Absolutely disgusting. The architecture of this building is already dismal, now they are cutting back on the materials and interior details. This will be a major eyesore on our waterfront.
Proposed cut back to the building (renderings are found on the PDF posted by achender)
Loss of urban profile: the eighth floor penthouse, which established the distinctive stepping terraces called for in the approved East Bayfront precinct plan, has been eliminated, yielding a large, flat, suburban-style profile on the landside facades.
Predominance of service entries: despite repeated pleas from the Panel to explore a single entry drive into a consolidated service court – as is commonly required of other new buildings in Toronto – the eastern façade contains multiple truck bays.
Compromised atrium: the central glass-enclosed gather space, which served to break the massive profile of the building down two smaller wings and offered the possibility of functioning as a grand public space, has been watered down to a change in the window wall pattern on the south façade, and is occupied at grade with a characterless office area.
Reduction of Interaction with the Public Realm: the latest design shows decreased opportunities for public connection between at grade production studios, the large public open space at Jarvis Slip as well as the Public Promenade, limiting its “City TV-like†interactivity by replacing some of the operable garage door-like panels with fixed plate glass. There is a civic responsibility in defining the façade of a public space and creating such an important gateway. The street relationship, the animation, and openness to the public realm are all design parameters that should be carefully crafted to ensure the success of the building and its relationship to its context.
Substitution of materials: the black granite columns, which were intended to define the primary pedestrian arcade along the west façade of the building, are now proposed to be black-tinted pre-cast concrete – a permanent and highly- visible sign of cost-cutting which will degrade the public colonnade.
Loss of central feature: the “egg-like†conference room which appeared to float in the center of the atrium has been replaced with a conventional room, eliminating the only distinctive architectural form visible on the south façade from the water’s edge.
