The bypass bridge is close to being structurally complete.

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The doorways under the bridge are going to be low. Frank Lloyd Wright like to bring people through compressed spaces and the present them with something soaring. It'll be interesting to see how that works here!

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Still blows my mind if that is indeed the final form. There's no room up there, and again, does not appear AODA compliant. Barely even functional for a few able-bodied people to get by each other.

As for the doorway clearance, does anyone have a guess as to how high the door frame is?
 
Still blows my mind if that is indeed the final form. There's no room up there, and again, does not appear AODA compliant. Barely even functional for a few able-bodied people to get by each other.

As for the doorway clearance, does anyone have a guess as to how high the door frame is?

Does the walkway itself need to be AODA compliant if you have alternate routes for the bypass?

AoD
 
On the state of the construction:

The unfinished ceiling paint in the Front St. Promenade is beyond ridiculous. I don't understand why the dispute settle process doesn't simply address who will pay, and get the damn thing painted in the interim.

On the finishes:

The lighting in the VIA concourse really does not work for me. It's the first real disappointment of the overall project for me (timeline slippage aside, and not counting issues that should have been addressed in the planned scope but were not).

I find it harsh, jarring and not compatible w/the style of the space at all.
 
On the state of the construction:

The unfinished ceiling paint in the Front St. Promenade is beyond ridiculous. I don't understand why the dispute settle process doesn't simply address who will pay, and get the damn thing painted in the interim.

On the finishes:

The lighting in the VIA concourse really does not work for me. It's the first real disappointment of the overall project for me (timeline slippage aside, and not counting issues that should have been addressed in the planned scope but were not).

I find it harsh, jarring and not compatible w/the style of the space at all.

Would you prefer a dark orange light? The lighting in the station needs to be bright and modern not dark, old and orange.
 
Would you prefer a dark orange light? The lighting in the station needs to be bright and modern not dark, old and orange.

The lighting could be a bit warmer - but I think (?) the original space was lit by fluorescent from the get go and it wouldn't be historically accurate otherwise.

AoD
 
Would you prefer a dark orange light? The lighting in the station needs to be bright and modern not dark, old and orange.

Richard, your post seem borderline antagonistic and certainly disrespectful I showed none to you, and would appreciate a less snippy tone.

Of course I don't want a dark orange light.

I also don't want a fixture that I find harsh, and neither historical, nor aesthetically appealing, nor visually cohesive with its surroundings.

I don't know what was there on 'day one', I googled for photos and couldn't find any; using 'Toronto union station concourse ' only gets the odd picture of the old Bay Concourse or the contemporary appearance.

Regardless, the low ceilings don't let themselves to suspended lights.

If I'm not tied to heritage, then I would have preferred recessed lights that illuminated the room without scorching my retina.

If there is a more historically appropriate treatment with a low-profile then I'd be open to that.

But the lighting in the VIA concourse is much brighter than York St; and vastly more in-your-face. I find it distasteful.

As noted, its also not compatible w/the surrounding finishes. (in a historical or contemporary way)
 
Personally, I'd be happier with the warmer bright light they use to light up Platform 27 (seemed ~4700-5000K-ish with comfortable CRI, much whiter than 3000K incandescent but warmer than 6500K cool white fluorescents). Still very bright sunlight-warm white. The newer ~CRI95 LEDs would be good even if same color temperature (~6500K-ish) as original fluorescent.

But I'm not really nitpicking. VIA concourse is only a place where I rush to catch a train, since most of my waiting tends to be elsewhere or in the Great Hall.

Interested to see what they're planning to install for the Great Hall lighting.
 
A big pet peeve for me is the large amount of signage. The average train passenger may not know what "York Concourse" is, but they know what "Union Station" is. All people need to know is which platform their train is departing from, where is the nearest washroom, where to buy food, and of course - how to get to the subway.
There is an abundance of signage around Via and York concourses, which is great, but I find it too confusing for the average person (ie, a person that doesn't lurk on UT).
I truly believe they should drop the "York Concourse" name altogether (I get that it's too late for that). It will become even more confusing once the Bay concourse opens (Oh, and Metrolinx is planning 2 additional concourses?!).
I often see out-of-towners confused and lost, especially when trying to find the subway station.
 
It's built exactly as depicted in the rendering (which is probably over 10 years old now). I'm not sure why people are complaining now.
urbantoronto-1229-3673.jpg
 

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