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Solaris said:
I am getting a sense that some members in UT tends to just bash any projects that is not downtown Toronto .... I do not believe anything built in North York, Scarborough, Markham, Vaughan, Missisissauga are just crap by default

Regardless ... I think this project is well design/built and if you know the builder's products, you may be impressed by their current profolio of upscale residences which I look forward to seeing here as well when completed ...

I agree the facade colour here was too similar to the '3 sisters' to the west, I suppose Shane Baghai was trying to fit in, but it would have been nice if they were more distinguishable .... and indeed the site is a bit tight much like most new developments along Sheppard ... but overall the design concept works

when the site was redeveloped, a new church was built on the northern part of the site away from Sheppard, I suppose lands with Sheppard frontage was more valuable to sell so that the church would get more out of the real estate transaction
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I don't disagree that the developer had good intentions. The developer was one of the first (if not the first) to offer metro-passes as a section 37 agreement and that, in my opinion, was a progressive move. But the built-form, style and architecture of this development are all horrible. Aesthetically, these structures straddle the gulf between ugly and lame.

Beige was a bad choice and the finishings, details and materials all look cheap. Worse still, these details look like they were afterthoughts. I believe you when you say that insides and the products will be well assembled. But we’re not commenting on the inside product. Rather, we’re concerned about the visual impact this development has on the intensification of the Sheppard Subway. The fact that these new towers are almost the same as the 3 Sisters is a bad start.

There are plenty of horrible downtown Toronto developments so no need to worry there. Also, some noteworthy developments outside of the downtown core include: Minto Y&E, Marilyn Monroe (Mississauga), CityGate (Mississauga), Pulse (North York), that one that looks like Watergate in Oakville, and ARC, directly across from this development.
 
Thanks CSW2424 ... definitely appreciate understanding your perspective ... certainly everyone has their own opinions =D, I'm glad to see other member's thoughts instead of short 'bashing' posts
 
More commie blocks on this spot would not have made the existing ones look better, but somehow Shane Baghai's new towers have managed to make the existing commie block sisters here somewhat fetching.

By extension, those execrable Aria Residences down at Sheppard and Leslie will likely make the Sheppard/Don Mills Commie Block Cluster look positively radiant (like a shining Emerald City on the horizon... but that's another story).

42
 
The commie blocks were typical for their time - which wasn't a time when nostalgia for some other time dictated the exterior appearance of residential towers. I think it was also a time when contemporary design, such as it was, was the default mode for such buildings. Encouragingly, with the exception of buildings such as this, design culture is now reclaiming that territory. We're runnin' them darned Cheddingtonista's outta town, I tell ya, pushing them further north ... to Sheppard ... then to Finch ... then to Steeles ... until one day they'll have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
 
These buildings are a great addition to the area. They fit the demographics and architectural style of Bayview Village. This is an older, more conservative and "classier" neighbourhood. It is important for the architecture to fit in harmony rather than be at conflict. The beige art deco/spanish/french influences fit well. It is important to preserve the look and feel of our neighbourhoods. A tall glass and aluminium building is not the answer to every project
 
These buildings only fit with the faux feel that Daniels is pushing on the area, and with the McMansions that have been obliterating the 50s and 60s ranch moderns that the area was once chock-a-block with. They are overdone, mawkish, pretentious, kitsch.

Too bad they have nothing do architecturally with the forward-thinking new St. Gabriel's Church immediately adjacent to them.

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I think something like the project on Mt Pleasant just north of Eglinton would have worked much better in this location. Something a little more tasteful with some brick touches instead of some glorified precast chateau thats going to look terrible and dirty in 5 years. Those commie towers will look much better than these in 10 years. I guarantee it.

But I guess if this is what the area is defined by, the phrase "money can't buy taste" holds true.
 
Too bad they have nothing do architecturally with the forward-thinking new St. Gabriel's Church immediately adjacent to them.
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The church isn't much of a gem either, in my opinion. Other than the fact that it's a green building with coloured glass skylights, it's not much to look at.
 
interchange42 said:
These buildings only fit with the faux feel that Daniels is pushing on the area, and with the McMansions that have been obliterating the 50s and 60s ranch moderns that the area was once chock-a-block with. They are overdone, mawkish, pretentious, kitsch.

Too bad they have nothing do architecturally with the forward-thinking new St. Gabriel's Church immediately adjacent to them.

42
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"McMansions" doesn't even begin to describe some of the atrocities I've seen
in the area. The new fad is the "Hansel and Gretel" home complete with
random chunks of stone attached to the facades of these monstrosities.
If I had children, I'd cover their eyes every time I drove past these.
 
Urban Shocker said:
The commie blocks were typical for their time - which wasn't a time when nostalgia for some other time dictated the exterior appearance of residential towers. I think it was also a time when contemporary design, such as it was, was the default mode for such buildings.
Click to expand...

And I must say--having seen them up close, I don't find that trio E of Bayview Village that "bad" or "ugly" at all--very clean 60s optimism, with its concrete trellises, and not overly fatally despoiled or degraded or blighted (though being across from tony Bayview Village helps), so to knock them IMO is letting today's urbanistic-correctness "default mode" get the better of you...

I guess it's the kind of place where one expects the cute Polish cleaning ladies who serve the Bayview Village-shopping monster home owners to live.
 
Sept 9/08 Update

took a swing by the site ... construction nearly complete on the 2 towers, the shorter building slong Sheppard is further behind ... despite other UT comments I continue to like what I see on site~








 
It turned out pretty good. I was hating on it, but it's not THAT bad. I'm liking the details on the balconies. The landscaping is nice too :)
 
It looks very "development in a park." These buildings would fit well in Mississauga (not that I'm dissing Missy).
 
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