I can see your point marcus_a_j ... it is true when viewed from the east/west in the distance the 2 Solaris towers does "appear to be connected" to give the false slabbish effect, this is caused due to the southern tip of the east tower being in alignment with the northern tip of the west tower ... however the 2 are in fact arranged in diagonal relationship to one another ... as seen in the below site plan and photo:

Solaris_SP.jpg


Click to Enlarge


However when viewed from any angle other than 'dead east/west', the slabbish appearance would not exist where the separation between the two towers are visible, or in your words when "sliver of light squeaks through" :)

Click to Enlarge


As for Solaris towering over Delta East Hotel ... personally I don't mind that so much given that the Delta was not an iconic structure in my opinion ~ (I'll be lying if I wasn't biased opinion towards Solaris ) ;)
 
Solaris said:
I can see your point marcus_a_j ... it is true when viewed from the east/west in the distance the 2 Solaris towers does "appear to be connected" to give the false slabbish effect, this is caused due to the southern tip of the east tower being in alignment with the northern tip of the west tower ... however the 2 are in fact arranged in diagonal relationship to one another ... as seen in the below site plan and photo:
Click to expand...

I am very familiar with the layout of the buildings. I never said they "appear to be connected" nor did I ask for an explanation of why it appears as such. But thank you for educating those who are not familiar with these buildings or the area. Although I have not measured the distance between the two towers, I am sure that they comply with the City's 25-metre separation guideline for tall buildings. Only when viewed from the southeast and northwest and directly north and south will one notice the separation of the towers. The distance from the towers is of little consequence, whether you are far or close and looking directly east or west they will appear as a wall, although the closer you get to them the greater the monstrosity they appear. But the majority will not be seeing them from the north or south. Thousands and thousands of eyes will be seeing these buildings every hour as they drive by on the 401.

Eastbound traffic will see this:
th_IMG_4885.jpg


Westbound traffic will see this:
th_IMG_4889.jpg

(photos courtesy of Solaris, as posted above)

The drivers will not be able to study these buildings as they drive by and will not have the benefit of seeing them on the ground from up close (but they will get a great view of the large and boring above ground enclosed parking deck). The only foot traffic who will see them from up close will be residents going to/from the Kennedy and Sheppard bus routes and Kennedy Commons. The majority of the residents will be driving, and I cannot wait to see the lineup of traffic trying to turn onto Kennedy in the mornings especially when Metrogate is fully developed. I don't recall any proposed streets crossing the rail tracks to alleviate the future demand for road space.

As someone who was born and raised in Scarborough, the Delta is somewhat of a Scarborough landmark. It may not be iconic to you, but it is one of only a few buildings in Scarborough that have a bit of merit, and also won an Urban Design award in 1982. Also included is UTSC and the Metro at Parkway Mall.

But as you noted, Solaris, you are biased.
 
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marcus_a_j said:
As someone who was born and raised in Scarborough, the Delta is somewhat of a Scarborough landmark. It may not be iconic to you, but it is one of only a few buildings in Scarborough that have a bit of merit. Also included is UTSC and the Metro at Parkway Mall.
Click to expand...

That's just sad ..

There are definitely more interesting buildings even in Scarborough - there a few office buildings I quite like.
 
Yes, there are obviously more interesting buildings in Scarborough. KPMB's Centennial HP Science and Technology Centre, BMO's Institute for Learning, the Yellow Pages building (if you are into that sort of PoMo thing), and, of course, Scarborough Civic Centre as a few other examples.

And Elipse is $hit, in my opinion.
 
marcus_a_j said:
But the majority will not be seeing them from the north or south. Thousands and thousands of eyes will be seeing these buildings every hour as they drive by on the 401.

th_IMG_4885.jpg
th_IMG_4889.jpg

(photos courtesy of Solaris, as posted above)

The drivers will not be able to study these buildings as they drive by and will not have the benefit of seeing them on the ground from up close (but they will get a great view of the large and boring above ground enclosed parking deck). The only foot traffic who will see them from up close will be residents going to/from the Kennedy and Sheppard bus routes and Kennedy Commons.
Click to expand...

I do agree that the parking garage provides little visual interest to the Highway 401 frontage, but nonetheless I believe that the current treatment with vision glass is certainly much better than a blank wall (typical for above grade parking garages)

and with due respect ... I disagree with your comment that drivers on 401 will only see the two sides of Solaris that you've shown above ... rather, these 2 views you've shown represents only the view that one would see from a far distance from the east/west, the truth is these photos were taken from Kennedy / Midland and not in alignment with 401 ... whereas the view of Solaris to drivers will change as the approach sequence evolves to illustrate a building that is not exactly 'slabbish' by any definitions

This 'sequence' is demostrated in some earlier photos:

Solaris said:
Click to Enlarge
Click to expand...

Solaris said:
Click to Enlarge
Click to expand...

Yes I've already stated in the disclaimer up front that my opinion may be baised ... and logically so as a future owner in the Solaris project ~
 
Assuming that drivers are doing the speed limit (I know, hard to believe they will not be stuck in traffic) the amount of time that it will take them to cover the distance shown in the above sequences is quite minimal (It's 29 seconds between Kennedy and Midland, a distance of 800 metres, at 100 km/h). A greater amount of time will be from beyond Kennedy and Midland where the appearance of these slabs will be very noticeable without anything of significant height on the northside of the 401 from Markham Rd. to Vic. Park (and that's being generous).
 
August 20 2010 update

Balcony glass @ 16th for Solaris 1, @ 17th for Solaris 2
Click to Enlarge


View from Highway 401


5th Floor Rec Centre & Roof Terrace - some trees now visible


Rooftop Architectural Feature - slanted roof portion underway (see 1st pic)


The Balconies
 
Quite comprehensive - thanks Solaris!

42
 
Confirmed Occupancy Date Issued

Just got the latest update from Tridel (via registered mail) ... it appears that the confirmed occupancy has been further delayed by 2 months ...

Tallying all the notices that were received, I calculated a total of 6 months delay for Solaris from the original "estimated" occupancy date back when sales started in August/September 2007
 
A six month delay in this era of condo building is really quite reasonable, especially given the size of this project. This is one of the reasons I hold so much respect for Tridel, they just seem to be on top of things.
 
September 2 2010 update

Solaris seen from the north @ Steeles Avenue



Clockwise views starting from the northeast
Click to Enlarge


Half Columns on Podium now visible - as per plan ! :)
IMG_5027.jpg


Silver banding wrapping around the tip of Solaris' elliptical towers
IMG_5028.jpg


Architectural Roof Feature (slanted roof) is more evident
IMG_5034.jpg

IMG_5029.jpg

 
September 11 2010 update

Getting closer ~
IMG_5036.jpg
 
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