Toronto Studio and Studio2 on Richmond | 131.06m | 41s | Aspen Ridge | BDP Quadrangle

25 May 2014: I'm really starting to love this building! The podium is such a refreshing change from 100% grey spandrel & window wall like at The Mercer or even Pinnacle on Adelaide. I just hope the glazing is more like Peter Street Condos and less like the Mercer. What I call "flush mounted"--like comparing a 1984 Ford Thunderbird's headlamps to a 1987 edition. What do the glazing experts call it--hybrid ww/curtainwall?


I honestly don't know about this podium. I drove by it today and noticed that they are using stucco as the exterior. What a disaster!

Is it just me, or does stucco cheapen anything it touches?

The stucco that is widely used today chips easily, stains terribly from water and weather, and just looks cheap. Compared to the great brick exteriors on either side of this building, the stucco looks tacky and out of place.
 
There's no stucco on Studio, it's all precast concrete.

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There's a lot of precast in this city, and while it's not completely indestructible, it's not chipping off in great quantities.

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There's a lot of precast in this city, and while it's not completely indestructible, it's not chipping off in great quantities.

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Ok then, well regardless of how often it chips or doesn't chip off, it looks absolutely awful.


Is it really that much more money to do a brick exterior for the podium instead of pre-cast concrete, formed and shaped to look like plaster/stone? I honestly wonder what percentage amount of the total cost of the project they save by using precast for the podium and not brickwork. It doesn't seem right that they should be able to build something like that, which ends up cheapening the streetwall effect.

Having said that, and excuse my ignorance interchange42, but what is the exterior of the CTV building made of? I'm querying specifically the exterior on Richmond, west of the black CHUM building, but east of the middle parking lot. Not the stone building on John. I've always wondered. Is that just really well done concrete or is it plaster?
 
I have walked past this building on Richmond many times and it looks great to me. This is a very good use of quality pre-cast and one of the best podiums I have seen built this year.
 
Is it really that much more money to do a brick exterior for the podium instead of pre-cast concrete, formed and shaped to look like plaster/stone?

Yes, a big difference in price.
 
Having said that, and excuse my ignorance interchange42, but what is the exterior of the CTV building made of? I'm querying specifically the exterior on Richmond, west of the black CHUM building, but east of the middle parking lot. Not the stone building on John. I've always wondered. Is that just really well done concrete or is it plaster?

The "stone" CTV building at John (and Queen) is 90% terra cotta, as best as I know. The building at 260 Richmond appears (from Google Street View) to be mostly stone, but I am not certain. It's on Toronto's Heritage list (and someone who has more time to look it up could).

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I ended up on Richmond yesterday. 260 does look like it's stone to me…

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…but it's chipping:

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28 June 2014: In contrast to aA's move towards better-looking glazing solutions (eg at King Charlotte, PSC, Theatre Park), the glazing here is really slightly better "window wall of shame" material:
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Yes it's got that horrid grey :(
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On the tower:
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I am starting to worry again--is this "Address at High Park" Quadrangle again? (Will the coloured spandrel be muted and hideous too?)
 

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