caltrane74 said:
Thankfully this one has few balconies on the higher floors. Lets see if they can make that smooth glass at the top a reality.

Balconies suck as far as the exterior of the building is concerned, I'll have to assume they're a important selling feature for condo buyers though.
Click to expand...

Balconies can often compromise a condominium's exterior but then so do curtains & blinds once people start moving into many of these new floor-ceiling glass buildings. We tend to get all excited looking at shiny renderings but try to re-imagine them when they are being lived in. Balconies and glass condos can have unfortunate consequences.
 
I don't mind the look of a lived-in glass condo - the anarchic pattern behind the windows adds the human touch to an otherwise big boxy machine for living. Certain architects may have designed the dresses they were hoping the happy homemakers would parade around in as part of their grand design, but I'm glad that we don't as a rule accept that much direction in our lives. Condo purchasers normally have to agree to put up neutral colour blinds or curtains for fear of jarring the delicate sensibilities of those gazing upon the real estate, and that's as far as they should have to go to appease market forces - I say let the glass box condo dwellers do whatever they can to add life to the big sleek and shiny objects.

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Tewder said:
I would prefer the stark contrast of glass and modern here, whereby both buildings get to stand out through their juxtoposition to each other. It's working well at the Distillery (ducking the rotten fruit that will be lobbed) and I think it would really work well here. I am not an enemy of 'faux', but I think in this context it does a disservice to the older original building, as well as to itself. Of course limestone accents with glass would always be welcomed!
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I think the difference btw/the Distillery and here is that here, we're not dealing with a "district", ergo there's more leeway and less contentiousness.

Methinks those who'd object to a shiny-glass-tower neighbour to College Park et al could be more easily pigeonholed as reactionary farts than those objecting to shiny glass towers within the Distillery District...
 
interchange42 said:
I don't mind the look of a lived-in glass condo - the anarchic pattern behind the windows adds the human touch to an otherwise big boxy machine for living. 42
Click to expand...

There are times when that exposed portion of the interior life is more interesting than the actual building cladding.
 
1.jpg
 
A rather small unit. Where is it located?


They could always mount that to the futuristic Mississauga gondola.
 
adma said:
I think the difference btw/the Distillery and here is that here, we're not dealing with a "district", ergo there's more leeway and less contentiousness.
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Yes, I'm speaking more generally of the aesthetic of the contrast, not of the specifics of the extenuating circumstances involved which are obviously extremely contentious (hence my ducking).
 
Some updates:

  • 75 Floors, 245 meters.
  • Design has changed quite a bit since the rendering posted a couple pages back
  • Podium will be a very modern glassy structure with strips of granite running through it
  • upper portion of tower will be slimmer then the rending posted
  • developer volunteered to participate in an international design review panel. I believe that there were 5 architectural firms + the City of Toronto reviewing the design and some modifications were made following their comments - a couple of the firms were from outside of Canada.
  • balconies are not likely on upper floors due to wind conditions
  • no mullions on upper floors. A very expensive window wall system will be installed at the highest elevation ever done in Canada.
  • sales to commence in early 2008 - that is subject to change however.
  • details are still changing
 
I'm not sure if that if that is roof level or some kind of mech or architectural feature.
 
Mike in TO said:
Some updates:

  • 75 Floors, 245 meters.
  • Design has changed quite a bit since the rendering posted a couple pages back
  • Podium will be a very modern glassy structure with strips of granite running through it
  • upper portion of tower will be slimmer then the rending posted
  • developer volunteered to participate in an international design review panel. I believe that there were 5 architectural firms + the City of Toronto reviewing the design and some modifications were made following their comments - a couple of the firms were from outside of Canada.
  • balconies are not likely on upper floors due to wind conditions
  • no mullions on upper floors. A very expensive window wall system will be installed at the highest elevation ever done in Canada.
  • sales to commence in early 2008 - that is subject to change however.
  • details are still changing
Click to expand...

There's some exciting news here, especially the design review panel. Sounds very promising.
 
Okay - I'm quite keen to see the latest rendering. G + C plus some direction may be quite good. (I'm dying to know who the other firms on the panel were.) I suppose we may be waiting as long as another three months to find out the results though...

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Thanks for the update Mike.

What has been missing (and perhaps forgotten by everyone) from the last rendering's POV... is how the east and west facades relate to each other. The glass curtain wall was not simply identical on both sides with a "peak" at the top.

The elevations I posted back in July 2006 showed how the 2 sides spiralled to the top .... which was no longer visible because of the angle of the last render... if you look at the elevation below, (viewed from the north), you can see the "spiral" clearly.


....
Mike... do you know if this "spiral" has survived the design changes (presumably narrower based on your update)???

Thanks.

rocp3.jpg
 
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