~9 months ago UT, you read it here first.
Now........its public facing in the AIC.
www.toronto.ca
One storey bump to 11s, 189 residential units - purpose-based-rental...... your architecture firm is RAW.
A docs note for everyone, particularly
@Paclo The Arch Drawings are under 'Linked Document' .
Ground Floor Plan:
Elevators: 2
Elevator Ratio: 94.5 units per elevator
Comments: Great to see more purpose-built rental here, the overall height is reasonable, the streetwall at 6s is moderately aggressive, but fine and should get a nod here.
But on Massing/Aesthetics.........we need to talk.
I fail to understand the virtue in the forecourt. I get the argument that it breaks up the massing, but there are other ways to achieve that, it could be as simple as changing the brick colour, or some other suggestion that the block features 2 or 3 buildings, rather than 1.
Giving the building a universal podium would give the builder here more ft2, allow larger or more units, and create a better streetwall, possibly with one additional retail space.
Colour - some would be appreciated. This looks cold/sterile and would be visually out of character for The Junction. Ideally, I'd prefer the podium to be in real masonry, in either a heritage form of red or yellow brick. Pre-cast brick, can be well done, but usually is not.
I feel the the retail looks a bit squat in this design and would prefer one of the following:
1) Slightly increase the height of the ground floor, and add room for a signage band between it and the second floor.
Or
2) Make the second floor 'fit' with the commercial (can still be residential) by omitting the balconies on that level, and by placing a signage band above the storefronts and then a visual cornice (separation) between floors 2 and 3 (no actual setback just a coda between the lowest 2 levels and the next space up.
Unit sizes: The 2 bedrooms vary from slightly tight (634ft2 to a very reasonable 800ft2); but the 1 bdrms can be as small as ~450ft2, which is really more a studio than a 1 bdrm. I would prefer to get all the 1brrms above 500ft2.
The plans show one 3 bedroom as small as 650ft2 with others cresting 1,000ft2. The former is just silly and if not a typo is completely unreasonable.
On Landscape, the street trees in the City ROW show adequate conditions, but not ideal. (partial soil cell, just meeting soil volume requirements, hard sidewalk between trees. I would prefer to see open soil between the trees if/where feasible (with grates if flush w/the sidewalk. If the soil volume could get a modest bump, bonus. Tulip trees (non-native) are proposed for the forecourt that I would suggest removing. While Hackberry and Elm are proposed along the sidewalk (native).
No irrigation for street trees.
Final thought.......the laneway will be widened to 5m.........? I'm fine w/it.......but the City is usually insistent on 6m.... just saying.
