Toronto St Lawrence Centre Redevelopment | ?m | ?s | CreateTO | Hariri Pontarini

Preferred choice for the St. Lawrence Centre Redevelopment Competition

  • Brook McIlroy, Trahan Architects, and Hood Design Studio

    Votes: 11 13.9%

  • Diamond Schmitt, Smoke Architecture, and MVVA

    Votes: 12 15.2%

  • Hariri Pontarini, LMN Architects, Tawaw Collective, Smoke Architecture, and SLA

    Votes: 39 49.4%

  • RDHA, Mecanoo, Two Row Architect, and NAK Design Strategies

    Votes: 16 20.3%

  • Zeidler Architecture, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Two Row Architect, and PLANT Architect

    Votes: 1 1.3%
  • Total voters
    79
  • Poll closed .
AlexBozikovic said:
The design has evolved. Lots of new information and renders on the site now.
Click to expand...

Per the above:

1711504302538.png


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The original facade is entirely gone by the looks of it, and that's for the best.
 
Thanks for the link. One little correction for the image of the main theatre with 960 seats. When it is open to include the Scott Street plaza the capacity is 3,000 not the lower figure listed. And the plan is to start demolition/construction after the 2025 season.
 
I am not sure how I feel about the the loss of the heritage element (facade? Strip?) that was ultimately removed from the front. I get it: more transparency and a more coherent design. But I liked how the new played off the old and I liked the fact that you could view the project from Front and still see a reminder of what was and have it contrast with what has been redone.
 
1. Can we do away with the mythos of King & John as the “theatre district”? From Yonge to Cherry we’ve got O’Keefe*, this one, YPT, COC, Canstage, Young Centre and Berkley St., not to mention George Brown theatre school. Be great to see some fest run through Corktown some day. We got stages.

2. Great to see buildings, but looking around the Canadian cultural scene atm I worry about funding for programs.

(*im tired of trying to keep up with what this venue is called. I’m proposing we as locals just OG it like we do SkyDome- it’s the O’Keefe Centre again)
 
Now they get rid of the entire heritage element to play off against, and yet nothing was done to add more interest to the new elements. Just meh all around. It really should have been the Zeidler submission.
 
...it looks like they're keeping the shape to a degree of the original building, despite losing the concrete exterior. So there still some homage to the original, but now at much more reduced capacity...like it was ghost of how it was in the past.

Not sure how I feel about it, but I understand the concrete "bunker" aspect of a bygone era was going to be a tough sell to a contemporary public that would rather have things all glass and shiny like. As I also suspect there was a costing aspect at play, where it would be more efficient to rebuild most if not all of structure as oppose to maintaining parts of the original here, for good or bad.

.
 
Northern Light said:
Per the above:

View attachment 551443

View attachment 551444

View attachment 551445

View attachment 551446

The original facade is entirely gone by the looks of it, and that's for the best.
Click to expand...
i dont get these 'outdoor theatre plazas'. when complete, they almost never have outdoor performances of any kind, leaving them barren in use. And there is never enough public activation (ie. an adjacent cafe or retail in the cultural building) to help promote their use when there is not a performance going on inside. So they end up just being empty and sterile. Re-render that first image without the performance and you'll get an entirely different result. If Scott St will be closed, make it worthwhile and a playful extension of Berczy Park

The Julliard School in NYC is actually one of the better ones of these, but still each time i'm there, it's almost always empty.
1711547029465.png
 
everydayhim said:
i dont get these 'outdoor theatre plazas'. when complete, they almost never have outdoor performances of any kind, leaving them barren in use. And there is never enough public activation (ie. an adjacent cafe or retail in the cultural building) to help promote their use when there is not a performance going on inside. So they end up just being empty and sterile. Re-render that first image without the performance and you'll get an entirely different result. If Scott St will be closed, make it worthwhile and a playful extension of Berczy Park

The Julliard School in NYC is actually one of the better ones of these, but still each time i'm there, it's almost always empty.
Click to expand...

I think the programming issue is a concern, and the idea of a cafe of some sort makes sense; in the case of the latter, there also ought to be public washrooms.

There's room for input here, submit those comments!

I think there are other strategies as well to make the area remains animated.

One is to ensure it's a desirable transit point for walkers/cyclists from Front to Esplanade.

Another is make sure to incorporate a signature visual feature that will attract interest and bring people off-path.

A water feature is an obvious choice, though that might be disruptive if the space is also for performances/films.
 
I was at the event last night.

The Scott Street closure and connection has not been fully designed yet, but they will end up with a connection that allows permanent pedestrian (and I think bicycle) connection.

Regarding the need for a café mentioned above to help animate the Scott Street Plaza… that's also in the plans, as is a restaurant for the east end of the Front Street frontage. Both the café and restaurant are being aimed at as full time operations, as per any restaurant or café in the city.

It was an impressive presentation. The video of it will be available in a few days.

Speaking of videos, fly-throughs/fly-pasts were shown that we are seeking access to.

Once we have more materials, we'll aim for a front page story!

42
 
interchange42 said:
I was at the event last night.

The Scott Street closure and connection has not been fully designed yet, but they will end up with a connection that allows permanent pedestrian (and I think bicycle) connection.

Regarding the need for a café mentioned above to help animate the Scott Street Plaza… that's also in the plans, as is a restaurant for the east end of the Front Street frontage. Both the café and restaurant are being aimed at as full time operations, as per any restaurant or café in the city.

It was an impressive presentation. The video of it will be available in a few days.

Speaking of videos, fly-throughs/fly-pasts were shown that we are seeking access to.

Once we have more materials, we'll aim for a front page story!

42
Click to expand...
Yes, the Scott and Front intersection will be completely redesigned which makes one wonder why Chris Moise is getting traffic lights put there soon (SEE TEYCC April 3 2024). I have no problem with lights there once the new SLCA is finished but to install lights now only to re-do them in a couple of years when Scott is closed south of Front makes no financial sense.

TE12.48 - Pedestrian Crossing Protection - Front Street East and Scott Street​

Consideration Type: ACTIONWard: 13 - Toronto Centre

Origin​

(March 14, 2024) Report from the Director, Traffic Management, Transportation Services

Recommendations​

The Director, Traffic Management, Transportation Services recommends that:

1. City Council authorize the installation of traffic control signals at the intersection of Front Street East and Scott Street.

Summary​

As the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates a transit service on Front Street East, City Council approval of this report is required.
.
The City (and Mr Moise) really need to look at the big picture!
 
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