First time I've been disappointed to hear a project is HPA. So with this and Bloor & Bathurst, is the dream of BIG in Toronto dead now?

Agreed 100% usually I'd be happy to hear HP. I just wanted a bjarke. With all the growth Toronto has seen why can we not use more outside firms?
 
April 07
I can't find anything wrong for this proposal, though other may.

Rental units only with 472 units including 18 3 bedroom.

7 floors of office space including in the new tower.

Construction would like to get underway in late 2016

PDF photo will follow once the mods get them, but here what I have.

16865542207_aa01c7565b_b.jpg


16885165508_69751718dd_b.jpg


17071476372_e4cb3e0636_b.jpg


16885405960_28a80e8c94_b.jpg


16886736899_94c5934553_b.jpg
 
Looks like they're colouring inside the lines in more ways than one:


17046998226_6fa6d384df_b.jpg

DSC02993 by drum118, on Flickr


186 metres seems kind of short for a 57-storey tower that includes 6 floors of office.
 
Last edited:
I usually don't really share my reactions to new designs but that is just horrid :(, especially from a firm like HP. Especially dislike the ground level; reminiscent of suburban office parks like this one:

GRQiq8k.jpg


Tower itself is original-WTC-like, narrow slats, no visual interest, (grey), and the random line of balconies looks very out of place. Can't say I like much about this proposal, sadly.
 
It's definitely vanilla. But I don't see too much of a problem.

I might be cutting the developers too much slack, but I think a box kinda makes sense here. As a neighbour, M/G will not be fun to compete with, architecturally or otherwise. Barring some ostentatious or truly spectacular effort (which, who knows, Ingels might've brought to the table), this tower is probably destined to fade into the background anyways.

Quality cladding (pending) and a holistic heritage effort (looking good so far) are my main concerns here.
 
Damn what a dissapointment. So much hope only to be letdown by another local architect. I swear there needs to be some moratorium on architects from this city. It's like they have no imagination. Always the same crap.
 
Last edited:
It's definitely vanilla. But I don't see too much of a problem.

I might be cutting the developers too much slack, but I think a box kinda makes sense here. As a neighbour, M/G will not be fun to compete with, architecturally or otherwise. Barring some ostentatious or truly spectacular effort (which, who knows, Ingels might've brought to the table), this tower is probably destined to fade into the background anyways.

Quality cladding (pending) and a holistic heritage effort (looking good so far) are my main concerns here.

Agreed. Not every building need to look iconic - quality cladding would have done wonders instead.

Damn what a dissapointment. So much hope only to be letdown by another local architect. I swear there needs to be some moratorium on architects from this city. It's like they have no imagination. Always the same crap.

Really? Have you been paying attention to The Well? Or 1 BE? Or Five? Or Santiago Baha'i Temple?

AoD
 
Last edited:
Really? Have you been paying attention to The Well? Or 1 BE? Or Five? Or Santiago Baha'i Temple?

AoD

The only one that excites me is The Well. Don't really find anything special about 1 Bloor East or FIVE. I mean they are alright and won't complain but they don't really excite me. Look at what Westbank came up with when they went with a foreign firm for their designs in Calgary and Vancouver and look at the garbage we are getting when they went local.
 
I don't mind this design at all. It's nothing extraordinary but it's not horrendous either. Pretty middling. If the cladding is well done, that will go a long way towards making this thing a worthy addition to the skyline.
 
Yikes. This is definitely a let down from HP. it seems the design is having an identity conflict. Very 60s modernist vertical cladding panel resolving on the bottom before rising to a contemporary glass box roof over the heritage building and then again returning to some mix of neomodern and modern treatments above. It just doesn't work. If they simplify the design and stuck to one motif and actually got rid of the balconies here or inset them then this might get better. Again HP is taking directions from the developer here and this is rental so they may not want to splurge at all on architectural finesse due to the slower returns on the property but still...

I await the revised design.
 
Just my opinion but I actually like the 60's modernist touch to the building...
 
The only one that excites me is The Well. Don't really find anything special about 1 Bloor East or FIVE. I mean they are alright and won't complain but they don't really excite me. Look at what Westbank came up with when they went with a foreign firm for their designs in Calgary and Vancouver and look at the garbage we are getting when they went local.

Westbank has numerous projects in Vancouver. Most are locally designed. I think this one will rate quite favourably as the design progresses. I suspect more are to come in Toronto too. This one is also an Allied/Westbank partnership.
 
It would look much better without the balconies and that midway cutout. If the vertical stripes had a bit more contrast and high quality glass was used it could look pretty great. It's a bit messy as is.
 

Back
Top