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Trio of ugly ducklings at water's edge
Among the least attractive buildings in city
Not designed to be part of the streetscape
CHRISTOPHER HUME
It's hard to know what to say about the Harbourpoint condos at 250, 260 and 270 Queen's Quay W., except that they rate among the least attractive buildings in Toronto.
Little wonder that when they appeared in the early 1980s, they signalled the death of Harbourfront.
With towers like these three lining the water's edge, why bother trying to clean up the lakefront?
Though some lessons have been learned in the years since, it's clear things haven't improved as much as they should have.
The exception is what's happening west of Spadina Ave., where the quality of architecture and urbanity is substantially higher.
But Harbourpoint and some of the concrete bunkers to the east on the south side of Queen's Quay remain a low point in Toronto condo history.
In fact, the complex consists of three towers sitting on top of podium made up of a four-storey parking garage.
For that reason alone, Harbourpoint should be dynamited, but it gets worse.
At ground level, the buildings rise from the ground without regard to the fact that they form part of a streetscape.
A series of nasty-looking tiled columns represent the only attempt at decoration in a development that would otherwise look right at home in a former Soviet colony.
Higher up, all one notices is the unrelieved expanse of beige masonry.
If the condo industry in Toronto has a bad name, it's because of this sort of thing.
The fact that it was built on the waterfront of all places reflects badly on all involved — the city planning department, as well as the Harbourfront brain trust, that believed programming could be subsidized by development.
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GRADE: D
PETER POWER/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
The unimaginative Harbourpoint condos consist of three towers sitting on top of a podium made up of a four-storey parking garage.
Among the least attractive buildings in city
Not designed to be part of the streetscape
CHRISTOPHER HUME
It's hard to know what to say about the Harbourpoint condos at 250, 260 and 270 Queen's Quay W., except that they rate among the least attractive buildings in Toronto.
Little wonder that when they appeared in the early 1980s, they signalled the death of Harbourfront.
With towers like these three lining the water's edge, why bother trying to clean up the lakefront?
Though some lessons have been learned in the years since, it's clear things haven't improved as much as they should have.
The exception is what's happening west of Spadina Ave., where the quality of architecture and urbanity is substantially higher.
But Harbourpoint and some of the concrete bunkers to the east on the south side of Queen's Quay remain a low point in Toronto condo history.
In fact, the complex consists of three towers sitting on top of podium made up of a four-storey parking garage.
For that reason alone, Harbourpoint should be dynamited, but it gets worse.
At ground level, the buildings rise from the ground without regard to the fact that they form part of a streetscape.
A series of nasty-looking tiled columns represent the only attempt at decoration in a development that would otherwise look right at home in a former Soviet colony.
Higher up, all one notices is the unrelieved expanse of beige masonry.
If the condo industry in Toronto has a bad name, it's because of this sort of thing.
The fact that it was built on the waterfront of all places reflects badly on all involved — the city planning department, as well as the Harbourfront brain trust, that believed programming could be subsidized by development.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRADE: D
PETER POWER/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
The unimaginative Harbourpoint condos consist of three towers sitting on top of a podium made up of a four-storey parking garage.
