Magna International moving to King City

 Photo by David Cooper / Toronto Star File Photo

Will new HQ rival old HQ design?

Now that giant auto parts manufacturer, Magna International Inc., has announced its plan to build a new global headquarters in King City, speculation will inevitably and quickly begin about what the monumental development might look like.   It likely will not resemble the Aurora headquarters (pictured above) which it will be leaving.   That facility is located on the south-east corner of Wellington Street and Bayview Avenue and was designed to resemble Magna's European headquarters in a 400-year-old castle near Vienna.   It was the vision of Magna founder, Frank Stronach, who no longer runs the world's largest auto parts supply chain.   It will be interesting to see if this new development can complement the bucolic countryside which surrounds the Magna property.   The photos below give some indication of the neighbourhood challenge ahead.

Photos above and below by Barry Wallace

This south-east view of the Magna property was taken from Jane Street, at the top of the hill, north of the King Road.   The Magna lands are on the horizon in the top right corner of the above photo.

The King Township Museum (above) and its collection of buildings (below) sit directly across the King Road from the Magna site.   They include the main museum building, incorporating the old Kinghorn school (1861) and the newly-built, Genview Homes developer-funded addition.   Separate buildings include the King City Railway Station (1853) and the King Christian Church (1851).  

The museum buildings (left) sit on the north side of the King Road in Kinghorn, while Magna's 105 acres (right) are on the south side of the King Road.   The Magna headquarters is to be 200,000 square feet, with related businesses occupying adjacent sites.   King Mayor Steve Pellegrini was reported to have said in last week's King Connection newspaper that he has already viewed some architectural renderings of the buildings and is excited by what he has seen.   Hopefully the renderings will be available soon for the rest of us to see.  

Please comment if you wish.
Barry Wallace