Toronto Hotel X (was Hotel in the Garden) | ?m | 27s | Exhibition Place | NORR

Lenser said:
It's hideous. A squat, stodgy, ungainly thing that's all too conspicuous, thanks to its location. What a colossal failure of imagination. Is it better than a parking lot? I don't know. It sure could have had a whole lot more pizazz. A banal, barfed-out edifice.
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Haha, strong words, hey blame these guys............... Having already been redesigned to respond to the criticisms of the Design Review Panel, notice of approval conditions have been issued by the City Planning Department. As such, this latest incarnation of the project will regrettably not be subject to further scrutiny by the panel. http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/07/hotel-garden-receives-new-name-and-new-design
 
I don't blame the DRP... in fact I think the responsibility ultimately lies with the developer. It might make tons of money, it might be a very successful business enterprise. But it looks terribly cut-rate, stale and predictably anonymous. Which is a shame, as it it could have been far better - it's all alone in that particular zone and it there was an opportunity to make a dramatic and daring statement. That opportunity was squandered.

Instead it's a bland, blocky, stunted carbuncle of modern misery. Considering the potential that was there, it's a disappointment - that's all I'm saying.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Haha, strong words, hey blame these guys............... Having already been redesigned to respond to the criticisms of the Design Review Panel, notice of approval conditions have been issued by the City Planning Department. As such, this latest incarnation of the project will regrettably not be subject to further scrutiny by the panel. http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2012/07/hotel-garden-receives-new-name-and-new-design
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Nice try - the DRP is advisory in nature.

AoD
 
Lenser said:
I don't blame the DRP... in fact I think the responsibility ultimately lies with the developer.
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The developer? Who owned the land? It was public land and the City could have totally controlled the design as a condition of the sale (or land-lease). The blame lies with both the Board of Exhibition Place and with City Council.
 
Then the City and the Board of Exhibition Place should each have exercised due diligence. But in retrospect, it's safe to say that the design of the project wasn't a big concern for them.
 
I wasn't originally planning to stop on the way past this today… but then I got a look at the major transfer beam sitting below the two columns in the southwest corner of the building, and I thought a a pic would be worth stopping for as a great example of how loads are transferred in some developments. Look down… look waaaaaaaay down:

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The thickness of the beam and the slab above it is partly obscured by the (insulating/waterproofing?) membrane hanging in front of it of course…

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Yeah I noticed that. I'm not sure what the photo scale is like so I can't estimate the depth, but just based on the beam span between columns it doesn't look very thick. Would be interesting to see the layout of reinforcement; maximum % reinforcement is only about 3% so it's not like you can just cram as much as you want into a shallow beam.
 
Well, regulation safety fence in Ontario is 1.1 m or 42" high, and that looks a little shorter to me than the slab and beam concrete below it, so I'd be willing to bet that there's about 1.25 m (or maybe a bit more) of concrete and steel in those two pieces below.

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Or after a wedding reception at the Liberty Grand (formerly the Ontario Government Building at the CNE). If a taxi will give you a ride to the hotel for such a short ride. However, more likely there would be a banquet hall available at the hotel, which would be a plus.
 
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