Client: Magellan Community Centre
Architect: Snyder
Designer: Avinash Garde
Project Completion: Under construction: occupancy expected September 2027
Target audience: Senior Portuguese Community
info@snyderarchitects.ca, snyderarchitects.ca, Instagram: snyderarchitects.ca
Snyder Architects is a Toronto-based, full-service architecture firm specializing in supportive, community- focused spaces such as seniors’ care and education facilities. With a legacy since 1980, the firm is driven by innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous learning and design excellence.
3 key points
Butterfly Model
Magellan employs the butterfly care model to provide compassionate, personalized care that supports residents’ physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
Multiple Levels of Care
The Centre combines independent, assisted and long-term care within one accessible facility, ensuring continuity and adaptability to meet residents’ changing needs.
Culturally Meaningful Materials
Traditional Portuguese elements, such as iconic blue-and-white tilework, create a familiar and welcoming environment, strengthening residents’ sense of identity and community.
Snyder, 2025
The DIAC Design Impact Framework centers around five key themes:
1. VISION: Design embodies the vision
What cultural, social, and environmental priorities shaped the project’s initial vision, and in what ways are they expressed in the completed design?
The project’s vision centres on a culturally sensitive, person-centered long-term care home that reflects Portuguese heritage and values. By redeveloping a brownfield site into a bright, inviting space with affordable living areas and culturally familiar details, Magellan brings lasting social and cultural value to the community it serves.
2. FUNCTIONALITY: Design enhances functionality
How does the Magellan Community Centre’s design support daily use, address user needs like accessibility, comfort, and culture, and benefit the broader community through its layout, materials, and environmental strategies?
Magellan’s design integrates all levels of care in one accessible facility, supporting residents’ daily needs through thoughtful layouts, culturally resonant materials, and shared amenities. This fosters comfort, accessibility, and a strong sense of belonging for both residents and the broader neighborhood.
3. BRAND: Design creates brand
Was there an existing brand identity or cultural image that the Magellan Community Centre was designed to reflect, and how was that identity incorporated into the design?
Magellan was developed as a new initiative, with its identity rooted in Portuguese heritage. Culturally significant features-like traditional blue and white tilework at the entrance-were incorporated to reflect the community it serves, creating a welcoming environment that fosters belonging and enhances user experience.
Snyder, 2025
4. ENVIRONMENT: Design embeds environmental benefits
Does the Magellan Community Centre design include any sustainable elements, and how do these contribute to the well-being or long-term value of the surrounding community?
Built on a brownfield site without a basement, the project avoids costly soil removal and turns a previously unusable site into a safe, healthy environment for its users. By working closely with city consultants through the process, the design meets Toronto Green Design Standards, incorporating a high-performance envelope, green roofs, and durable materials to reduce energy use and maintenance.
5. HEALTH & WELLBEING: Design promotes health and wellbeing
How does the design of the Magellan Community support the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being of its senior residents while fostering healing, comfort, and sense of dignity?
The Magellan Community Centre promotes residents’ well-being through thoughtfully designed personal and communal worship spaces. By implementing the butterfly care model within a small-home setting, it delivers personalized and dignified care that enhances physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, ultimately providing lasting value and quality of life for its residents.
6. Key Success Performance Indicators
Currently under construction, the planned performance indicators will focus on measuring resident well-being, care continuity, cultural connection, environmental performance, and functional effectiveness once the facility becomes operational.
