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AlbertC

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Ongoing work to replace the gold tinted windows on 121 King St W with a darker blue. Not sure if this is for the south side only or eventually for the whole building.

Aug 29, 2020

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Unfortunately, it's not economical in any way whatsoever to produce gold glass anymore, since it uses actual gold for the metallic glaze. When this building was built in 1984, gold was hovering at ~400 $CAD/oz. Now, it's closer to ~2800 $CAD/oz.

The widespread presence of blue, green, and gray is unfortunate, but it's representative of what is most easily available these days.
 
Unfortunately, it's not economical in any way whatsoever to produce gold glass anymore, since it uses actual gold for the metallic glaze. When this building was built in 1984, gold was hovering at ~400 $CAD/oz. Now, it's closer to ~2800 $CAD/oz.

The widespread presence of blue, green, and gray is unfortunate, but it's representative of what is most easily available these days.

Very interesting, thanks! I'm now worried that RBC plaza will get reclad in aquamarine glass though.
 
Unfortunately, it's not economical in any way whatsoever to produce gold glass anymore, since it uses actual gold for the metallic glaze. When this building was built in 1984, gold was hovering at ~400 $CAD/oz. Now, it's closer to ~2800 $CAD/oz.

The widespread presence of blue, green, and gray is unfortunate, but it's representative of what is most easily available these days.
Brass is a much cheaper option (and it looks like gold to most people). Nordic Gold is a type of brass known for its superficial resemblance to gold.
 
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Brass is a much cheaper option (and it looks like gold to most people). Nordic Gold is a type of brass known for its superficial resemblance to gold.

It's unfortunately not that simple. Coating glass with a metallic glazing is a process done with very thin layers of microscopic crystals sandwiched between two different layers of glass, with just enough to retain visibility through the glass while producing a metallic look. At the atomic level, gold (Au) and brass (Cu3Zn2) are very different, and this can be seen in how their crystals look in powdered form. Gold, being a pure metal, looks the same, whereas brass appears as a brown-black powder, and is prone to oxidation.

The easiest way to coat large panes of glass with a metallic layer is to use a pure metal that won't oxidize, which unfortunately means expensive, noble metals are used. There aren't really any other metals that look like gold, especially in fine powdered form, so it's very difficult to emulate.
 
This is one of my favourite office buildings in the city. It's really tucked in its place nicely and has a nice big-city presence to me. And it's interesting form makes it feel larger than a box of similar size (to me at least).
 
It's a really nice building on its own. But next to the TD Centre, I find that it looks generic and second-rate despite its high-quality materials.
 
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