SOHO Champagne [111 Champagne Ave S] | 66+82m | 22+25f | U/C

[Harley613]

The curved curtain wall is gorgeous. Too bad about the charcoal brick.

[J.OT13]

Tbf, they went with charcoal brick when charcoal brick was a new trend, hip and cool. At this point, they didn't have much choice but to stick with it. We've seen with Italia that they can try new things.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Tbf, they went with charcoal brick when charcoal brick was a new trend, hip and cool. At this point, they didn't have much choice but to stick with it. We've seen with Italia that they can try new things.

Yeah, and I suppose SOHO Champagne and The Lennox are the only CharcWhites in this cluster, so it actually creates decent variety. I really hope (a taller) 829 Carling is built, as it's the only proposal with the new trend of white panelling that I very much like.

[Ottman]

[Har13]

Uninspiring.

[SL123]

Originally Posted by Har13

Uninspiring.

The Tower itself is very meh! i'm interested to see what they'll do with the pathway that leads to the pedestrian bridge and if they'll have some sort of retail on the ground floor facing that path.

[qprcanada]

Originally Posted by SL123

The Tower itself is very meh! i'm interested to see what they'll do with the parthway that leads to the pedestrian bridge and if they'll have some sort of retail on the ground floor facing that path.

Some of that space is reserved for a small park, there should be a pedestrian crossing at Hickory and Champagne but there is no timeline for installation according to Leiper's office when I enquired about it last month.

[SL123]

Originally Posted by qprcanada

Some of that space is reserved for a small park, there should be a pedestrian crossing at Hickory and Champagne but there is no timeline for installation according to Leiper's office when I enquired about it last month.

Thanks for that info

[J.OT13]

From Harley on Skyrise. That is a glassy podium. Gives me a mid-century office building feel.


https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/...rwood-roderick-lahey.23209/#post-2054762

[OTownandDown]

This image is making me feel claustrophobic.

Originally Posted by J.OT13

From Harley on Skyrise. That is a glassy podium. Gives me a mid-century office building feel.


https://skyrisecities.com/forum/threads/...rwood-roderick-lahey.23209/#post-2054762

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

This image is making me feel claustrophobic.

Still better than Rideau. But what's with the remaining blank wall on the first tower's podium aligned with the second tower podium roof? Is that second podium lower than initially planned?

[ponyboycurtis]

As far as the exterior goes there isn't much left aside from the grounds. Despite the charcoal brick and silver mullions it's pretty nice. I much prefer Italia down the street but this is alright.

I wonder if they will have the solid white pull down shades like it's neighbor. That seems to detract from the overall look of the building.

I suppose in another decade it won't matter as there will be towers in the parking lot hemming it in.

[J.OT13]

Not a bad looking building. The glass curtain wall podium is an interesting choice. Very mid-century office building of them. I like that tower 2 is similar to the first without being a taller copy. The subtle changes make for a more interesting overall project.

[OTSkyline]

Oh boy! I've seen the tower many times and find it fine (simple, uniform, good amount of glass, etc) but this is the first time I see the podium up close.

Is it just me or the shiny black podium with black windows does not mix/vibe with the charcoal tower with white windows at all? Did they just give up and use leftover materials from Soho Italia?

Also noticed that this tower also has a large SOHO sign at the top although its less visible because its black on black. Again, will be confusing with the Italia one also having a SOHO sign on it. Would've been nice if they could've included the name of the building on the signage to make the distinction; SOHO CHAMPAGNE and SOHO LISGAR.

[SL123]

I agree! the podium and the tower don't go together at all. They completely clash!

[J.OT13]

It is quite odd. Doesn't match tower 1's podium either.

[ponyboycurtis]

Ha. You know... I didn't even really pay attention to the podium. I was pretty fixated on the tower portion. It is does clash with the tower. Acceptable but a bit of a strange choice of materials.

I think it will clean up a bit once the landscaping is done and the fencing and signage comes down. Needs some trees! Trees and maintained landscaping make all the difference.

Tribeca for example has some decent trees in front that didn't immediately die. However.. the planter beds they are in are completely bare patches of dirt. It also has irrigation hoses criss crossing the entirety but nothing is growing so what the heck?!

I don't understand why so many places do this. Hurdman.. etc etc. Plant some tree unsuited for the bed or whatever.. water it once and never pay mind to it again. It can't be that hard to have decent landscaping and trees along city sidewalks.

Maybe instead of hiring a "night mayor" the city should hire an arborist who approves and inspects these in-sidewalk tree beds. Maybe they already do. I don't know. Just seems like a lot of the trees planted sidewalk beds wither out and die. It really aggravates me. If something cant be maintained then just don't bother at all.

For all our supposed awareness about mental health and wellness these simple things seem overlooked. Aside from its amateur aspirations to be Philadelphia's Kensington are does anyone think there is a correlation between all the trucks and a portion of Rideau street being an absolute dump? Open drug use or not there is no world where that is a positive place that people would want to be. It's all correlated. We can't even have the Waller st. mall.

"A Place" in the urban sense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placemaking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiUb-IH1YTA&ab_channel=ponyboycurtis007
What are we doing to ourselves?

The park on the backside of this set of towers could use an upgrade.... now I'm going on a tangent. Enjoy your day everyone.


But I digress. Overall a handsome building.

[J.OT13]

Fully agree. The City does a terrible job with trees. I feel like the quasi totality of trees planted as part of Line 1 project are dead now. We need a dedicated team to review planting plans and maintenance. How is this so hard? How have we not learned? This isn't just bad for the environment, but think of the millions wasted on doomed trees.

They'd better have a solid plan to maintain the trees along the Byron O-Train park.

Back on topic, well maintained greenery will go a long way here. A restaurant with signage and a covered patio could help as well. Bring in some colour.


https://mastercraftstarwood.com/soho-champagne-2

[ponyboycurtis]

Oh look... a place! That looks like it can be a wonderful passageway.

It will be nice when Richcraft develops the Honda site. I forget, is Tesla part of that parcel?

Soon enough the empty parking lot will go and Gladstone Village will develop. Throw in the bread factory and the Hintonburg tower and that MUP running alongside the trench will feel like a very peaceful urban walk. I would imagine a few more developments like the one on Norman will also come up over time.

Eventually a walk from Dow's Lake to Bayview and through Lebreton will be quite the feel of a growing city.

That pedestrian bridge was a great addition to the neighborhood.

[eltodesukane]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

https://mastercraftstarwood.com/soho-champagne-2

A lot buildings missing on this rendering!