I do like the bold framing on the podium section... along with the archway. I see it as a modern reply to the existing row of buildings on the south side of Colborne, so in a way contextual. The tower though boxy is different enough to get a pass. Good to see one of the most over priced parking lots in downtown say goodbye.

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I love the podium. I'm not yet convinced by the tower, however. The stacked jumble may be interesting, but it is not beautiful.

These are preliminary renderings, so I look forward to what evolves from them, but first I believe there's still to be a fight brewing over how big this building will be…
 
It's a surprisingly gawky conglomeration. It looks like Aa got halfway to Alsop and stopped.
I think the archway, lower and upper podium and tower all seem somewhat mismated with each other. The renderings are pretty basic though - it will be interesting to see how they are refined. The sharp framing on the lower part of the podium seems to be the one agreeable strong point. Hopefully subsequent redesigns will make the ensemble more enjoyable or harmonious.
 
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As ever, the self-referential aA evolves - in this case by quoting from their earlier work at Market Wharf ( where the three strongly differentiated elements are a brick podium, a few floors of glassy slab draped across it, and a tower with spiffy balconies ).
 
I very much like the gridded form of the podium. It has real depth to it.

... and yes, it seems to me one should expect to see a certain degree of leitmotif in the work a good designer, or any artist. To expect 'novelty' in every single design is silly.
 
I like how they run with an idea and amplify it ( repeated iterations of the subtly angled balconies that we first saw at Spire are subtle no more, for instance ... ) before dropping the darn thing and moving on - the three-element building, which we're seeing here, being a recent plaything for them. As with all those Wren churches we now look back at, future generations will be able to 'read' wot aA done as an evolution.
 
The subtle brown in the podium is an interesting take on trying to at least have some context within the area.

The tower I haven't decided on yet to be honest.
 
How fascinating that the arch has made its way back into Toronto architecture... the Hariri Pontarini design (Context King West) and now this. :)
 
And the arch, shallow and broad, is divinely proportioned; a beautiful, graceful portal.
 
SP!RE said:
How fascinating that the arch has made its way back into Toronto architecture... the Hariri Pontarini design (Context King West) and now this. :)
Click to expand...

The appearance of a building that's still Modernist but with a brown facade and a vaguely contextualist arch remind me of the change in architecture from the 1960s to the 1970s. I like that architects in the city are opening up to ideas beyond 90 degree angles and shades of grey. But I hope that a fascination with the 1970s won't characterize this decade of mainstream architecture like the 1960s did in the 2000s.
 
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