Peter1Clewes
New Member
Glass houses, and such...
Toronto The Bond | 138.68m | 42s | Lifetime | Core Architects COMPLETE
- Thread starter BMyers
- Start date
Glass houses, and such...
G.L.17
Senior Member
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
stjames2queenwest
Senior Member
Also from this morning.
FMCS
Active Member
Nice photos everyone and thanks but, why on earth does every building in parts of this city have to be the same height? It looks absolutely rediculous!
Lenser
Senior Member
Maximizing your opportunities within current zoning regs?
FMCS
Active Member
Sure and I understand that but, why would the DRP or any other governing body allow such clusters at very similar heights, give or take a couple meters? All this does is create a terrace effect where eventually it will look like a tall wall with a straight roof! So much pressure for architects and builders to redesign projects and at the same time the city allows this to happen....
Lenser
Senior Member
Well, there's such a thing as making too many rules and regulations. You run the risk of creating an impenetrable bureaucratic thicket which serves no one and annoys everyone. You can't plan for every contingency - getting approvals would take far too long.
The City wanted the skyline in this area to follow a clothesline, gradually dropped from the heights of the financial core down to the mid-rise heights of Spadina warehouses. The OMB said, however, that since 157 metres was allowed in spot X, (TIFF Bell Lightbox), it had to be allowed a block away as well. Thus was the area's tabletop established and the clothesline effectively made obsolete.
The OMB has always seen things in larger blocks than the City has, making finer grain planning difficult.
42
The OMB has always seen things in larger blocks than the City has, making finer grain planning difficult.
42
stjames2queenwest
Senior Member
Clothesline and table top in my opinion are bad ideas. Both are very boring, and I personally appreciate peaks and variation.
Shadow Weaver
New Member
I agree, Toronto is Hightist and it does look ridiculous. We need more variety in height or we will start looking like Sao Paulo and Vancouver it will just be a flat top skyline. This city has too many contradictions, they want creative designs but their rules only allows boring boxes. Keesmat killed the Mirvish towers, she should be nicknamed the "Tower Killer"
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think you may have been misled somewhere along the way, as this is not the case at all.
wolfewood
Active Member
Oh look, more whinging about Keesmaat. As far as I'm concerned, on this forum, that means she's doing her job well!
maestro
Senior Member
Clotheslines have sound some planning when it to function such as density distribution and shadowing. Doesn't mean you can't have multiple clothesline creating several peaks and valleys either.
Developers building all the same height is not necessarily tied to zoning either. Mirvish was approved well over a year ago and most new proposals still hover around 157 metres.
Last edited:
Mirvish only got an exemption from the height limit because 1) there were public benefits like new OCAD space in one podium, the Princess of Wales Theatre was saved, plus a couple of more minor gives, and more importantly I believe, 2), no one really wanted to say "no" to Gehry creating a landmark pair of towers here.
There are a slew of new proposals in the district since the Mirvish proposal, and many are higher than 157 metres.
8-20 Widmer: 183 metres
15-35 Mercer: 191 metres
19 Duncan: 186 metres
217 Adelaide W: 179 metres
400 Front: 204 metres
401-415 King W: 187 metres
None of those have been approved yet. We have yet to see at what height 350 Adelaide West will come in.
Of the currently active post-Mirvish+Gehry proposals, only Carlyle Condos and Theatre District Condos are within the limit, at 144 and 145 metres respectively. PJ Condos is slightly high actually, at 156m. (None of those three are approved yet either.)
The tabletop has come about because every developer wants the max they can get in the area, and the OMB's pre-Tall Buildings Design Guidelines unwillingness to deal with nuances in planning gave them the height they could shoot for.
It will be interesting to see how the Mirvish+Gehry approval and the Tall Buildings Design Guidelines affect the outcome of City Planning height negotiations and failing that of OMB hearings for buildings in the area in the coming years.
42
There are a slew of new proposals in the district since the Mirvish proposal, and many are higher than 157 metres.
8-20 Widmer: 183 metres
15-35 Mercer: 191 metres
19 Duncan: 186 metres
217 Adelaide W: 179 metres
400 Front: 204 metres
401-415 King W: 187 metres
None of those have been approved yet. We have yet to see at what height 350 Adelaide West will come in.
Of the currently active post-Mirvish+Gehry proposals, only Carlyle Condos and Theatre District Condos are within the limit, at 144 and 145 metres respectively. PJ Condos is slightly high actually, at 156m. (None of those three are approved yet either.)
The tabletop has come about because every developer wants the max they can get in the area, and the OMB's pre-Tall Buildings Design Guidelines unwillingness to deal with nuances in planning gave them the height they could shoot for.
It will be interesting to see how the Mirvish+Gehry approval and the Tall Buildings Design Guidelines affect the outcome of City Planning height negotiations and failing that of OMB hearings for buildings in the area in the coming years.
42