pw20
Active Member
Haha... I didn't want to stun everyone with that figure... its so great though they were able to pump so much money into an architecturally "inspiring" building. I'll take a box over economic default.
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- Thread starter calimehtar
- Start date
Haha... I didn't want to stun everyone with that figure... its so great though they were able to pump so much money into an architecturally "inspiring" building. I'll take a box over economic default.
egotrippin
Senior Member
Hmm, well judging by the reactions to the example I posted, I see why we get what we got here. If these Queen buildings are above par, well, then I don't even want to know what par is.
To be fair, perhaps the example I posted is a bit "out there", but I'd rather see some more creativity on our main drags. And yes, a few more storeys too.
To be fair, perhaps the example I posted is a bit "out there", but I'd rather see some more creativity on our main drags. And yes, a few more storeys too.
junctionist
Senior Member
Characterizing this project as evocative of Disney is hyperbole since Disney is full-out fairy tale pastiche. I understand the ambiguity between pastiche and contemporary style can be unsatisfying in this project, and the final part of this development makes it quite average in my opinion (or even below average in its conservatism). The Georgian influences are clear, which make the sleek modern windows look like gaping holes in the facades. Some doses of creativity on a smaller scale along historic arterials are coming in the way of projects like the new Ryerson Learning Centre. 60 Richmond is great. As for the Basque Health Department Headquarters, one has to appreciate that risk and desire to be bold, but it's a mess and looking especially bad at street level with nothing but anonymous black glass. This topic shouldn't be politicized since it is not uncommon for financially stable government agencies to have good standards for architecture, however hit-or-miss it might be in provincial Ontario.
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Parkdalian
Senior Member
It's infill! Jeez louise - it doesn't have to be groundbreaking. And the reason these buildings look like this is because this is a Heritage District, so newer buildings have certain parameters they need to fill in order to receive breaks on their property taxes. This may create a certain amount of sameness, but that's the *point* of a Heritage District. The Basque building, for instance, would have been broken all of the rules for the District.
egotrippin
Senior Member
Fair points, but in that case, if staying in line with the heritage district was the goal, why is this project more evocative of the Georgian era? Queen West is characterized by a largely Victorian commercial strip. Therein lies the issue with the whole trying to look historic thing; builders rarely even get that right. Either build a brick-by-brick replica of what once stood, or do something interesting (subjective, yes, but this is clearly not interesting). My concern is with these generic infill buildings that appear to sit in some sort of architectural purgatory.
alklay
Senior Member
Actually up close, this building is nice. The brickwork is unique (at least in the city) and it has a nice texture, while still feeling a bit modern. As far as infill goes, this beats the heck out of grey aluminum panels.
urbandreamer
recession proof
Yeah I rather like the grey retail building--wonder who the architect is?
I'd say build more of this stuff along those dreary plazas, parking lots, dealerships etc that cover 90% of the GTA's land along major roads. 3-6s.
I'd say build more of this stuff along those dreary plazas, parking lots, dealerships etc that cover 90% of the GTA's land along major roads. 3-6s.
SP!RE
°°°°°°
This whole "stuck between two worlds" nonsense (regarding these buildings' architectural style) is just theoretical hoo-ha. Architectural styles are labels/taxonomies... what matters is how they look and if they accomplish their job.
The buildings do their job, and attractive. They blend in and aren't particularly offensive. I'll take it!
The buildings do their job, and attractive. They blend in and aren't particularly offensive. I'll take it!
JasonParis
Moderator
Ramako
Moderator
Indeed. Designs don't necessarily have to be shoehorned into rigid categories of style. Style evolves by tweaking, refining and combining features from previous eras. This has always been the case. If it pleases the eye, who cares what you label it?
Towered
Senior Member
This - a million times this. It's the reason why Queen Street and other similar pre-war retail strips are so popular. Why can't we turn all of our main arterial roads into Queen streets?
Southcore
Active Member
So this place will be called The Beverly Hotel. Some details about the hotel as well asrestaurant/bar can be found in this link:
http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do...-upcoming-hotel-and-restaurant-on-Queen-West/
http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do...-upcoming-hotel-and-restaurant-on-Queen-West/
Southcore
Active Member
The hotel is officially open for business. More info, including some interior pics:
http://thebeverleyhotel.ca/
http://thebeverleyhotel.ca/
Hamiltonian
Active Member
They need to bury the powerlines along Queen West (are they on yonge too? I'm not sure). I feel that major streets like Queen Street West, Yonge Street, etc. need nicer streetlights to make the street feel more luxurious (I don't really know a better word right now) because whenever I walk along yonge or queen, I feel like it is so grimey...lol.
junctionist
Senior Member
It's true that we need more ornamental streetlights and to bury the overhead wires in order to better present and fashion the city as its prominence in the world rises. The Bloor Street transformation was an exceptional public realm project, but it's too bad they kept the utilitarian streetlights.