From street level:

4626252295_8bae1a656f_o.jpg


from north and south towers of the Westin:

4626859980_ef7d371756_o.jpg


4626252567_76488bbae0_o.jpg


4626252703_0ae76c2141_o.jpg


4626252829_19460e94e2_o.jpg


4626252995_485a8a8d3c_o.jpg


4626860806_8c163ee4c2_o.jpg


4626860938_b7327e125f_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
If only the 'burbs were developed so efficiently. Everyone's way too hard on this development.
 
We've seen the renderings, it's another big green nightmare by the lake. Bring on ICE.
 
I think this whole complex is a decent development and I dont really get the suburbia comparison, unless you are referring to the fact that its is built on streets which handle high traffic volume. But that is more a fact of the location than of a short coming of the development.

and btw, do we truly know what colour the glass on ice will be? I wouldnt consider blue any great improvement.
 
^ Purple. Toronto needs more purple!

To be honest if we are comparing this to the suburbs, I would rather have towerburbs than sprawl. A question though, most of these green hulks that go up normally are LEED certified right?
 
I strongly support intensification around the city - always have, and to that degree this 4-building Pinnacle project succeeds well on this parcel of land plus many of the apartments are decent sized and well laid out. To me it's the exterior of the buildings that fail. Would I live here if I was looking to buy? Sure! Suite layouts, location and views trump architecture if I'm buying. I have high hopes for other promising, upcoming downtown projects such as X2, ICE, U and several others but I wouldn't buy into any of them. Most of the apartment layouts do not come close to what I'm looking for in a home.
 
RR: This development has more in common with your suburban home than a truly urban building such as those ones in Freedville or even the Hudson etc. Think huge waste of land devoted to the automobile, landscaping designed around the driveway, etc. I'm not referring to the location; rather, the built form/design.

Although the architecture here is dull, the only way for this complex to be truly urban would be to eliminate the large circular drive, or at least, instead of that flower garden in the centre of the driveway provide a retail space or small building built to the street.
 
Last edited:
urbandreamer said:
RR: This development has more in common with your suburban home than a truly urban building such as those ones in Freedville or even the Hudson etc. Think huge waste of land devoted to the automobile, landscaping designed around the driveway, etc. I'm not referring to the location; rather, the built form/design.

Although the architecture here is dull, the only way for this complex to be truly urban would be to eliminate the large circular drive, or at least, instead of that flower garden in the centre of the driveway provide a retail space or small building built to the street.
Click to expand...

It has nothing in common with a suburban home. Your analysis is silly and typically relating to nothing more than your own subjective dislike of the buildings. That a driveway should be the sole indicator of a suburban development to you suggests a line of thinking that is devoid of substance. That you would compare a collection of multi-story buildings like this to a suburban block is laughable. Take a close look urbandreamer, very little space is devoted to the automobile. This is high density living. There is no parallel to a suburban subdivision.

By the way, there is retail in the podium already and there is green space on top of the podium.

Why don't you take a deep breath and compare that block of towers to the block across the way. You know - the parking lot loaded with automobiles. That might help you get your comparisons in order.
 
The question is, is this going to be a neighbourhood where the streets themselves are a destination? Where residents step outside their homes, walk or transit to wherever they need to go... or simply go for a stroll in their hood? Or is this going to be a place where everyone drives to wherever they need to go because there's nothing worth going to in the vicinity? My guess is that it will be the latter. I think this area will be more like Mississauga than the Bay St condo corridor.
 
Wow, Bay Street has been upgraded to a destination!

I think it's absolutely ludicrious to say that residents of Pinnacle Centre will drive everywhere. This development is no more removed from downtown than any Esplanade co-op . OMG! a driveway with drop off areas. There are over 1800 units and public parking. It's quite diminutive by comparsion to Ice, Four Seasons, 18 Yorkville, etc.
 
Given that most suburban blocks are not within easy walking distance of venues like the ACC, the Rogers Centre, the railway museum, a major convention centre (to name just a few) , or have access to a streetcar line to take them to the busiest transit hub in the country, I'd say there is a difference between the Pinnacle block and the suburbs. That a front driveway should be indicative of the "suburbaness" of this development strikes me as silly. The Ritz will have a smaller version of such a drive; will it then be demi-suburban?

Plenty of people who live downtown drive cars. I live in a neighbourhood with the highest proportion of people who walk to work, but the parking garage in my building is still loaded with cars. And these downtown-dwelling residents drive them - as indicated by how the garage empties out on weekday mornings. Does this mean that my downtown building is populated by suburbanites?

Not every block in the downtown has loads of shopping or dedicated transit lines associated with them. That does not mean that they are somehow suburban - unless that word is only being invoked here as some sort of subjective insult or put-down.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top