Tonic - Located in the heart of Toronto's fashion and theatre district. The club is a reincarnation of sorts for the dance emporium formerly known as Orchid, designed by Yabu Pushelberg in the mid-90s. Tonic is a specialized environment, like a theatre or a railway terminal, floating free of day-to-day logic and responsibilities. Associations of motion and transition are played out in a space that is streamlined, neutral and abstracted -- a place waiting to be called into life by people dancing, talking, gesturing.
The club foyer is a portal to this world apart. A dark, neutral space, scored by extruded aluminum reveals, houses a mysterious suspended cube that conceals mundane front-of-house functions, and entices curious patrons to enter. Within the club, angular planes create a theatrical, forced perspective environment that morphs easily from intimate lounge to dance hall. 72 televisions hover over a central dance/performance space, creating a "liquid ceiling" transmits live video feeds, fractal patterns and other electronic stimuli for the entertainment of masses. From the raised lounges surrounding the central area club patrons can watch the passing scene, and ensure that they are watched in return.
If people are the lifeblood of a dance club, music is the pulse. Tonic's back-to-back DJ booths are the conceptual epicentre of the club, illuminated beacons serving up beats for the club and VIP areas, transforming the energy of club patrons from potential to kinetic.
Tonic's VIP area is a secret environment within the larger space. Its entrance hidden within plain sight at the point where all the planes of the interior converge. From the main club area, the VIP dance floor is a flicker of light and movement, revealed by a floor-level glazed window. VIPs have their own perspective on the action in the main club, glimpsed from within the three-tiered VIP environment.
Tonic offers club patrons freedom and movement in a cool, modern context: fresh sensations for a new season indeed.