I'm holding out hope for this one - we've seen examples of spandrel that is colour matched really well and looks almost invisible (Azura, East 55, St Lawrence Condos) and I think with a good colour selection it could end up looking alright. I don't mind spandrel - what I hate is the careless deployment of spandrel that doesn't logically align with the rest of the fenestration and is poorly colour matched (think every GC / Wallman project)

I think there are more reasons to be excited about this one than worried - warm toned precast that extends all the way up the tower (and if they can pull off the rounded vertical elements, even better), beefy brick podium, and some heritage retention to boot
 
MisterF said:
Another depressing charcoal podium. This part of the city is starting to look like Mordor.
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Not a fan of this project, but I'm okay with charcoal. Seems to be the safest default option for developers in this city.
 
syn said:
Not a fan of this project, but I'm okay with charcoal. Seems to be the safest default option for developers in this city.
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The charcoal brick was okay when it was an occasional building here and there. But I'm going to have to disagree with you, charcoal as the default sounds awful. The local vernacular has always been brick in reds, yellows, and browns, all of which brighten up a city that, let's face it, needs all the cheer it can get six months of the year. There's no good reason for new buildings to be any different. Charcoal brick sucks up all the light which is the opposite of what we need. We should be taking cues from the cities that people go out of their way to spend time in, and in all of them the buildings are mostly light or colourful.
 
Here are some photos from Sunday:

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Also, as an aside, what's up with this Aoyuan billboard next door to this site? If you aren't an avid follower of UrbanToronto ;), would you ever guess it was an ad for a developer? Bizarre.
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MisterF said:
The charcoal brick was okay when it was an occasional building here and there. But I'm going to have to disagree with you, charcoal as the default sounds awful. The local vernacular has always been brick in reds, yellows, and browns, all of which brighten up a city that, let's face it, needs all the cheer it can get six months of the year. There's no good reason for new buildings to be any different. Charcoal brick sucks up all the light which is the opposite of what we need. We should be taking cues from the cities that people go out of their way to spend time in, and in all of them the buildings are mostly light or colourful.
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I agree with you completely. I'd love to see more red, yellow and brown bricks.

But if you have a crappy developer who's going to do a bad job anyways, charcoal (I actually prefer black) at least assures it won't be the absolute worse they could've done.
 
syn said:
I agree with you completely. I'd love to see more red, yellow and brown bricks.

But if you have a crappy developer who's going to do a bad job anyways, charcoal (I actually prefer black) at least assures it won't be the absolute worse they could've done.
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I'm curious why badly done black or charcoal brick is better than badly done red or yellow brick. At least with the latter you get some brightness and colour in the steetscape.

C-mac said:
I'll take it any day of the week over blue/green glass, or some of these euro type looking buildings.
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This is a brick podium. The alternative to black brick isn't blue/green glass, it's a different colour of brick.
 
MisterF said:
I'm curious why badly done black or charcoal brick is better than badly done red or yellow brick. At least with the latter you get some brightness and colour in the steetscape.
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I find the quality of poor yellow or red bricks far easier to notice than that of black bricks.
 
I like how the first 10 feet of the 2 little 3 storey brick buildings is retained. Keeps the street experience fairly much intact yet creates the density we need for a vibrant downtown.
 
syn said:
I find the quality of poor yellow or red bricks far easier to notice than that of black bricks.
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Not something I've noticed, but fair enough. Still, I'd prefer a more colourful cityscape (or even just a lighter one) even if it means that some of the more poorly done brickwork is more visible. The benefits far exceed the drawbacks.
 
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I didn't notice that there were balconies on this building. Now I can see them on the north and west side of the development. As seen in the photos up above!
 
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