Were the architects aiming for a bit of prison-industrial chic? If the panels had more sparkle or polish, there might have been a happy irony to them, or at least a rescue from what's becoming a meagrely textured monotony.
I have the nagging feeling they weren't meant to be quite this dull looking. That every building on this massive block has been similarly clad in the same damn panels, one gets the feeling something bureaucratic or financial got in the way of a good finish. The firm's work usually looks better-played than this.
I love the bases - the warm tint, the high fine columns. But the upper view is leaving me increasingly disappointed.

If anything, the upper floors are reminding me of Fred Victor Housing at Queen and Jarvis. I remember when it went up, and it had a similar 'jaunty industrial' vibe with it's new-fangled corrugated skin. Freshness and newness have a shelf life, though. After the initial glow wears off, what you've got is...what you've got.


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CanadianNational said:
Were the architects aiming for a bit of prison-industrial chic? If the panels had more sparkle or polish, there might have been a happy irony to them, or at least a rescue from what's becoming a meagrely textured monotony.
I have the nagging feeling they weren't meant to be quite this dull looking. That every building on this massive block has been similarly clad in the same damn panels, one gets the feeling something bureaucratic or financial got in the way of a good finish. The firm's work usually looks better-played than this.
I love the bases - the warm tint, the high fine columns. But the upper view is leaving me increasingly disappointed.

If anything, the upper floors are reminding me of Fred Victor Housing at Queen and Jarvis. I remember when it went up, and it had a similar 'jaunty industrial' vibe with it's new-fangled corrugated skin. Freshness and newness have a shelf life, though. After the initial glow wears off, what you've got is...what you've got.


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I absolutely agree that metal panel cladding, including corrugated metal cladding, tends to age badly on residential projects. It's unfortunate to see it as seemingly the cladding of choice for new laneway houses, with dents in the cladding from day 1. With that said, I think we're getting a much better quality product here that should age better.
 
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