unimaginative2
Senior Member
I think it's a good review, and in general I agree. The retail seems better than average. Having just passed by today, I think it would be better if they had stepped back after the second or third floor, because it casts quite a shadow on the street and looms a little bit.
I also noticed that the Greenwood Racetrack area has become quite a successful little neighbourhood. It doesn't look quite as cookie-cutter as most suburban subdivisions, and the density is high. Once the trees are fully grown, it should blend in quite seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood.
Queen not keeping up with the Jones
Old racetrack strip on rise even if architects fell down on the job
Mar 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Queen St. is many streets. Most famously, it's Queen West and after that comes the Beach. But there's more to it than either of those. Although we don't talk about Queen East yet, the time will come when we do. The stretch east of, say, Broadview Ave., has been a no man's land for decades, but finally the law of urban gravity has started to pull in the crowds.
Already big changes are underway. The best comes about when old buildings are put to new uses. Typically, this means revitalizing the two- and three-storey buildings that line Queen, especially on the north side.
It also means new construction, usually residential. Indeed, the site of the former Greenwood racetrack (originally Woodbine) has been transformed into a lowrise neighbourhood, which just manages to avoid that monolithic feel associated with the mega-development, the feel of a subdivision where there are six different housing models and identical building materials throughout.
But much growth has happened on Queen itself, including a number of condos. They vary widely in architectural quality, but so far the city has been able to keep them at an appropriate scale. That means anything from four to six storeys.
On the good side, this new construction has brought life to an area that can accommodate intensification with ease. On the bad side, these buildings provide an interesting study in the general failure of contemporary architects to design within an existing urban framework.
(The outstanding exception is the remarkable structure Edward Jones did for Morden Yolles at 163 Queen St. E., just east of Jarvis St. Jones, who has since returned to London, England, is most celebrated in these parts for the Mississauga City Hall, done in collaboration with Michael Kirkland. Nearly 20 years after it was opened, the Yolles building remains far and away the best contemporary addition to Queen St. The beautifully detailed yellow-brick building pays homage to 19th-century precedents but makes it effortlessly and convincingly modern.)
Sad to say, nothing in either direction of Jones's contribution comes close in terms of architectural quality. Queen between Kingston Rd. and Woodbine Ave. is no exception; despite the liveliness of the surrounding neighbourhood, with street after street of dignified three-storey semi-detached houses, Queen has not been well served by the design professions.
They have taken much, and given little.
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Condo critic
THE BEACH, 1733, 1765, 1829 AND 1929 QUEEN ST. E.: It's tempting to dismiss these block-long condo complexes out of hand. They seem cheap – especially the snap-on columns out front – and have already started to look dirty and discoloured although they were constructed less than a decade ago. As architecture, they are strictly second-rate. They will never rise above the precast concrete exteriors and the general clumsiness of the massing. The round features at either end, complete with copper dome, appear more an afterthought than a convincing element.
On the other hand, these lowrise condos are an appropriate height (four to five storeys) and clearly fill a need. Now that the shops at street level are occupied – except for the block just west of Woodbine – they are starting to feel part of the neighbourhood. They might belong after all. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the model – retail at grade, residential above – works. Compared to some of the earlier 1960s and '70s residential slabs nearby, the Beach is not just urban, but urbane.
GRADE: B-
I also noticed that the Greenwood Racetrack area has become quite a successful little neighbourhood. It doesn't look quite as cookie-cutter as most suburban subdivisions, and the density is high. Once the trees are fully grown, it should blend in quite seamlessly with the surrounding neighbourhood.
Queen not keeping up with the Jones
Old racetrack strip on rise even if architects fell down on the job
Mar 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Queen St. is many streets. Most famously, it's Queen West and after that comes the Beach. But there's more to it than either of those. Although we don't talk about Queen East yet, the time will come when we do. The stretch east of, say, Broadview Ave., has been a no man's land for decades, but finally the law of urban gravity has started to pull in the crowds.
Already big changes are underway. The best comes about when old buildings are put to new uses. Typically, this means revitalizing the two- and three-storey buildings that line Queen, especially on the north side.
It also means new construction, usually residential. Indeed, the site of the former Greenwood racetrack (originally Woodbine) has been transformed into a lowrise neighbourhood, which just manages to avoid that monolithic feel associated with the mega-development, the feel of a subdivision where there are six different housing models and identical building materials throughout.
But much growth has happened on Queen itself, including a number of condos. They vary widely in architectural quality, but so far the city has been able to keep them at an appropriate scale. That means anything from four to six storeys.
On the good side, this new construction has brought life to an area that can accommodate intensification with ease. On the bad side, these buildings provide an interesting study in the general failure of contemporary architects to design within an existing urban framework.
(The outstanding exception is the remarkable structure Edward Jones did for Morden Yolles at 163 Queen St. E., just east of Jarvis St. Jones, who has since returned to London, England, is most celebrated in these parts for the Mississauga City Hall, done in collaboration with Michael Kirkland. Nearly 20 years after it was opened, the Yolles building remains far and away the best contemporary addition to Queen St. The beautifully detailed yellow-brick building pays homage to 19th-century precedents but makes it effortlessly and convincingly modern.)
Sad to say, nothing in either direction of Jones's contribution comes close in terms of architectural quality. Queen between Kingston Rd. and Woodbine Ave. is no exception; despite the liveliness of the surrounding neighbourhood, with street after street of dignified three-storey semi-detached houses, Queen has not been well served by the design professions.
They have taken much, and given little.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Condo critic
THE BEACH, 1733, 1765, 1829 AND 1929 QUEEN ST. E.: It's tempting to dismiss these block-long condo complexes out of hand. They seem cheap – especially the snap-on columns out front – and have already started to look dirty and discoloured although they were constructed less than a decade ago. As architecture, they are strictly second-rate. They will never rise above the precast concrete exteriors and the general clumsiness of the massing. The round features at either end, complete with copper dome, appear more an afterthought than a convincing element.
On the other hand, these lowrise condos are an appropriate height (four to five storeys) and clearly fill a need. Now that the shops at street level are occupied – except for the block just west of Woodbine – they are starting to feel part of the neighbourhood. They might belong after all. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the model – retail at grade, residential above – works. Compared to some of the earlier 1960s and '70s residential slabs nearby, the Beach is not just urban, but urbane.
GRADE: B-
