AlbertC
Superstar
View from Grenadier Pond in High Park:
Nov 7, 2020
Nov 7, 2020
Full Metal Junkie
Active Member
Just the 10 storey podium has been completed and it already somehow dwarfs every building around it. There are still two 30 storey towers that are yet to be constructed. I have a feeling this is going to be just as heavily imposing on the skyline as the Palace Pier towers.
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Except they're good...
UrbanOzz
Active Member
just not as iconic as Palace Pier
zeiesfirdaus
New Member
YUGE! They will be YUGE!!!
Full Metal Junkie
Active Member
Personally, I have mixed feelings about Palace Pier towers. I very much like the architectural expression, and the materials are great. However, as I said, the towers are just too massive and imposing on the skyline. There is a whole HBS neighborhood that was built next to Palace Pier towers with equal or greater heights, yet Palace Pier still absolutely dominates the skyline:
I just feel that Toronto's current limits of floorplate size and tower separation make a great deal of aesthetic sense for high-rises. In the photo above, Eau du Soleil towers are taller, but they are not nearly as obstructive to the view as Palace Pier towers, which as a pair look like a giant 45-storey apartment slab from afar.
I'm not sure when Mirabella was approved, maybe before the latest floorplate size restrictions, but I have a feeling the floorplate size here is a bit too much, so the resulting towers will have as obstructive of an impact to the skyline as Palace Pier. And that was my whole point. I'm not trying to equate them in any other way.
UrbanOzz
Active Member
yea i didn't mean iconic as amazing, i just meant it as it's one of the original condos to be in the skyline along with that building with the arch and the units over it.
Sarah Doucette, who was Councillor at the time that applications were in for Mirabella, was not facing lots of other developments in her Ward and was not prepared for what might happen if you asked that the buildings be built shorter so that they not add shadow to the southwest corner of High Park. The buildings were shortened, but in return the lost square footage was allowed to be replaced with larger floor-plates. (I think that Toronto Planning is now more ready to take on such applications—these were in the works 8 years ago now, and over time the City has learned more about how to keep a lid on proposals.) I believe each tower here is something like 930 m² instead of 750 m², and as they are shorter than many 750 m² towers, they do appear pretty hefty in the renderings, and that podium? I think only the Concord Adex Canada House podium will be more hulking in this town.
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UrbanOzz
Active Member
should be interesting to see what happens to the land west of it as one of those towers was really wide. That thread is buried and there's been no news on it but one day there'll be activity
WislaHD
Superstar
Wow this is fascinating insight.
And here I thought it would just be a hulking podium at the base of two standard Toronto condo towers, but the towers here are going to be massive slabs too.
Siyaakelebek
New Member
Find it hilarious that nearly 95% of this thread is negative remarks. Presumably due to the fact that it’s being built despite the petition against its construction. Regardless, I’m extremely humoured , stoked, ecstatic and cannot wait until it’s complete. Will be adding a beautiful trace to the skyline for the neighbours 
So, what do you guys think about the progress so far
So, what do you guys think about the progress so far
Full Metal Junkie
Active Member
Alright, on the second try, you made a much better attempt at starting a constructive discussion
First things first.
Case in point, check out my post for a different project that will actually impact the view from my window, unlike Mirabella:
Moving on to your next point...
Speaking of lazy outdated second-rate suburban architecture, they already built a sneak preview of the tower portion... 15 years ago... in Thornhill:
Image courtesy of Google Streetview
The subtle differences from the above photo that Mirabella will feature:
- It will be even greyer. Grey precast, grey spandrel, clear balcony railings to show off the grey spandrel. Because what this city desperately needs is more grey. Ew.
- A massive 10 storey podium to host these massive towers. A podium void of any architectural expression. A podium that is flush with the towers? No step-backs? Double eww...
- The towers will be even taller and beefier than the Thornhill preview. Triple ewwww....
Anyway. I can go on and on. Personally, I pass this stretch of the waterfront twice a day during my daily commute to and from work. This eyesore will remind me of the sad state of Toronto urban development for years to come.
But at least someone's happy, so there's that
Just out of curiosity, did you buy a unit here or something? That would explain the excitement and anticipation.
First things first.
This is a forum of urban enthusiasts, not NIMBYs. People here generally don't dislike an urban development due to the fact that there was a petition against it. There is local resident NIMBY backlash against every single highrise ever proposed. Yet, the discussion threads on this forum usually make fun of such backlash, not embrace it, as you claim.
Case in point, check out my post for a different project that will actually impact the view from my window, unlike Mirabella:
Moving on to your next point...
This is mostly because 95% of people find the architecture of this project to be atrocious. The expression is lazy, outdated and unimaginative. The massing is beefy. This is one of the rare developments in this city that actually has some materiality to it, which normally would be great news, but unfortunately in this case it will only serve to exacerbate how hulking these buildings will look. This project would have been received negatively by UT forum dwellers had it been built in a second-rate neighborhood of a faraway suburb of Toronto. But to build it in the heart of the city? On the waterfront?? The sentiment of this forum is that Toronto waterfront deserves a lot better than what it has been getting over the years. But this? This is one of the worst crimes committed against the waterfront in a long time.
Speaking of lazy outdated second-rate suburban architecture, they already built a sneak preview of the tower portion... 15 years ago... in Thornhill:
Image courtesy of Google Streetview
The subtle differences from the above photo that Mirabella will feature:
- It will be even greyer. Grey precast, grey spandrel, clear balcony railings to show off the grey spandrel. Because what this city desperately needs is more grey. Ew.
- A massive 10 storey podium to host these massive towers. A podium void of any architectural expression. A podium that is flush with the towers? No step-backs? Double eww...
- The towers will be even taller and beefier than the Thornhill preview. Triple ewwww....
Anyway. I can go on and on. Personally, I pass this stretch of the waterfront twice a day during my daily commute to and from work. This eyesore will remind me of the sad state of Toronto urban development for years to come.
Well, that makes one of you
But at least someone's happy, so there's that
Just out of curiosity, did you buy a unit here or something? That would explain the excitement and anticipation.
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Towered
Senior Member
Find it hilarious that nearly 95% of this thread is negative remarks. Presumably due to the fact that it’s being built despite the petition against its construction. Regardless, I’m extremely humoured , stoked, ecstatic and cannot wait until it’s complete. Will be adding a beautiful trace to the skyline for the neighbours
So, what do you guys think about the progress so far
Filip, is that you?