adma said:
Somehow, the fact that my comment about the exposed Deco ceiling in the lobby has got totally lost in the thread's ozone says something a little ominous about UT these days...
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There's really not much to discuss without being able to see some photos of the ceiling. Additionally, your post was followed by new video and renderings of the project. That kind of thing always tends to dominate.
 
Unfortunately, I'm not equipped w/the photographic means of doing so--though there's this via Facebook...
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The art deco pattern on the ceiling cove is pretty. I'm sure that what's intatct could be taken down, and the whole cove recreated somewhere in the new building. But it's no reason to derail the project.
 
I lack any experience with these sorts of things but is that for sure original? The material looks quite flimsy, thought they built things to a higher standard back in those days (1928 according to here). Is this just a recreation?
 
Based on that stat sheet, this building is in dire need of a reno. It doesn't have parking or even sprinklers. (Not sure if they will be adding parking?)

My aunt and uncle used to run a small business out of this building so I've been inside a few times. It's generally pretty crappy as far as downtown office buildings go, but it's probably relatively inexpensive and fine for small businesses. My guess is the remaining small businesses in the building will not be able to afford to stay post-renovation, but I don't know that for sure.

I'm excited for this one. It's one of the better designed office building proposals to come along in a while.
 
Xray_Crystal_Junkie said:
I lack any experience with these sorts of things but is that for sure original? The material looks quite flimsy, thought they built things to a higher standard back in those days (1928 according to here). Is this just a recreation?
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It's original. But concealed for years by a dropped ceiling, and tortured and mutilated by wires and conduits and related services. And if it looks "flimsy", why not--it's plaster. Plaster's "flimsy" (i.e. vulnerable) by nature.

Wouldn't be surprised if the lobby ceiling is recreated/resurrected/restored as part of the present scheme. For template purposes, the survival (however precarious) of those remnants is beneficial...

Oh and let's also remember re any "flimsiness" is that this was but a spec office building in the first place (i.e. one didn't expect the fine materials and craftsmanship of, say, the Bank of Commerce or Canada Permanent). And conversely, re "restorability", *any* original decorative detail relative to the building is touched by the holy spectre of the Group of Seven--J.E.H. Macdonald's team, you know. Therefore it's imperative that wherever it exists/existed, it's to be taken seriously as grist for restoration (if not always in the same location; are they still planning to relocate the "thunderbirds"?)
 
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Oliver Tweed said:
Based on that stat sheet, this building is in dire need of a reno.
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There's no reno coming here, it's a teardown. The façade will be replicated at the base of the new building, as was done on the Bay Adelaide West Tower. The Concourse building is currently 16 storeys high, but the new version will be 13 storeys owing to the higher floors.

I don't know how many of the decorative details will be saved/relocated/replicated. I hope the whole lot will be.

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The dog and I stopped to look at the ceiling last night. It's interesting. The first bay is as shown in the photo above. The second bay has a sunburst pattern, radiating from the center of the ceiling, and then the chevron motif repeats in the bays further back.
 
adma said:
are they still planning to relocate the "thunderbirds"?)
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From the look of the renderings all around (they are easier to see if you walk around past to the old Books On Business space to see the ones on the ground level at the back of the Googleplex, they won't be. The ROM should take them if they are not to be put back.
 
I seem to recall that in the decade-plus-ago original proposal, they *were* planning to relocate them as some kind of lobby/atrium/whatever element. (Unless they're planning to resurrect them quasi-in-situ as some kind of decorative skylounge element. In any event, it's hard for me to believe they'd simply mothball of dispense of them...)
 
Whatever the case: as I suggested earlier, in all likelihood they're planning to retain/restore/resurrect-where-possible *anything* that reflects the decorative scheme of JEH Macdonald, etc. And in a way, it's imperative that they go all-out in order to counteract the understandable heritage-community fears over the Concourse being chewed up and regurgitated w/altered proportions, etc...
 
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