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F

FutureMayor

Guest
Prequalification for Innovative Design Competition for Toronto's Central Waterfront

The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation invites architects, landscape architects and other design professionals to submit a statement of qualifications to produce innovative design proposals for Toronto's Central Waterfront Esplanade and Boulevard.

The TWRC is seeking input from the world's most talented and creative design professionals in creating a new signature for the Central Waterfront Esplanade and Boulevard. Five firms or collaborative teams representing a range of different urban and architectural design philosophies will be selected to participate in a six-week design competition

If you are interested in responding the requirements are outlined in further detail in the documents available below. Submissions must be received no later than 5:00 PM, March 9, 2006 EST to:


Christopher Glaisek, Vice President Planning and Design

Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation

207 Queens Quay Boulevard, Suite 822

Toronto, ON M5J 1A7

Attn: Milena Vargas, Procurement Administrator

43e3893282c9c.jpg


Louroz

Exciting!
 
Thanks for posting this FM. Moved to Toronto Issues (where all the waterfront stuff is).

I wonder what they meant by "Central Waterfront Esplanade and Boulevard", exactly.

AoD
 
Oh, hooray. Construction has finally started on... another PDF report.

I'll believe it when I see the West Donlands or (more distantly) the East Bayfront or Portlands turning into something - anything - resembling the pretty pictures we saw.

(I must have overlooked the gas-fired power plant in the portlands master plan. Did anyone else catch it?)
 
Did anyone else catch it?
Click to expand...
Yup. It's beside the recycling, waste management, and other city facilities that have been on the south end of the portlands for some time now.

Planning for this specific powerplant (same site as the old Hearn coal based powerplant) started planning in the late 80's.

If New York can generate most of their electricity within city limits without ruining their urban experience (look under the waterfront parks), I'm fairly sure that we can do the same.
 
Wow Sir Novelty Fashion, such optimism. The construction is starting on the West Donlands, the waterfront Sherbourne Park should get underway by fall, HtO is well under construction, the Dragon Boat course is under construction, the Harbourfront water's edge was redone last year, the Port Union Waterfront project will open this spring, etc. You make it sound like nothing is happening. The new powerplant doesn't change much in the plans at all and will be located east (i.e. further away from the harbour) than the mothballed Hearn Generating Plant. It is located so far from downtown that development in the Portlands proceeding at a rapid pace (faster than Cityplace) would take 25-35 years to reach that site.

Side question: Anyone know if the Hearn will be knocked down or is there some historical significance to the building? I am surprised it is still sitting there.
 
I agree that we can generate most of our power within the city, and the New York comparison is apt, but my question is why it's necessary. I don't work for Hydro One, and I don't know exactly what they've examined, but I wonder if they've looked at some possible alternatives. I'm not just talking about windmills on the MINT towers. They're planning that cable along Front St connecting the Manby and Leaside sectors to buy us some time. Won't that help reduce the need for a power plant downtown? Have they looked at superconducting cables? If they can't fit any more cables into the existing right of way, it might be a route they could take to serve the increased load. In fact, I've always wondered why they don't bury some of the cables in the Leaside corridor. I'm sure they could more than make up the cost of the project with revenues from land sales.

Of course, we see that New York is far from damaged by its power plants, though Astoria is maybe not the most popular place to hang out. Also remember that this Portlands project is only going to be generating significant power on the hottest days of summer and coldest days of winter.
 
Won't that help reduce the need for a power plant downtown? Have they looked at superconducting cables? If they can't fit any more cables into the existing right of way, it might be a route they could take to serve the increased load.
Click to expand...

There are plans to build an additional Hydro ROW through the city for 2012 and rejig the current configuration a bit (IESO 10 year outlook).


During emergencies and weather events, having generation capacity close to the delivery target makes things much easier. Everything from restarts after a blackout, grid balancing, power supply restarts, etc. is easier.

In reality it will only be used during peak loads, for emergencies, AND to balance out our green supply (wind, solar, etc.) that are being proposed around the city.

The last one is actually very important. Nuclear cannot react fast enough to a dramatic decrease in wind over a period of an hour, so we would have brownouts. Natural gas, however, can fill the gap between the time the wind drops and the reactor can be throttled up.

If you look at Germany which is one of the leaders for wind farms (15GW) you will find that they have also invested heavily in very high temperature natural gas plants as well, for use strictly when the wind dies.
 
Foster/Williams+Tsien/West 8/Snohetta for Waterfront?!

