"This is a bona fide design change."

Yeh I think the changes are beyond the artistic license of the renderer. While the massing hasn't changed much, the facade details with their geometric pattern are gone, the crown is also less pronounced. The original design probably went through a boardroom and they've compromised it to this incarnation. Still doesn't look too bad, but I much preferred the original.
 
Love it. Timeless, elegant. With the right curtainwall, a soaring beacon in Y+B.
 
Alvin,

I think the change in form between the hotel and condo section weakens the design
Click to expand...

I would agree. If they were going to make changes, they should have stuck with a point tower. The two-part structure takes away from the design.
 
Even still, in the end the design may end up looking like neither rendering. Its unfortunately a part of reality. Really, the type of glass and the overall quality of construction can make a magnificently rendered building into a 1 King West.
 
Rendering

Does anyone think that this rendering somewhat looks like the rendering of the advertisement for the Bay South building? I think the general stucture is quite the same, only with the addition of balconies.
 
Re: Rendering

I don't mind the inset to the top part of the tower. It seems to increase the impact of the height, and taken as a whole the profile looks a little more interesting to me than would another box. I like boxes fine, by the way, but we do seem to have quite enough of them.
 
Re: Rendering

I agree that God will be in the details and that much will ride on the facade skin.

I think we were all hoping that the tower/complex would have a little more visual flare/creativity and not appear so conservative/corporate. That is where the disappointment lies with me. It has a chance of being redeemed if the facade/cladding is of higher quality than what is presently being used in standard condos (see Cityplace or 1 King St. W.) and the details are well executed.
 
It will be a higher quality. It's going to be curtainwall and not windowwall, so it certainly won't look cheap. Tho it will look decidedly corporate/commercial by the time its done, there's no way around that.
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

Now that I can see the rendering clearly I would have to say it looks, well, kind of uninspiring. The height might give it some drama but it looks like middle-of-the-road contemporary toronto architecture, by which I mean not bad but not great either. The podium could redeem the building at ground level, however I don't have a clear concept of it at present even based on the renderings shown.
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

For sure I liked the orignal. However, this is still an awesome looking structure, and will be very present in the city's views.
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070...cquisition

Mon Feb 12, 6:41 PM ET

Four Seasons to go private in $3.4B deal


TORONTO - Luxury hotel operator Four Seasons Hotels Inc. said Monday it agreed to accept a $3.37 billion going-private offer from its chief executive and firms owned by Bill Gates and a Saudi prince.

Under the terms of the agreement, parties including Gates' Cascade Investment LLC, Kingdom Hotels International and Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons' chairman and chief executive, will buy the Toronto company for $82 per share. Kingdom Hotels is owned by a trust created by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a nephew of the late King Fahd and one of the richest businessmen in the Middle East.

When the transaction is completed, Sharp will receive a one-time payment of $289 million related to a long-term incentive agreement approved by the company's shareholders in 1989.

The price represents a premium of 28 percent over the company's closing price on Nov. 3, the last trading day on the New York Stock Exchange before the announcement of the bid. Including assumed debt, the company valued the deal at $3.8 billion.

Four Seasons' shares fell $2.52, or 3 percent, to close at $81.36.

The company's board of directors has already approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to shareholder approval, among other conditions. Shareholders will vote on the deal in April.

"I am delighted that the board, after considering the recommendations developed by the Special Committee and its advisers, has determined to support what I believe is the best way to preserve and expand the long-term strategy, vision and core values of Four Seasons," Sharp said in a statement Monday.

Under an agreement Sharp made with the company in 1989, if the company were to be sold, he would receive a payment based on the sale price, plus another payment if the price per share was 25 percent higher than the weighted average trading price for the preceding six months.

That's how his $289 million, one-time payment was calculated. Under the deal, Sharp and his family would also retain a 10 percent ownership stake after the company goes private, with remaining shares split between the private equity companies owned by Gates and Prince Alwaleed.

The transaction will be implemented by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement under Ontario law.

Four Seasons currently operates 73 hotels in 31 countries, and has more than 25 other properties under development.
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

here's a new rendering from the today's G&M...

digs09re_230.jpg
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

Looks a lot better, though I still prefer the old one...not that this is drastically different.
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

And the article in today's G&M:

Derek Raymaker
Empty nesters are cashing out and moving up
From Friday's Globe and Mail

If you've got the bread, someone's got the spread.

