We'll see what we wind up getting with KPMB, but the most impressive aspect of that ODA design to me isn't the tower (which I personally find to be busy, inelegant, and unresolved for the most part), it's the low-rise portion:

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Hmm, east end , Parliment St., 166m ??.......I'm sure the city is nervous about approving anything that tall @ this location
OMB settlement was approved by council in 2017:
2. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to advise the Ontario Municipal Board that City Council supports a settlement in principle of the Official Plan Amendment and rezoning appeal related to 31R Parliament Street, 370 and 370R Cherry Street substantially in accordance with the following principles:
[...]
b. the development will consist of: a tower with a maximum height of 165.7 metres (including mechanical penthouse); a maximum tower floorplate of 910 square metres and a podium extending eastward toward Cherry Street (referred to as the Ribbon Building) with a maximum height of 23.7 metres and a maximum gross floor area of 67,400 square metres
 
Definitely digging that oval "knuckle" structure in the middle, but I wish they was more diversity in the facades on the ribbon building- while I enjoy the historical references that they pull from the context, it's a long building and having that same glass and dark metal facade across its entire length doesn't make it feel particularly lively.

No comment on the tower- it'll probably feel similar to One Yorkville but it makes no concessions regarding its mass.

Also, I wonder if they're leaving any provisions for a possible pedestrian connection down to the 3C Waterfront (as envisioned by Cormier), or is that dead now?
 
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Also, I wonder if they're leaving any provisions for a possible pedestrian connection down to the 3C Waterfront (as envisioned by Cormier), or is that dead now?
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Do other "world class" cities have developers putting forth crap like this in heritage locations like distillery district? This is a crap effort.
 

Good to see, through it's definitely not as ambitious as Cormier's plans. That one was basically an underground plaza (likely impossible with the way infrastructure tends to be segregated in this city), while this looks to be more of a corridor.

Overall second take- I like the neo-historicist facades on the ribbon building, but I think they should mix up the formula throughout its length, as it'll get boring. For example- where's the brick?

The tower is more or less pro-forma-ed to the max (basically a decorated 50-storey shed), and is fairly unapologetic about its massing in the context- I wonder what the DRP had to say?
 

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