dignitaries and media for a Sunday afternoon gala and tour of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, at the corner of University Ave. and Queen St. W.

The complex began construction three years ago, but the idea of a Toronto opera house emerged years earlier when fundraising efforts began. After the idea of a $320 million ballet opera hall at Bay and Wellesley came to a hasty demise in 1990, Richard Bradshaw, the energetic British-born conductor who took over running the Canadian Opera Company in 1994, released his plan to launch his plan for a Toronto opera house that would be more practical than the Safdie house.

The transparent façade, which took more than three years to complete, was due to the relentless energy of Bradshaw, with architect Jack Diamond and donors such as fundraising co-chairman Arthur Scace, and Isadore Sharp, president of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (whose $20-million donation gave the building its name).

While Bradshaw equates the opera house with Sydney’s opera house and the Paris Opera Garnier, the rectangular structure is really more practical than it is astounding. Indeed, there's not a bad seat in the 2,000-seat house, but Jack Diamond (Diamond & Schmitt) chose to build a functional acoustically perfect jewel of an opera house. Constricted by a small space, tight location and a $150 million budget; it’s evident the great lengths the architects went to bring to fruition this 2,000 seat horseshoe-shaped auditorium, with each seat having a perfect sightline.

While the box-shaped exterior is less than glamorous, the interior represents a seamless design with most of the technical detail going into interior acoustics and sightlines. The plain brown and camel-hued auditorium was designed as an isolated structure within the building to keep out noise from the subway below. The theatre area is insulated with resonant wood to contain the acoustic experience, and even the stage lighting, concealed in layered rows in the ceiling, provides a noble sound reflection.

With the glass form seemingly spilling out onto the sidewalk, The Four Seasons' City Room boldly makes its presence known both day and night. This beautiful, glassed-in area showcases the opera-attending audience, as the space is gloriously voyeuristic to the Queen Street and University Street traffic. At night, the glass facade at street level announces the interior like a well-lit stage; the second-level sponsors' lounge in particular provides a great view of the street down below. The Jackson Lounge, a huge event space, is particularly eye-catching with its monstrous glass wall overlooking Osgoode Hall.

One major architectural feat is a cascading glass staircase that has been described as a technical wonder. The sandblasted glass staircase rises through three levels, hanging from the ceiling by steel poles.

“It's a house for all Canadians,” says Bradshaw, “I want the 90 concerts up in the aerial amphitheatre. I really want it to be for community music groups. For the young whiz kids coming out of the conservatory. For the young dancers at the National Ballet. For the young singers. But also world music, there's going to be a lot of drumming.” - B.J.

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