I really hope they don't clad those béton brut-ish columns. I'm loving their raw, unsheathed power - far better than covering them up in more grey, aluminum paneling.
 
isaidso said:
I want to like this stretch of street, but the reality is that it's Toronto banality at its worst.
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Y'know, Bay Street used to bug me. I think you could dig up some old screeds I wrote on this site four years ago, about Bay St's deadness and its various Jane Jacobs heresies.

But something's happened, and it doesn't bug me in the slightest anymore. In fact, I'm really kind of a fan.

It might be a few things. It might be the fact that I'm off the sidewalks and onto the road. I've taken to cycling, and now I find Bay to be the best-paved, fastest, safest, yet by far the most exciting street to ride south on. Barrelling downhill through traffic, down a canyon of towers, knowing that I'm not going to get doored by a parked car or snagged by a pothole, is a huge thrill.

Maybe it's the combined effect of ROCP and Murano. I think Murano's faboo. Together they bookend the street, and add so much visual density to the scene that the slabs of precast nothingness simply become filler.

Bay St. isn't a pedestrian street; it's more like public art now. I'm always weary of screeds about what a street "ought to be." Bay is what it is – something that's neither aspirationally New Yorky nor quintessentially Torontonian – and it's increasingly becoming something that's more interesting than it was. I'm good with that.

Also, the pizza joint in the bottom of 1001 Bay is really pretty good.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
There was a discussion about this not so far back (mid-late June?). It looks like it's not going to happen at this point.
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that probably means it is not going to happen ... period :(
 
I think the building would look far better if those columns were finished off....just my opinion though.
 
dhxoals said:
Well, Peter Clewes is a kinky man and he likes those concretes stripped to bare.
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He does work exposed concrete areas into his projects. I think these are stayin'.
 
Those columns will be covered with cladding. Look at how the overhang connectors are put in. It would look very unpolished if they didn't do anything.

Look at the second column in this picture:
Murano3_Aug13-09.jpg


Some of you think that is better? My hopes are that a nice black marble or something similar is put in, to give the glass a nice contrast. With our luck with developers in this city, it is probably just going to be grey cladding.
 
Those pillars will be covered. I saw a bunch of cladding in the alley...I could see the cladding being added in the next week or so.

On another note, they're really moving quickly on the south tower's lobby, some of the drywall has already been installed. Some of the sidewalk has been poored as well.

Anyone know what kind of retail will be going in? I'm thinking a grocery store might end up there.
 
may be one can be optimistic and wish for a Sobeys Express or a Fresh & Wild market at this location? :) it'll fit quite well I think ~
 
I wouldn't be that optimistic for a Sobeys Express, what with one of them just at the east end of the block...
 
Sobeys is just around the corner. I was hoping for a Cora's but there is a new one nearby.

A bakery would be nice. I'd also go for a new downtown Lick's or a Beer Store!
 
That new Cora's is already filling up. Had to wait in line on Sunday. :(
Pretty soon the line will be extending outside just like all the others.
 
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