Holy mother from the Globe!:

Seeking design on the edge
Five teams compete for chance to put Toronto on the map as a waterfront city

JENNIFER LEWINGTON

CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

To those jaded by years of faux pas and failure on Toronto's central waterfront, now comes reason to hope.

Today, five top international teams will be asked to come up with bold ideas on how to bring the public to the water's edge -- and put Toronto on the map as a waterfront city.

It's a tall order. Despite pockets of waterfront success -- notably the music garden at Queen's Quay, west of Spadina -- the 3.5-kilometre stretch from Bathurst to Parliament Streets is a homage to years of ad hoc planning, dismal architecture and disjointed traffic flows that block public access to the water.

But those involved in this latest exercise -- a design competition to be unveiled by the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. -- say there are grounds for optimism.

"We are trying to make a statement -- that the waterfront belongs to the people of Toronto," said Robert Fung, chairman of the TWRC, the agency responsible for waterfront renewal. "But we also want this to have global appeal so that people all over the world say 'wow, look at what they've done in Toronto.' "

From an entry list of 38 competitors, five have been selected for the short-list. Each team brings its own mix of urban and landscape architects, environmental experts and artists to unlock Toronto's waterfront.

The winner will be selected by a blue-ribbon jury, led by Toronto architect Brigitte Shim, along with filmmaker Atom Egoyan, Montreal landscape architect Claude Cormier, Toronto architect Ken Greenberg, New York (and Canadian) architect Lise Anne Coutoure and Toronto designer Bruce Mau.

The teams will be to asked to solve a variety of problems that, together, limit public access to the waterfront. For example, how to:

create a continuous public promenade from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street, much of which is publicly owned but feels private.

complete the Martin Goodman Trail so it is accessible for pedestrians and cyclists through the central waterfront area.

revive Queen's Quay, the grim-looking main waterfront street.

develop a uniform identity, through signage and other fixtures.

devise sustainable approaches to water quality and habitat improvements.

This month, the five international teams will arrive for a firsthand look at the area and have until May to present their solutions to the jury. Also in May, the TWRC will invite the public for input, during a 10-day event to showcase the competing bids. The winner will be selected in June. Funding is in the 2006 budget, with construction set for September and completion by next June.

The short-list

Foster and Partners, U.K., and Atelier Dreiseitl, Germany.

Stan Allen Architects; Sarah Whiting and Ron Witte Architects.

Tod Williams, Billie Tsien Architects, U.S., and Martinez Lapena-Torres Architects, Spain.

West 8, Holland and du Toit

Allsopp Hillier, Toronto.

Snøhetta, Norway ; Sasaki

Associates, nArchitects; Weisz + Yoes Architecture, H3, Balmori Associates, Halcrow Yolles HPA, all New York.

AoD
 
What great news for a monday morning! Can't wait to see what they've all come up with.

Lets just hope they dont select something and then say they can't do anything because they don't have the money

Lets hope that the best plan wins and they aren't just saying its a competition when they have an architect in mind already and just want the exposure.
 
I also fing it odd that they're re-inventing the wheel regarding the waterfront promenade, which has already been designed and is being built. The mandate of this plan is broader however. I wonder what the politics behind it is?
 
Ah here is the backgrounder, news release and jury bio from TWRC:

Backgrounder

News release

Jury bio

Someone from Asymptote!

Well, one part of the question is answered, as per the news release:

The designs will connect and build on existing successful spaces like the Music Garden, the water’s edge York and John Quay promenades and HtO Park and provide a distinct and recognizable identity for Toronto’s revitalized waterfront.
Click to expand...

AoD
 
I vote for Snøhetta...we've already got a Foster, and it's a bit of a dud on the exterior, anyway.
 
I am very (pleasantly) surprised the selection committee went for TWBTA/West 8/Snohetta - they're not firms that have lots of exposure in N.A.

AoD
 
This sounds great. If I can quibble, I wish I understood the overlapping programs on the central waterfront better. For instance: create a continuous public promenade from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street. Didn't work on this begin around York Quay, and wasn't it carried out quite well? How does this proposal relate to that proposal? For that matter, since the HtO project won't have the same promenade, what does it mean to have a continuous public promenade by the water?

Not that I don't welcome this initiative and find it exciting on some level, but it seems so unclear how the pieces fit together.
 
Alas, the RFP for the proposal requires registration, so it's pretty impossible to get hold of a copy and see what the program entails. I would imagine however it won't require messing with what's already/going to there for either the Harbourfront and HtO, and focuses upon the section at York Quay and eastward. Great to also see them aiming to tackle the mess that is Queen's Quay as well.

AoD
 
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