Lenser
Senior Member
That distinctive mansard roof hat gives it a certain presence.
- Thread starter FNTS
- Start date
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
Why are the hallways lit bug zapper blue?
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's something Equinix does with all their data centres. I'd imagine there's less heat generated with blue lights than standard LEDs? Don't quote me on that second part
Dr. Snoot
Active Member
I pretty much hate this. Kills an entire City block in a prime tourist area right downtown, next to a future transit hub. Nothing like walking along a blank, flat wall for 80 metres to excite the senses. Also, the sidewalks look quite stingy even if they have plopped in some bench seating or whatever. I love the renders that show it populated, like some sort of agora, people languishing at the corner. Why would I EVER want to sit there? Maybe if I collapse from boredom.
The building also looms over and compeltely overwhelms the beautiful heritage property to the north. This proposal cries out for setbacks, or some attempt to mimic the roofline of that building. Credit to the architects for trying to break up the fantastically terrible form with interesting materials, but there's no saving that this is essentially a giant cardboard box.
The building also looms over and compeltely overwhelms the beautiful heritage property to the north. This proposal cries out for setbacks, or some attempt to mimic the roofline of that building. Credit to the architects for trying to break up the fantastically terrible form with interesting materials, but there's no saving that this is essentially a giant cardboard box.
picard102
Senior Member
Exactly, they don't need some employee knocking over the self heated mugs into a box of papers that starts a fire, and because someone wouldn't get out of the fire trucks way the whole building burns down.
DavidCapizzano
Senior Member
cant wait for everyone to say how cool this looks when its done
Midtown Urbanist
Superstar
Exactly. It isn't lost on me that the existing data centre (see UT article above) is among the most visually interesting buildings that have been built in downtown in recent years.
Whether that says more about the data centre's ambitions, or the lack-thereof of Toronto condo developers, it is clear by the current proposal that this vision to present us with something interesting rather than just a utility bunker is being continued for this site.
timothe.dubois
New Member
Possible preliminary site prep happening:
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DSC
Superstar
Well, it is right beside the Ontario Line station where the government is trying to encourage density and people. It really no longer fits there, if it ever did. I will not be surprised to see the site change hands and be developed as residential.
timothe.dubois
New Member
Confirmed with the planner: this project has been cancelled.
UrbanAffair
Senior Member
Interesting. Both interesting about Ontario line being so close as a possible reason for cancellation here, and also I wonder if the proponent of this build saw the possible corporate push back in to offices, and decided it made less sense to build now? I could be totally wrong, but my thinking was along the lines of, while both situations use a lot of data, being at home means all collaboration is done online, along with much more video conferencing. If that was going to be the status quo, it might make sense to build, but without, maybe it makes less sense? I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.
Given this was proposed well prior to the pandemic, I am sure it's for other reasons at least initially, but maybe this last reason provided the push.
Given this was proposed well prior to the pandemic, I am sure it's for other reasons at least initially, but maybe this last reason provided the push.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Data is never in short supply so it's curious they're choosing not to proceed. Allied's most valuable buildings, for example, are by far and away their data centres, not their office holdings.
jxmith_
Active Member
From my understanding, data is data- and the key to these locations were proximity to a main hub line. They seemed ambitious with design, even after the cost overruns on the first site (they unearthed a brick holding pen complete with decades old chemical sludge). If someone wanted density though, the car lot next door is a much larger property to build on- so I wonder if things are being assembled. With the province owning the distillery building on Mill/Trinity maybe they’re helping their developer friends MZO what’s left of the block.
evandyk
Senior Member
The province has already released napkin sketches of what they plan to have built on the car wash lot. The exact details are in the First Parliament Site thread, but I think that lot is planned for an office tower (20+ storeys) and a residential tower (40+ storeys). But the lot will be used for subway construction for the next 10 years, so it's a long time away.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Indeed. The desire for the lowest latency fuels these buildings being 'downtown' structures and not things that can be constructed out in Vaughan or Pickering. Even though the delay is measured in milliseconds, it's still there and it only gets longer with physical distance.