Toronto Enigma on the Park | 27.74m | 9s | Aragon Properties | BDP Quadrangle

Noticed this in the new condo mags this weekend. Great to see another new development approved in the area.

I do find the project kinda puzzling, almost ambiguous, or even inexplicable :p
 
The top 4 floors are nice, but the bottom 4 floors are relying superficially on 2D cladding graphics to both integrate with the top floors and to make it visually interesting. The building is more confused than enigmatic.
 
What amazes me about this one is that it is from the same developer that is dropping the clunky Showcase lofts on Carlaw.
 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...o-for-a-difficult-urban-spot/article11812944/

Architect angles a Toronto condo for a difficult urban spot
ALEX BOZIKOVIC

Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, May. 09 2013, 10:37 AM EDT


“Toronto developers have never had to work that hard for their sites,” says Quadrangle’s Richard Witt, the architect who is leading the project. “And now, suddenly, they’re going to.” For Mr. Witt, a talented and ambitious architect who‘s now a principal at Quadrangle, this call from the West Coast represents a challenge on several levels.

He describes the building as “a kinked tower,” but in fact it’s more like three buildings: two L-shaped blocks, each four storeys tall, arranged to frame a courtyard, and a five-storey bridge across the middle from one to the other. The forces shaping those forms are many: rail lines, zoning rules, views and, yes, a fair bit of artistry.

The exterior of the building may take things a step further with an unorthodox façade treatment. “The building is flat, but I didn’t want it to be flat,” says Mr. Witt. “We wanted it to move.” So Quadrangle is designing it with a bold decorative pattern of chevrons, made from high-quality Austrian fiber cement panels. It is gutsy and its success will lie in the detailing, but in concept it looks ravishing.
 
The presentation centre for Enigma opens tomorrow. Front page story here.

Does anyone know how sales are going for this project? I had a look at their model suite ages ago, but now they are opening a new presentation centre. Does this mean sales aren't going well so they are restarting the process?
 
Does anyone know how sales are going for this project? I had a look at their model suite ages ago, but now they are opening a new presentation centre. Does this mean sales aren't going well so they are restarting the process?

I spoke with them today and it seems that they're at about 25% so far. That's after selling all summer to brokers and two weeks to the public.
 
I remember visiting the sales centre last winter during a very snowy weekend.
25% for a development that's almost a year into sales sounds really poor, but then again this is not a prime area and is bought by more end users rather than investors.

So what was the reason for having a redesigned sales centre? Was there a change in the building design or units?
 
…and we have model shots up in a front page story here. The big news from the model shots is that this building is mixed-use; there are three floors of office space mostly at the west end of the site, up against the GO Barrie line. It's a pretty smart design if you ask me, retaining employment on the property while buffering the homes from the tracks.

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