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Originally Posted by someone123
Not a huge fan of the current design, but I could see it getting better with some tweaking. I don't like the accordion-like facade above George Street, for example.
The rendering is a little weird. The Champlain Building (Bluenose) is 6 storeys tall, not 4 storeys. I'd like to be able to assume that the full facade would of course be preserved but I am not so sure about that -- the Roy Building redevelopment actually calls for the brick lower portion on Barrington to be cut down by 1 floor for some reason.
Another little worry I have with this is that too many modernist buildings are being torn town. The Royal Bank building is far from perfect but once it's gone it's gone. The Bank of Canada building is going to be torn down too. I wish we'd see a little less redevelopment of large existing buildings and more infill on empty lots downtown.
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I get the concern about the need for more infill, but that seems to be happening notwithstanding some of these other proposals.
Moreover, let's be honest-- there is a TONNE of vacant office space in these many modernist (ie mid 20th Century) buildings downtown, sitting there empty collecting dust. This is because the buildings are too old, and are not Class A office space. And there is even more vacant office space in older heritage buildings, which are low density, run down, and just not a place for new businesses to move. I think in a financial district like this, facadism *has* to be the way forward.
A good reason why many businesses are moving to suburban business parks, is that besides being cheaper rent, you actually have new buildings.
IBM/Blackberry, whoever, couldn't even choose to move downtown, because there simply isn't the new Class A office space to use. They have to go to Bedford instead.
I think this development will bring prestige and interest back to this area, and bring more businesses back downtown.
It's sort of like that you said about other residential parts of the peninsula... it's natural, over time, for low density housing to be replaced by more dense infill. I think it's natural over time for modernist buildings to be replaced by newer office spots. *shrug*