Split Rock is a compact retail store comprising two shimmering rock-like objects on the concourse of Brookfield Place in Toronto’s Financial District. They nestle beneath the escalator to the Santiago Calatrava-designed Allen Lambert Galleria above. The escalator’s imaginary waterfall-like force created the project’s asymmetrical forms.

The commute to the nation’s busiest transportation hub got sweeter with the opening of Biscotteria Forno Cultura, the third location of Toronto artisanal bakery café Forno Cultura, in Union Station’s Front Street promenade. Despite the huddled masses passing by the store, this is hardly a mass-market eatery. Indeed, the design mandate seemingly derives from high-end specialty-store interiors, where the challenge is to strike a balance between display quantity and quality: show too many articles and the place looks junked-up and down-market.