taal said:
So I guess we'll now find out if they're doing the sidewalks ... the most important part.
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For me, it's preferable that they don't do anything to the sidewalks without a larger plan for public realm design on Bay Street in the Financial District. The look of a random patchwork of privatized sidewalks doesn't really appeal to me.
 
adma said:
What bugs me most about the new podium is the architectural "indentation" to accomodate the electronic sign on the corner--yeah, as if such a sign is or should be a permanent architectural feature...
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They seem to be flavour of the month on quite a few of the downtown office buildings. Let's hope it won't be any more unpleasant looking than the one they had before ... and that the fashion will pass.

That huge skirt of a podium, swirling around the entire complex, never was much of a looker in the first place, and the marble was subject to the same discolouration as the tower, so I'm glad they've fixed that problem. Today I noticed they're working on the podium at the north side of the building. With the tower - specifically the new, bold corners - the subtlety of how the windows negotiated the notched corners is a sad loss, since there was so little that could be called subtle or interesting about FCP. But I like how the new vitreous cladding tends to reflect the sky conditions, downplaying the mass of the tower.
 
Urban Shocker said:
. But I like how the new vitreous cladding tends to reflect the sky conditions, downplaying the mass of the tower.
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I agree. The marble, at least in my memory, was always dull and somewhat dingy (I've been in T.O. for 22 years, give or take). I really don't ever remember it gleaming as it does in the lobby. Having a matte surface like that can be interesting if contrasted with glass, or if left "roughed up" and accented with carving, as in the Richardson Romanesque buildings, but FCP just always seemed like a big white tower of meh. The photos I've seen with the glass, especially on a partly cloudy day with a blue sky and a few clouds, really change the whole feel of the building. I'll still shake my fist at it for obliterating the Star and BMO buildings, but perhaps less strenuously.
 
I'd rather they tear down the podium and build a highrise on that corner. It's wasted space in my opinion, and creates too open a feeling when walking north up Bay. I'm all for airy spaces, but I like my downtown cores to be downright claustrophobic and overwhelming.

Or, bonus move, rebuild the original BMO building stone-for-stone. I wish.
 
The_Architect said:
Now that is something I could get behind!
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Sigh.

The photos that show the FCP tower completed, but the BMO building holding on, but in the process of coming down, just make me sad. Such a lovely Deco building with such an interesting history, replaced by something so inferior.
 
New towers leave empty space in iconic buildings

To make their older buildings competitive, landlords have been embarking on large-scale renovations. One of the most aggressive is at First Canadian Place, built in 1975, with owner Brookfield Office Properties spending upward of $100-million. According to Brookfield, of the 9 per cent of First Canadian Place that is vacant, only 1.3 per cent is available for immediate tenant possession. The rest of the empty space is slated for renovation this year.

“You have to continually make the appropriate investment to make sure your product is marketable,” said Jan Sucharda, president and chief executive officer of Brookfield’s Canadian commercial operations.

Improvements include replacement of aging marble cladding with glass, upgraded lobbies, flooring and elevators, a new food court, a modernized heating, cooling and ventilation system and a goal for LEED Gold status by the end of this year.

“When we’re done, First Canadian Place will be the newest of the new builds,” Mr. Sucharda said.
More........http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo... RSS/Atom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2312114
 
Jan 27
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Mississauga Slim said:
The podium appears to be made of LEGO. With a snap-on BMO logo. Looks out of place in the financial district.
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Well I was down in the financial district yesterday. And out of place or not, this makeover looks fantastic.

Will likely go down as the greatest ever restoration of an office tower in Canadian History.

Just my opinion of course but the scale of the restoration on the tower and podium is sheer mindblowing!!!
 
Nick. said:
it looks modern, sorry if this offends you
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"Modern" has nothing to do with it. Imagine you were assigned the task of making scale models of downtown Toronto buildings, but with the restriction that the only material you were allowed to use was LEGO blocks. With the vast majority of buildings in the business district, all you would be able to manage would be a crude approximation of what the building really looks like. But with the new FCP podium, you could actually get it pretty damn close.
 
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Mississauga Slim said:
"Modern" has nothing to do with it. Imagine you were assigned the task of making scale models of downtown Toronto buildings, but with the restriction that the only material you were allowed to use was LEGO blocks. With the vast majority of buildings in the business district, all you would be able to manage would be a crude approximation of what the building really looks like. But with the new FCP podium, you could actually get it pretty damn close.
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and? is this a problem somehow?
 
I dont get the objection, either.

When a city's largest building is also its least attractive (as it was) a makeover of this calibre creates a huge net improvement to the overall core.

In fact I think the combination of FCP (white), TD (black), Scotia (bronze), RBC (gold), Trump (green), CIBC (steel), BCE (grey) together present an interesting set of bold crisp colours.

The podium is very fine. I dont care if you describe it as lego or modern...
 
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