Sure, you may get some reflected light in the mornings into your unit. The amount will depend to a great deal upon what the final massing and cladding of 45 The Esplanade is, but we won't know what that is for a while.
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- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
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Northern Light
Superstar
City Planning lacks enthusiasm for this one, in its current form, based on the Preliminary Report, which is headed to the next meeting of TEYCC:
From the above:
Followed by:
From the above:
Followed by:
Newintown
New Member
Any updates or news about when construction is supposed to start??
DSC
Superstar
Not for a while, at least. The shelter lease has been renewed until spring 2023 and nothing has been approved.
junctionist
Senior Member
This building shouldn't even be demolished. It should have heritage status. It's a beloved building and appears in so many wedding photos.
Rimawi
New Member
Maybe we should start a petition to designate the current bulging heritage status. It would be such a shame it lose it
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
ProjectEnd
Superstar
This isn't going to look like what we've seen to date, but there's no way in high heaven the existing building is getting listed / designated.
junctionist
Senior Member
There have been some relatively new buildings that were heritage listed, like 110 Charles Street West.
DavidCapizzano
Senior Member
That's because 110 Charles is an exceptionally well designed and built building - the Novotel is not.
junctionist
Senior Member
I disagree. The colonnade of 45 The Esplanade is a great design feature that provides shade in the summer and protects pedestrians from the elements, which 110 Charles Street West lacks. It's a more unique and attractive design than its proposed replacement.
The attractive Old World Neoclassical design of 45 The Esplanade makes that stretch of the Esplanade unique. It's a great example of Postmodern design. But it's no longer a popular style, so its buildings are now at greatest risk. We can't let these great buildings be demolished. Subsequent generations will think we dropped the ball on preserving great buildings.
evandyk
Senior Member
I think we've covered this already in the thread, but that colonnade is dingy and gross, and I would never walk under it unless it was raining cats and dogs. Good riddance.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Again, what you've seen ain't the final project.
And if what's so desirable here is a strata agreement where the right of way is permitted to stretch under a building, maybe that's the policy fight we need to have. Hong Kong and Singapore have both done this for almost a hundred years with the Shop House typology. We don't permit it here for the same reason that 'shadow' is a perennially negative term: because we've arbitrability decided that it's somehow symbolic of 'developer greed' and concluded that it's a singularly bad thing. But tell Planning and Urban Design that...
At the end of the day, above the admittedly-interesting colonnade this is just a stucco/EFIS-clad, mid-rise hotel. What's the argument for heritage preservation? We've lost far better buildings for far less.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
I'm of the strong opinion that they should least preserve the colonnade. But I am also for replacing that stucco/EFIS-clad crap with more quality minimalist material. And include it into their overall design of the new building...
...in doing so though, classifying that colonnade as heritage (highly unlikely to happen) would be the worst thing, 'cause they wouldn't be able even to do that with it. So heritage is not the answer here, IMO. Plain ole feedback might be more effective instead.
...in doing so though, classifying that colonnade as heritage (highly unlikely to happen) would be the worst thing, 'cause they wouldn't be able even to do that with it. So heritage is not the answer here, IMO. Plain ole feedback might be more effective instead.
LUVIT!
Senior Member
I found the Colonnade here interesting and pleasant and always liked the feeling while I walked through. This being one of the only places with a European feeling in TO and thought with our harsh winters there should be more attempts to protect us from the elements while out. I never thought of this as dingy or gross but quite the opposite.