Canada's Tallest U/C #11 - #30

[steveve]

Originally Posted by koops65

Driving in from K-W, they seem close to each other to me...

sorry but, where's K-W?

[caltrane74]

by me

• Video Link

[koops65]

Originally Posted by steveve

sorry but, where's K-W?

That would be Kitchener/Waterloo, 1 hour west of Toronto...

P.S. How are your geography lessons going? Having trouble in that area?

[caltrane74]

steveve, you do drugs dont you?

Or you're like just naturally stoned, or something... I remember when I was you age, there was this really popular show from KW (Kitchener-Waterloo). With some German guy pretending to be some kid friendly Captian Kangaroo. Anyways, from the time I was like 8, I knew where Kitchener was....

[Locked In]

Some photos of the Hotel Georgia taken by me today - around 14 stories + mechanical to go:


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My photo from last week:


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[caltrane74]

THAT CLADDING IS SICKK!

I also love the shape of the building. But honestly, that is some of the best cladding Ive ever seen go on any Tower built recently.

[WhipperSnapper]

Agree on the cladding however, the shape has never done anything for me. I do like slopes 'n angles but I guess not when they are forced onto a box.

[Coldrsx]

Photos from 'ricolance21' and SSP







reflection and a finished ATB top

[caltrane74]

Nice Epcor Update.. cladding again is a winner!!!

Here is an update from the TIFF Tower by interchange42 at UT and comentary by Doug Convoy from inside the Development Team at the Bell Lightbox.

Originally Posted by interchange42

tiff. | Bell Lightbox is finally here and the embargo on publication has been lifted! Over the next week, Urban Toronto will be giving you insider access to this long-awaited, new heart of Toronto's internationally-acclaimed film community. Our exhaustive tour will be taking you into spaces big and small, from top to bottom, inside and out. So, stay tuned.

For now, here's a teaser of recent exterior images and interior pics taken in early August showing Lightbox still under construction. Enjoy.

Text by Doug Convoy Photos by Interchange42






Main atrium looking west toward Master Control.




Main atrium looking east.




Atrium for TIFF offices.




Luma Restaurant and Blackberry Lounge.




Cinema One.




Way more detail and lots of photos are coming over the next week!

[Coldrsx]

TIFF is quite nice although the massing is too heavy for me.

As for EPCOR, i wish the glazing was more translucent. I do love the balconies on each floor and their clear glass railings.

[caltrane74]

All the diva's at UT are complaining about the massing, but it has to serve many purposes mainly, being a showcase, showroom for the worlds top movie stars, and it has to hold 5 theaters. There was no way to do this without being "Heavy"

I'm sure in time, it will coax into it surroundings better when the other similarly sized developments go up all around it, including 5 Mercer to the South, and Pinnacle behind it.

[Traynor]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

All the diva's at UT are complaining about the massing, but it has to serve many purposes mainly, being a showcase, showroom for the worlds top movie stars, and it has to hold 5 theaters. There was no way to do this without being "Heavy"...

Really Cal? Absolutely NO WAY? Are you buying in to what the developers are cramming down your throat?

How about 3 of those theatres being built completely underground? A theatre doesn't need windows after all.

Or perhaps building the podium slightly taller but incorporating major setbacks to better fit in with the street. (Same square footage, but arranged differently.)

There are probably hundreds of ways this could have been made less intrusive and yet be sexier and more "Hollywood".

Like giving the tiff entrance some grandeur, as it deserves. Instead of a looking like a shopping-mall fire exit.

[Coldrsx]

^bingo.

[caltrane74]

You guys seem to be forgetting that this building also has to accomodate a condo tower on top, barely got enough financing to get off the ground, and has to deal with the parking demands of the owners of the condo units which also partially financed construction.

[Coldrsx]

^well then that makes a mediocre podium acceptable then.

[Traynor]

The more you "excuse" a developer the more (or less) they will get away with. By being critical and vociferous of those critiques, you hold their feet to the fire and demand better from them.

It's the law of entropy in action here. The less they offer, the less we expect, the less we expect, the less they offer and so on. You end up with a whole lot of "indifference and complacency".

That is not good enough.

[Coldrsx]

I should say the podium is not a disaster, but they could have relieved some of its midriff with some design choices.

[Traynor]

These interiors are reminiscent of any number of museum interior designs from the 90's.

And what were they thinking with this?

I want to take a giant hammer and smash it, because the design of this building is a fashion emergency!

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

^well then that makes a mediocre podium acceptable then.

Do you really consider that podium medicore though? The massing may not be your cup of tea (though I happen to love massive streetwall forming podiums), but on pure aesthetics it has a lot going for it. It's probably one of the most visually engaging ever built in Toronto. I'm not just talking about the lighting, signage and scrolling ticker, but the various module components and textures, and the way they interact with sunlight.


By: current at UT


By: spaced at UT

[Coldrsx]

^I do... again not terrible by any stretch, but not that welcoming and grandiose. I would have loved to see a 2 storey glass wall rather than a large soffit overhang... and would it have killed them to incorporate some color or art on the front of the glazing? It is so grey cloud.