bgobgo
Active Member
I 100% wholeheartedly agree!! Please add the square footage of that tower to the other proposed towers down Bay Street if need be.
I 100% wholeheartedly agree!! Please add the square footage of that tower to the other proposed towers down Bay Street if need be.
E.B.
Active Member
+1
Mithras
Active Member
While I don't think a glass box plunked on the top of the Dominion building would be considerate to that building I do think that a wedding caked tower behind it could be very interesting. If you cantilevered floating floors over the roof of the building (maybe starting about 40 feet up from the roof) using it as a partially covered roof for a terrace on the roof of the Dominion building (how great would a restaurant there be like that?!?), where the floor floated above and then each next one stepped back visibly diminishing the presence over the Dominion building it could be very striking while still leaving the old to stand by itself.
And don't think for a second that London ( and Paris etc) don't tack modern onto old ALL THE TIME. They just usually do it better, with more tact and taste. But they do do it all the time. People here live in some sort of dream world where everywhere else is better. London has plenty of new and utterly banal architecture too.
And don't think for a second that London ( and Paris etc) don't tack modern onto old ALL THE TIME. They just usually do it better, with more tact and taste. But they do do it all the time. People here live in some sort of dream world where everywhere else is better. London has plenty of new and utterly banal architecture too.
Tewder
Senior Member
They also have scads and scads of 'old'. We don't. These considerations have to be site-specific. A blending of old and new can be appropriate and works well in Toronto in so many many instances, just not here.
Big Daddy
Senior Member
Are we actively discussing the merits of a project that hasn't even been announced yet?
Critique
Active Member
Why is that a surprise? Has happened many times before, and its all based off the renders, so nothing incredibly off topic here.
dowlingm
Senior Member
The problem with the Dominion building is the owner. One would think the mandate from the current government is asset maximisation. There are no Tory MPs in the area to pressure, assuming that they could be bothered to oppose or that PMO cares what they think. An architectural argument alone is unlikely to have traction. The only thing which might get in the way is if some sort of patriotic/military angle could be found which would bestir Tory donors, heritage organizations etc to protest.
The other option would be to buy out the Feds but they will want site value not value in current state for the reasons mentioned above.
The other option would be to buy out the Feds but they will want site value not value in current state for the reasons mentioned above.
dowlingm
Senior Member
Apologies if this was previously noted upthread, but since Waterfront East/Bayfront East LRT has bubbled up I went looking for the Union Streetcar loop redesign plan. I came across this drawing from the Environmental Assessment. If that reflects current thinking on the issue, would it not impinge on the edge of both the northern and southern halves of this project?
http://stevemunro.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/UnionLoopFromEA.pdf
http://stevemunro.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/UnionLoopFromEA.pdf
It would not stop it going forward. (Look at everything built above it already anyway!) It could easily be designed around, and in fact the excavation for 45 Bay would give them better access to build at least part of the new loop at the same time.
42
42
Northern Magus
Active Member
This. And since any plans for what's below the surface of 45 Bay are clearly preliminary and unapproved, it's difficult to think that the streetcar loop expansion can't be worked around or integrated.
drum118
Superstar
If they were smart, they wouldn't build a loop there. The best thing would be through tracks.
To do this would require a new tunnel on Yonge St that would have a T connection at QQ like the one plan for Bay.
This is also another example not going duel end, as stub tracks would be better over the loop and you could have more tracks in the same space..
Cars going only to Union from the west would use the Yonge tunnel to get to the station and use Bay like they do today to go west. The east section would use Bay to the station and Yonge to go east.
The station need to be built for 20,000 at peak time since the proposed Bay loop is only good for 10-12,000 and a nightmare for operation.
One needs to think about the future for an loop even if plans aren't on the table at this time. Its the same thing as the Eglinton plan bus terminal. You come up with a plan for the loop and then design the rest of the building around it.
It will cost more, but slove a whole lot of problems.
To do this would require a new tunnel on Yonge St that would have a T connection at QQ like the one plan for Bay.
This is also another example not going duel end, as stub tracks would be better over the loop and you could have more tracks in the same space..
Cars going only to Union from the west would use the Yonge tunnel to get to the station and use Bay like they do today to go west. The east section would use Bay to the station and Yonge to go east.
The station need to be built for 20,000 at peak time since the proposed Bay loop is only good for 10-12,000 and a nightmare for operation.
One needs to think about the future for an loop even if plans aren't on the table at this time. Its the same thing as the Eglinton plan bus terminal. You come up with a plan for the loop and then design the rest of the building around it.
It will cost more, but slove a whole lot of problems.
dowlingm
Senior Member
The problem with building some of the streetcar loop in conjunction with 45 Bay though is that Waterfront Toronto and TTC have gotta have the money to put their shovels in the ground at the right time, and hope to hell their contractors don't blow their timetable and by extension 45 Bay's. In January 2013, TTC reported to council that Waterfront Toronto only had $90m total for a project cost they estimated to total close to $400m, and only $13m of the $90m was actual committed cash rather than future revenues. A start to the loop project could eat $13m in no time.
drum118: last time I saw a drawing of Queens Quay-Bay it was to be a Y junction. Discussion of that is probably best on Transportation though.
drum118: last time I saw a drawing of Queens Quay-Bay it was to be a Y junction. Discussion of that is probably best on Transportation though.
drum118
Superstar
There has alway been a view by TTC and Waterfront Toronto that the QQ line would be a full east-west line to allow service to bypass Union to get people to where they were going faster than change cars at Union. TTC saw cars coming from Broadview Station going to the CNE using the QQ line as well from the Portland area.
This e-w line has been part of the approved Master Transit EA plan starting in 2004 which I was part of and still am.
As for the money, that an issue and needs to be part of section 37 as well more funding from Metrolinx and the city. TTC has made a mess of the loop and cost and doing some buck passing to off set other cost elsewhere.
Having all transit in one area will help everyone and this project.
ushahid
Senior Member
what are the chances of the tallest one getting build? any guesses?
travis3000
Active Member
^ that tower is still 10 years away . Anything can happen in that time. It hasn't even been approved yet by council. We don't even know the official details yet. Apparently more info/ announcement is coming soon.