Toronto Dundas Square Gardens | 156.05m | 50s | Gupta | IBI Group

Jeebus. I moved from hi-rise to infrastructure 18 months ago, and look at what I have been missing.

I recall several financings in the Entertainment District over the past few years on which I worked, and 14-15x seemed to be the max density. Theatre Park, I recall, was well in excess of that if you take out the park but I thought with the park it was in the mid-teens. I always thought RCMI was it's own special case (e.g. no parking requirements, etc.)
 
This looks like a good redevelopment project in place of the crummy hotel that sits there now but there's no way they will get that kind of height here. I like the inclusion of student residences too, I'd like to see more of that with new developments near the Ryerson campus.
 
It is a big project. I like the height variations.

200DundasSt.jpg
 
This initially strikes me as way too big for that site. A 10-floor podium? Yikes.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Oh please god let it be the Hilton. In an ideal world, this is exactly the kind of building that should be getting demolished to make room for new condos (and not the old 2-4 storey Victorians that always seem to be at risk). I have a very deep hatred of this particular building. It belongs on the side of the highway somewhere near Brantford or something.
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Though keep in mind that it was just as bad if not worse in its previous federal-gov't-building incarnation--the bottom of the barrel of 50s hackwork. So in some ways, the present incarnation is "fitting"--though I wouldn't be surprised that there are legacy functional/constructional "issues" that make it particularly worth expending...
 
Point towers are favored over slabs to permit light to street level and reduce the perception of mass (IMO a good idea): who cares if 90% of the height is a glassy anorexic, when you have a Lexington looming at ground level?
 
The podium is not 10 floors all around -- the report says it varies between 2 and 10 floors, and the south elevation drawings seem to suggest it is 4 floors facing Dundas, with the additional 6 set back. If that's the case, that seems reasonable to me.
 
A fun whiff of throwback PoMo to it with the terracing. Should play off nicely with 222 Jarvis across the street.

Dare I suggest something like this would be a vast improvement were to it to replace the inverted pair of jeans at 501 Yonge?
 
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