Canadian City Proposals II

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by koops65

Huge NIMBY presence for this one... I doubt the design (and height) will come to pass.

Ya I agree with you, I bet they know this and are expecting it to lose some height. I'm not sure if this is factual, but don't some developers go big with their height asks expecting to lose some floors?
I see this losing 8-10 floors.

[WhipperSnapper]

Yeah, it's more than reasonable for there to be concerns over the density and height. Toronto right now is a height fetish playground devoid of just about any sound planning policy particularly if rail transit exists nearby.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by someone123

It's a little thing but I wonder why they rarely or never fill in the gaps between panels or try to make them as inconspicuous as possible. In the past, a cornice like that would be made to look like one continuous piece. In this case they have made it part of the visual rhythm of the design but I'm still not sure it looks better.

At the low end you get the seams plus shoddy workmanship or weird looking materials like fake brick panels that are misaligned.

I do like the trend toward these retro-inspired designs and in some cases warmer materials and masonry.

I guess there is fear of cracking without a flexible filler. Perhaps it's drainage. Postmodern brick facades have rows of flashing every floor or so instead of the the more conspicuous weep holes of yesteryear.

It's not a spandrel glass facade. This design is still a mess of randomized repeating elements. That is current to trends that just won't die. In my opinion, doesn't feel retro at all.

[Pellimo]

New project in Quebec City in the St-Roch neighborhood

[Maldive]

Tranna

115 Saulter Street South | 185.25m | 53s | Castlepoint Numa | COBE Architects l Recommended for Approval

Now recommended for approval, a 53 & 47-storey mixed-use residential, retail & production studio space development designed by COBE Architects & SvN for Castlepoint Numa.

Located just east of what will eventually be the new community in the Portlands along Villiers Street. Will likely be the tallest mixed-use development in the Portlands for quite a while. Industrial chic at grade.


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327 Royal York Road | 145.82m | 43s | KingSett | BDPQ l Recommended for Approval

One of the taller proposals near the GO Train in Mimico.


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3730 Kingston Road | 78.5m | 24s | TAS | SvN l Recommended for Approval


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Location is the lot near the centre of the photo.


TwinHuey


Exhibition Hotel + Performance Venue | 112m | 32s | Harlo | Populous l pre-construction

The second phase of Hotel X within Exhibition Place, the proposal calls for a 32-storey hotel tower alongside a four-storey, 5,500-seat performance venue.


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[J.OT13]

Couple thing from Ottawa. A major downgrade at 2026 Scott Street. Very nice 40 floor towers were approved years back and seemed to be near ground breaking, but the proposal was drastically downsized to a 26 floor tower (and future 18 and 36 floor towers).

I won't post the old proposal, you can check the thread: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263814

Here's the new proposal. On its own, its nice, but after seeing the previous proposal, it's disappointing.



And 340 Parkdale, a 38 floor tower on a 6 floor podium and the reconstruction of a 90 year old pub: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263814&page=3

[Maldive]

120 Bouchette Street | 198.12m | 56s | DevColl | Turner Fleischer l Approved (via Settlement at the OLT)

I misspoke about 115 Saulter (see above) being the tallest in the area of the Portlands east of the new community along Villiers Street… this 56 & 53-storey mixed-use residential, office & retail development is taller and is now Approved via settlement.


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[TorontoDrew]

Flying into Billy Bishop is going to become even more spectacular with these taller towers going up on the east side of the core.

[WhipperSnapper]

I love all the frolicking render people in the small space wedged between the 150 foot sheer walls. How many units face into that pathetic courtyard? It's less than ideal but, a case can be made for these living conditions in say The Entertainment District but, this is the middle of nowhere. I'm sure there is "planned" transit to whisk people somewhere but, I don't go by the acceptable Toronto forum standard of extreme residential densities with transit available to take you somewhere where these residential densities make some sense.

Once again, I have no faith in the ecological initiatives surviving as part of the Don Mouth naturalization with 50,000 people crammed into the intense skyscrapers districts surrounding them.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I love all the frolicking render people in the small space wedged between the 150 foot sheer walls. How many units face into that pathetic courtyard?

