Seen it all
New Member
People, people, people...
I've been watching this forum for months now and I have to get a few things off my chest.
First: The architecture. From both the renderings and the work that has been completed to date, the design is NOT THAT BAD. In fact it is just fine. Not an architectural marvel of the New World, but not a bad looking building. If you don't like Art Deco, fine. Some do, some don't. But compared to EVERYTHING currently in the neighbourhood, it is a gem. St. Jamestown is an architectural disgrace. Even when it was built, it was ugly. The Star of Downtown, despite a terrible name and a joke of a marketing campaign does a lot to improve this area. I think, if critics are being honest, what they resent is the gentrification of the neibourhood that this development represents. No, the government did not turn this formerly vacant lot into affordable housing. Should they have? Probably. Is that the fault of this developer? No.
Second: The stucco. I'm in the contruction business and calling this stucco is not really accurate. It is an architectural coating which is applied over rigid insulation and bonded in place with wire lathe. It is a VERY durable finish and if you look around, you will see that it is used extensively not only in Toronto, but around the world. It is considered at least as durable and preformed concrete panels (what most new condo buildings are clad in) and much easier and less expensive to maintain than brick in the long run. This is a TOTALLY differnent creature than the stucco you think of that coat Spanish-Style homes. It is not plaster-based, it is an engineered concrete veneer. I have lived in a building for ten years that is clad in exactly the same way and only last year (22 years after the building was built) was the first building envelope maintenance required. AND, it was completed quickly by the contractor and was inexpensive. Finally, for those environmentalists out there, this type of cladding provides significant insulative value over both brick and precast concrete.
Those are the two issues that bug me the most, off the top of my head.
I've been watching this forum for months now and I have to get a few things off my chest.
First: The architecture. From both the renderings and the work that has been completed to date, the design is NOT THAT BAD. In fact it is just fine. Not an architectural marvel of the New World, but not a bad looking building. If you don't like Art Deco, fine. Some do, some don't. But compared to EVERYTHING currently in the neighbourhood, it is a gem. St. Jamestown is an architectural disgrace. Even when it was built, it was ugly. The Star of Downtown, despite a terrible name and a joke of a marketing campaign does a lot to improve this area. I think, if critics are being honest, what they resent is the gentrification of the neibourhood that this development represents. No, the government did not turn this formerly vacant lot into affordable housing. Should they have? Probably. Is that the fault of this developer? No.
Second: The stucco. I'm in the contruction business and calling this stucco is not really accurate. It is an architectural coating which is applied over rigid insulation and bonded in place with wire lathe. It is a VERY durable finish and if you look around, you will see that it is used extensively not only in Toronto, but around the world. It is considered at least as durable and preformed concrete panels (what most new condo buildings are clad in) and much easier and less expensive to maintain than brick in the long run. This is a TOTALLY differnent creature than the stucco you think of that coat Spanish-Style homes. It is not plaster-based, it is an engineered concrete veneer. I have lived in a building for ten years that is clad in exactly the same way and only last year (22 years after the building was built) was the first building envelope maintenance required. AND, it was completed quickly by the contractor and was inexpensive. Finally, for those environmentalists out there, this type of cladding provides significant insulative value over both brick and precast concrete.
Those are the two issues that bug me the most, off the top of my head.