498 Drake St | 121.9M | 43Fl | Completed

[Klazu]

Thanks, Byron. I have been wondering how things look from your view now. I counted 30 floors being up, so 13 more to go.

And I agree with officedweller, that the building doesn't look thatbad from your angle. Pretty sharp, actually.

[csbvan]

Indeed. What a surprise from that angle. Still not exciting, but cleaner and sharper.

[shrinkkev]

Interesting view of the crane gaining height. Sorry the video is from about 2 blocks away. I'm sure you get the idea. Click on the photo and you should get routed to my Flickr site with the video.
IMG_0363 2 by Kevin Smith, on Flickr

[truenorth44]

Originally Posted by shrinkkev

Interesting view of the crane gaining height. Sorry the video is from about 2 blocks away. I'm sure you get the idea. Click on the photo and you should get routed to my Flickr site with the video.

Nicely done!

Self-climbing cranes is another one of those inventions for which I would have liked to be a fly on the wall, listening in when the guy proposed it. ;-)

[vanman]

My pic taken on Wednesday the 28th.

[BodomReaper]

Thanks for the update. The Mark's penthouse cladding still defies belief.

[TZTag]

Originally Posted by BodomReaper

Thanks for the update. The Mark's penthouse cladding still defies belief.

Walked by them both today. The Mark will retain the title for ugliest, but this will be a close second. Missed opportunity for sure.

[excel]

Oct 4





From the 26th floor of the Grace Residences:

mine.

[officedweller]

The dark spandrel provides a nice break from the beige.

I see a change from square to round columns at the top right corner in the last pic.
So I guess the spandrel panel will disappear form that corner with the change.

[mcminsen]

Oct.7 '16, my pics

[dleung]

We used to know how to do podiums. High retail floor topped with 2 stories of rooftop facing townhouses stacked above 2 stories of street-facing townhouses, offering vibrancy and human scale massing close to street level.

Now it's just an 8-storey extension of the tower's flat facade, containing the same shoeboxes as in the tower except with no view, jammed over a 9 foot ground floor. What a decline

[rofina]

Originally Posted by dleung

We used to know how to do podiums. High retail floor topped with 2 stories of rooftop facing townhouses stacked above 2 stories of street-facing townhouses, offering vibrancy and human scale massing close to street level.

Now it's just an 8-storey extension of the tower's flat facade, containing the same shoeboxes as in the tower except with no view, jammed over a 9 foot ground floor. What a decline

I completely agree with this. Its like the original point of the podium has been completely missed.

The idea was to create vibrancy and multi purpose spaces/blocks. The set back for the residential portion is now totally been forgotten as well, creating this looming blocks over the sidewalks.

Its a huge step backwards - IMO.

[Byron]

Oct 14th 2016

[Klazu]

If that small building is going to get redeveloped, it's going to be one heck of a dense corner.

[mcminsen]

Nov.1 '16, my pics

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Originally Posted by dleung

We used to know how to do podiums. High retail floor topped with 2 stories of rooftop facing townhouses stacked above 2 stories of street-facing townhouses, offering vibrancy and human scale massing close to street level.

Now it's just an 8-storey extension of the tower's flat facade, containing the same shoeboxes as in the tower except with no view, jammed over a 9 foot ground floor. What a decline

I actually like the larger podiums. It makes the ground area feel denser and more vibrant. It also helps the developer's profit.

And there are plenty of your type of podiums still being built still.

[mcminsen]

Nov.3 '16, my pics

[mcminsen]

Nov.6 '16, my pic

[giallo]

Thanks for all the updates.

[shrinkkev]

Early morning sunrise through the construction

1300 Richards Sunrise by Kevin Smith, on Flickr
1300 Richards Sunrise2 by Kevin Smith, on Flickr