It's a shame that they didn't design a podium more like the WELL here. A covered pedestrian area could make this another retail destination. Didn't Doug Ford, back in his City Council Days, push for a huge development with a giant mall, a Ferris wheel, and other things? I think that if the city has invested so much money into this area, it should be built for everyone to enjoy. These podium designs seem underwhelming and are for the sole use of the inhabitants of the buildings.

[Maldive]

Ontario Place: New Science Centre | ?m | 4s | Province of Ontario | Snøhetta (and HPA) l pre-construction

Approximately 400,000 square feet plus revitalized Pods and Cinesphere (IMAX).


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[James Bond Agent 007]

^
That looks pretty good but I wonder if, in a location like that, there was an opportunity to produce something really iconic. Like this:

[TorontoDrew]

It would be decent for a small-sized city, but for me, it's a bit underwhelming. For such a specific building, they could have been far more creative. Another thing, it looks very stark on the inside. That main lobby area would have looked so much better as a tropical rainforest interior, like what we've lost at the original location.

When I was a kid I thought this place was magical. Especially in the middle of winter.

source:visitorfun.com


source: BlogTO.com


Something like this would be so much better.
Created using https://leonardo.ai/
OntarioScienceCentreLobby by Andrew Moore, on Flickr

[isaidso]

Argggh. This right here is why Toronto isn't taken seriously on the world stage. One of the city's main cultural assets and they submit a modest structure with hospital architecture? It's not that Toronto
is too small (Sydney's new subway system) or too poor (Egypt's new national museum). It's the widespread crude utilitarianism in practically everything Toronto does.

If people need reminding, this is what a cultural asset in a major global city looks like:


https://www.dailynews.com/2025/11/12/the...-open-next-september-in-exposition-park/

[TorontoDrew]

This is what you get under Ford. It's all about budget architecture. I bet it will cost as much as a building that looks similar to the one you shared. It will run over budget and be underwhelming. The original Brutalist Science Center is way better then this cheap looking design.

[hipster duck]

The Doug Ford Ontario Science Centre might be the most expensive museum project in Canadian history, and it's not even getting a public architecture competition.

This is not Snohetta's best work. Actually, when I first saw the renderings I thought it was a Hariri Pontarini design, because I saw HPA architects and didn't realize they're the architect of record, rather than the design architect.

It's almost as if Snohetta phoned it in because they realize that it won't get built as planned.

[WhipperSnapper]

Let's take the worst aspect of the old science centre ... long walkways and escalators connecting the different buildings and floors on the side of the ravine and super size it in a boring skywalk over water.

Bigger and brighter and a more visible location to visitors but, the locals and, at minimum, a generation of kids get screwed. What else is new in Toronto?

[GeneralLea]

When I saw the renderings yesterday, I was not surprised, as this era of civic architecture, especially in Ontario has produced some of the worst buildings for such occasions I can recall. (Hell, we were so lucky to get a Renzo Piano courthouse a couple years built in Toronto, and even that designed was restrained for its surroundings and budget)

As I've noted on UT, this just looks like amonsterous vehicle showroom which took very....very loose references to its surroundings. And has a slight resemblance to the Sydney Opera House, if you had it in Ontario.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

This is what you get under Ford. It's all about budget architecture. I bet it will cost as much as a building that looks similar to the one you shared. It will run over budget and be underwhelming. The original Brutalist Science Center is way better then this cheap looking design.

"World Class" budget architecture . Selected and built under a ham-fisted regime.

[O-tacular]

I kinda like the retro look of that Snohetta designed science centre. But I don't know how it was originally. Based on the story about the indoor rainforest it does seem like quite a loss to end up with something this sterile in its place. Calgary's Devonian gardens underwent a 00's era renovation that also sterilized it and lost much of the hidden jungle magic. Seems like architecture in general is wiping away lush courtyard / lobby spaces, for sterile surfaced liminal spaces.
Corporate greed seems to be the driving force.