DtTO said:
Balconies in general are terrible and I hope the city moves away from this trend. Most people rarely use their balconies in the upper floor counts, and they just end up blocking your view 99.9% of the time. When I'm looking for a condo, especially a higher floor one, I'll either look for one with no balconies or small balconies in the corner or something (like Ten York). Adding those screens obviously makes it worse, but balconies in general suck for views. At least from the outside, this building looks better with the screen than the ugly wrap around balconies aA likes to put up everywhere.
Click to expand...
Balconies in general are great, as long as their desired well, and I hope developers provide deeper ones on more buildings in the future so you can fit comfortable furniture out there. People would use them more often on higher floors if they were sheltered from the wind on three sides.

The higher you live in a building, the more desperately you need a connection to the outside world as you're less likely to descend in an elevator to the ground "to get some fresh air". There's no reason why balconies cannot be designed to preserve views: punched screens, if used, need to have large enough holes to feel see-through… but issues with whistling noises through the screens may spell the end of that trend soon enough anyway, and it'll be back to glass.

Condo dwellers who don't spend any time on their balconies are missing one of the joys of summer in Toronto.

42
 
I think the screens are kinda cool actually. For the hot months this will do a great job breaking some of the sun hitting the windows. I can also imagine the light play you'll get will be pretty interesting at dusk and dawn, and finally there's a certain level of privacy that it achieves without being a completely flat wall. I'm all for these interesting additions and happy to see architects like Varacalli breaking from the "Toronto Mould" of typical balconies. 3XN working with terraces down along Bayside is another great example.
 
Yikes, don't like that. I love looking out at my view. Would hate to look at those giant grates. Reminds me of Picasso. Some of the units in that building are dark as hell.
 
WislaHD said:
I wouldn't mind more Juliette balconies in the city. Good compromise?
Click to expand...
I have a Juliet. I find it not very useful.

It's nice to be able to stick your head out, but I would never leave the door open for more than a few minutes because it zaps out the air conditioning which is bad for the environment.
 
The flip side is you get some shade. I guess it's not as much of a problem in a new building with central HVAC though, I'm used to living in post-war apartment towers.
 
WislaHD said:
I wouldn't mind more Juliette balconies in the city. Good compromise?
Click to expand...

Juliette balconies are the worst of both worlds.

I can't enjoy my coffee on a balcony reading the paper whilst leaning out of what is essentially a window that is lying about being a door, and it ruins the sleek lines of a building that we all so desperately crave from today's architects that omit balconies.

What I want is for the piddly little 3 foot by 20 foot balconies that developers are in a mad rush to put up everywhere to go die in a hole, and a return to the square(r) shapes that allow for actual furniture to be put on them again. That way you would have more of the unobstructed views discussed above in addition to the nice place for me to lounge in my fluffiest bathrobe.
 
A couple more:
IMG_1154.jpg
IMG_1148.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1154.jpg
    IMG_1154.jpg
    384.9 KB · Views: 689
  • IMG_1148.jpg
    IMG_1148.jpg
    482 KB · Views: 666
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top