New super-luxury condominium projects were once few and far between in Toronto, with one launched every couple of years. That seemed to change in 2004 with the launch of the 70-storey Trump Hotel and Tower in the heart of the Bay Street financial district. The Trump site has languished unbuilt since then, with rumours swirling around the development industry that low sales have doomed it.

No matter. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences on Wellington and Simcoe Streets is now under construction, with over 70 per cent of suites sold, as is 100 Yorkville and the Hazelton Hotel and Private Residences in Yorkville. All were launched in 2004 and struck a chord with high-end buyers that secured enough sales in the $1-million-minimum category to forge ahead with construction.

It turns out that was just an appetizer. This year, eight new super-luxury projects are scheduled to launch, with five located in the gilded and glam Yorkville neighbourhood northwest of Bloor and Yonge Streets.

Two of the more anticipated projects are condominium-hotel combinations; the Shangri-La set for Richmond Street and University Avenue, and the Four Seasons Private Residences, at Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue. Both will soar to 65- and 55-storeys respectively, and the smallest, most basic suite will cost $1.2-million, or $1,400 a square foot — approximately 3-1/2 times the Greater Toronto average suite price.

Eight new projects with million-dollar price tags may sound like a lot of new Taj Mahals in the sky, but while many of these new buildings will be among Toronto's tallest, there'll be relatively few suites, all very large by condo standards. The Hazelton only has 77 suites, and the Four Seasons will have 200 residences in two separate towers.

"Building size is a big factor for this market," said Jeanhy Shim, president and editor of Urbanation, a high-rise trade publication. "Intimacy is a very important selling point for these buyers."

The Four Seasons Private Residences will also include 253 five-star hotel rooms, and it's the first super-luxury for Menkes Developments in Toronto. Menkes is aiming for a late April launch.

"It's not every day that you get to work on a project that will have such a huge impact on the city," said Mimi Ng, marketing director for Menkes.

The suites start at just over 1,000 square feet in size, with the largest unit being a 9,000 square foot penthouse, available for $16-million.

A model suite is currently under construction on the site, but planned features include a separate lobby for suite owners, a 28,000 square foot spa and health club, direct private access from elevators, 10- to 12-foot ceiling heights and interior design by Brian Gluckstein.

The Shangri-La is also a hotel-residence combination, and is synonymous with over-the-top luxury to anyone who has ever stayed in one of the Asian hotels owned by the Hong Kong-based chain. A Vancouver developer, Westbank Projects Corp., is at the helm for the Toronto project.

Shangri-La's 352 suites will accompany 220 hotel rooms on the building's first 17 floors (where it will be expected that a night's lodging will cost $500). The most expensive suites will likely cost over $10-million, and the builder has estimated that it will cost around $750,000 on average just to build each suite.

Some analysts feel that super-luxury condominiums should not be considered an elitist product, since a good portion of Toronto's resale housing is in the million-dollar range. The logic suggests that there are thousands of Torontonians in the empty-nester or downsizing market who live in paid-off homes that can easily fetch seven figures, so why wouldn't they reinvest the sale proceeds in a super-luxury product, with all the space to handle a lifetime's worth of trinkets, but also the freedom to take advantage of five-star amenities and take off to Florida or wherever without worry? The sales activity suggests this logic holds water.

"Luxury or super-luxury high rise products should be seen in relation to the million-dollar housing market overall, because they are connected," said Barry Lyon, a veteran high-rise marketing consultant.

"This is a market that's been untapped for some time, and the recent demand particularly reflects the high value of many Toronto homes," he said. "The upper end of the market has its own demands. Developers have been on a steep learning curve to appeal to these buyers," he said, adding that it's been challenging for some builders to adjust to these buyers' demands for large sizes, a sense of drama, high-end services and high-quality finishes.

Mr. Lyon is currently working with Aspen Ridge Homes in launching 77 Charles, a 50-suite super-luxury curving glass-and-crystalline high-rise just south of Yorkville to be launched imminently. The average cost of the suites will be $1,000 a square foot, with an average size of 1,600 square feet, but layouts and design have not been finalized.

AoD
 
Re: Four Seasons Design

Funny but from that picture, it does not look like the hotel portion (rooms) is all that big. I could see them keeping both hotels in Yorkville.
 
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