Canadian City Proposals

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

It's inevitable at this point that the waterfront is going to be damn ugly. I just hope that it is at least lively and interesting when all is said and done.

Only ugly if viewed from the water or Islands, though, right?

As long as the waterfront itself is pedestrianized and friendly to locals then I don't really have much of a problem with this proposal. I'd have bigger issues if buildings were fronted onto the water itself or if the public didn't have direct access to views out to the water. A large part of enjoying any waterfront, at least for me, is being able to walk along it and having a view out towards the water, islands, whatever.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Only ugly if viewed from the water or Islands, though, right?

As long as the waterfront itself is pedestrianized and friendly to locals then I don't really have much of a problem with this proposal. I'd have bigger issues if buildings were fronted onto the water itself or if the public didn't have direct access to views out to the water. A large part of enjoying any waterfront, at least for me, is being able to walk along it and having a view out towards the water, islands, whatever.

All of Toronto’s central waterfront has a publicly accessible pedestrian promenade except for the Redpath sugar refinery and the ferry terminal. The section in front of the horrid Harbour Square complex is uninviting and narrow, but it’s continuous.

I didn’t think I’d be the lone dissenter on this, but I’m excited for this proposal. Even if it flops, it’s not like the derelict site had anything better going for it over the past 5 decades. I’m okay with the waterfront being a place for blank slate experimentation like this.

[TorontoDrew]

I like it also HD.

[biguc]

Yeah I didn't mean to sound so dismal before. I'm excited for it too.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

All of Toronto’s central waterfront has a publicly accessible pedestrian promenade except for the Redpath sugar refinery and the ferry terminal. The section in front of the horrid Harbour Square complex is uninviting and narrow, but it’s continuous.

I didn’t think I’d be the lone dissenter on this, but I’m excited for this proposal. Even if it flops, it’s not like the derelict site had anything better going for it over the past 5 decades. I’m okay with the waterfront being a place for blank slate experimentation like this.

I'm kind of undecided. I agree with the WS comment on the scale being overbearing but I'm less sure what to make of that. I think many aspects of a city tend to be a trade off. Basic stuff like higher cost for a smaller home in exchange for closer proximity to more jobs and services. More crowds and congestion but also more vibrancy and excitement etc. In this case it's common for the central or most desirable areas of a city to have higher density than would be desirable strictly from the aspect of livability. But when the majority of land in a city is covered by low density mandates there's a temptation to max out the density in any place where it's permitted. I'm almost surprised not to see Sugar Wharf or One Yonge heights proposed.

Whether or not the trade-off between allowing more people the convenience of a central area vs making that area as ideal as possible is an acceptable one is a harder question. In this case, on top of being central and near the water, there's a planned streetcar for QQ east and a nearby Ontario line stop (Corktown) making the area an ideal candidate for high density.

I do like how the tallest buildings are set back from the waterfront itself and are closer to the highway since that gives the waterfront a more sunny, open vibe (although the waterfront being to the south mitigates shadow concerns already). I also like seeing more timber proposals and I like that we've moved on from everything just automatically being blue/clear glass.But the designs themselves I'm luke warm on. I like the one with the curved balconies, apparently called the Western Curve Building. Combining the curve of the overall buildings with that of the individual balconies gives a nod to Marina City while adding an almost Victorian exuberance. Although I would like to see a bit more variation beyond just repeating the same element over and over like a tessellation. I'm also not crazy about the abruptness of the flat roof. I'd rather see it tapered like the BOA in Charlotte or the nearby Monde building. The flat roof doesn't really agree with all the curves and flow in the rest of the design.

The other highrises are just kind of conventional other than the greenery so there's no too much to say. They're not particularly large not especially good or bad, but the designs could still be more interesting and sophisticated. Meh. The lowrise building will require time to digest.

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

A little movement on this proposal in downtown Van.

Nice to see stainless steel instead of plastic spandrel and mullions.

[TorontoDrew]

No real renders yet but from this line drawing it looks like a solid proposal. Also it's not replacing any heritage buildings or architectural gems. The retail that will be lost will be replaced with new retail in the base of the building.


source: Urbantoronto.ca

1670 Avenue Road
Architects BMP/Quadrangle

[trueviking]

wait...a Toronto proposal that isn't 80 stores tall?!

Looks promising.

[TorontoDrew]

Come back in 50 years and they will fecade this and drop 100 floors on top.

[WhipperSnapper]

That bird friendly frit would drive me crazy spying on the neighbours.

[TorontoDrew]

On what proposal?

[samne]

Quayside proposal is all over the place and pretty optimistic on the veg. Would like to see something like that there. Good location for that.

Avenue rd is very Avenue rd in a good way. Fitting and typical of that midtown. Glad to see it’s replacing nothing of significance there.

[TorontoDrew]

Mayor Tory was putting it all over his social media accounts yesterday saying how he can't wait for it to get started. (Yes I follow the mayor) This should be an easy sell for the developers as well since the the new streetcar line will be up and running, the new Subway in some form or another will be well under construction and it's sandwiched between Queens Quay, The Distillery, and the new Portland area with parks and trails.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

On what proposal?

lower 5 floors on 1670 Avenue

[Biff]

I want the 6 wheel Benz.

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

[WhipperSnapper]

He's a rich politician. It's unlikely he doesn't have ties to the development industry and thus factor into his opinion on development.

[TorontoDrew]

An ugly proposal for the Canadian Tire site on the Danforth. I'm so over these random patterns on buildings that serve no purpose. They rarely look good, it's like hack architects trying to recreate Aqua in Chicago on a budget.

Anyway here is the proposal which to me looks very preliminary so maybe it will change. I will say this though, the Danforth needs intensification. It's right on a subway and GO line.

Source: urbantoronto.ca

Address: 2721 Danforth Ave, Toronto, Ontario, M4C 1L4
Category: Condo, Retail
Status: Pre-Construction
Number of Buildings: 1
Height: 583 ft / 177.55 m, 380 ft / 115.96 m
Storeys: 55, 35
Number of Units: 673, 466
Developer: Tri-Metro Investments Inc
Architect: RAW Design
Landscape Architect: MHBC Planning
Engineering: SLR Consulting Limited, Quasar Consulting Group, LEA Consulting: Pratus Group Inc, Haddad Geotechnical Inc.
Planning: MHBC Planning
Transportation & Infrastructure: LEA Consulting

[WhipperSnapper]

Needs more density, sure, Bay and Bloor density makes no sense. There's a subway and a Go station but a community where everyone has to commute out of district for school and work is not how you build an efficient city. Transit is being used too much as an excuse to pad pockets with these huge mediocre, single use vertical subdivisions as a means to address the housing crunch.

[TorontoDrew]

Density needs to go somewhere and height for me is not a factor at a transit hub. This shouldn't be replicated at every subway station but this sort of density belongs in a location exactly like this. I'd like to see Queen East scale proposals along the Danforth, 6-10 floors with setbacks from the road.

Like Biblio here on the left.
source: https://pauljohnston.com

[Coldrsx]

CWB's new HQ
(posted by Avenuer on SRC)







https://edmonton.skyrisecities.com/forum...42s-one-properties-dialog.24170/page-107