W
WhistlerinToronto
Guest
Ha Ha good point interchange42 
A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Star: Wraparound Frieze Will Warm Fleet St. Condo
From the Star:
WEST HARBOUR CITY
Wraparound frieze will warm Fleet St. condo
Adding art gives developers a break on density limits
January 06, 2007
Diane Tierney
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
When people look at the sketches of Pond, the artistic frieze that will wrap around Plazacorp's West Harbour City condo on Fleet St. when it is built in 2008, they might see water lilies at first glance.
But step back and study the artwork and you'll see something else – the constellations of stars such as the Big Dipper.
The frieze, by Toronto artist Nestor Kruger, represents the growing popularity of builders and developers who are spending a percentage of their gross construction costs on public art, as one of the options that the City of Toronto allows if builders exceed their density limits.
Catherine Williams and Rina Greer were hired by Plazacorp as art consultants to oversee the project. It took many months to meet all the city's policies and processes and conduct an art competition of four artists who were invited to submit proposals. Kruger won the competition.
The jury included two representatives of the developer, lawyer Leslie Yager and architect Leslie Klein, and three art experts – Barbara Fischer, director and curator of Justina M. Barnicke Art Gallery, University of Toronto; Nancy Campbell, freelance curator and writer, formerly of the Power Plant; and artist Micah Lexier.
Williams says, "This project is part of the city of Toronto's Percentfor Public Art program. When developers are building a new project, if they exceed the density laws, the city will extract levies for parks, gardens or perhaps a childcare centre. But one option is that 1 per cent of the hard (gross) construction costs can be spent on public art. Hard construction costs are the actual building, not the real estate and not the decor inside. The public art means it has to be out and visible to the public. That has created many interesting things around the city, from the geese in the Toronto Eaton Centre to sculptures outside the Air Canada Centre.''
Williams and Greer wrote a Public Art Plan and Terms of Reference that must be submitted to the city for review.
"The building is located at a high-profile corner on Fleet Street. You can see it if you are either driving behind it along the Gardiner or along Lake Shore Boulevard West. There are parks beside it and across the street," says Williams.
"So we wanted something that would really stand out. But as more buildings get closer to the sidewalk, and in this case the TTC has a lot of streetcars along that route, there is less space. So the idea of a frieze placed about seven metres up, around the second floor of the building, worked best," says Williams.
The frieze is in good company. This building was inspired by 1930s Art Deco style. Across the street is the Tip Top Tailor building at 637 Lake Shore Blvd. W. and it has a frieze too. So does the frieze that was saved and restored from the Postal Delivery Building and incorporated into the facade of the Air Canada Centre on Bay St., as well as the Design Exchange at 234 Bay St., which used to be the old Stock Exchange.
"We did not say the frieze had to have a theme of any kind. It was mostly technical details that we provided to the artists. They met Les Klein of Quadrangle Architects and Plazacorp's Leslie Yager. We gave them boxes of samples of the building materials, architectural drawings and things like that for inspiration," says Williams.
Five months later, a mid-point technical review was conducted to address questions.
"They also had to price it out and give us technical assurance that their proposals were possible. They met the building's project manager and the pre-cast expert, which is how the frieze will be inset," says Williams.
"All the proposals were completely different. It always astounds me how different they were. They had a lot of discussion about them, but had a unanimous choice," says Williams.
For Pond, all the 55 constellations will be spread over 43 panels on four sides of the building, creating a continuous band of artwork that is about 105 metres long. The panels are all two metres high, but range from two to seven metres in length.
Kruger wrote in his proposal, "I chose the water lily motif because of the proximity of the building to the lake. Water lilies grow in calm, sheltered areas of a lake or pond (an ideal condition for a harbour) where their natural shape provides shelter and support for many forms of life above and below the surface. In addition to the variety of plant and animal life found in such a small area there are many other analogies one could draw between the ecosystem of a pond and the microcosm of a condominium and its surrounding environment."
Each arrangement of lily pads and flowers of each panel is arranged to match one of the 55 northern hemispheric constellations. The flowers represent the stars most commonly associated with a particular constellation and the lily pads are the prominent stars within the constellation border.
The material to be used is still being decided. The choices are glass, porcelain tile or granite. Whether they will have a shine, or be matte, is also being determined.
West Harbour City looks like a 1930s design because there is a lot of brick and pre-cast material. "We've had many favourable comments from people who come into the sales office who say `Oh good, something different at the waterfront' instead of the usual glass and steel skyscraper," says Yager.
"So I thought Nestor's concept was the most lyrical and it fit most appropriately with the architectural aesthetic of the building. It was just stunningly beautiful and I liked the constellations theme. That gave it recognition factor. You can recognize the Big Dipper, and that makes you feel comfortable. We wanted to bring comfortable feelings to this building," she says.
"And the bonus is that the water lily is a symbol of good luck."
Plazacorp hopes that they become known as `the building with the water lilies.' "That's a real compliment. Fleet Street sort of curves, so where this frieze is going, you can see it from quite a distance. It's going to a very prominent feature. The tiles are huge."
Kruger supports the idea of having a brochure to outline the constellations. "The Big Dipper will be recognizable but with the others you might need a map to figure them out. There is something calming about water lilies. The building is a kind of gateway into the city. I consider it as a reference mark because it straddles the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Blvd. ," he says.
The frieze will be mounted to a stone slab with epoxy and then grouted and inserted into a recessed pre-cast panel. That will be attached to the building with a combination of mechanical hooks and cement bond.
The occupancy date for the condo is March 2008. The frieze will take about a month to install after the building is complete.
AoD
From the Star:
WEST HARBOUR CITY
Wraparound frieze will warm Fleet St. condo
Adding art gives developers a break on density limits
January 06, 2007
Diane Tierney
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
When people look at the sketches of Pond, the artistic frieze that will wrap around Plazacorp's West Harbour City condo on Fleet St. when it is built in 2008, they might see water lilies at first glance.
But step back and study the artwork and you'll see something else – the constellations of stars such as the Big Dipper.
The frieze, by Toronto artist Nestor Kruger, represents the growing popularity of builders and developers who are spending a percentage of their gross construction costs on public art, as one of the options that the City of Toronto allows if builders exceed their density limits.
Catherine Williams and Rina Greer were hired by Plazacorp as art consultants to oversee the project. It took many months to meet all the city's policies and processes and conduct an art competition of four artists who were invited to submit proposals. Kruger won the competition.
The jury included two representatives of the developer, lawyer Leslie Yager and architect Leslie Klein, and three art experts – Barbara Fischer, director and curator of Justina M. Barnicke Art Gallery, University of Toronto; Nancy Campbell, freelance curator and writer, formerly of the Power Plant; and artist Micah Lexier.
Williams says, "This project is part of the city of Toronto's Percentfor Public Art program. When developers are building a new project, if they exceed the density laws, the city will extract levies for parks, gardens or perhaps a childcare centre. But one option is that 1 per cent of the hard (gross) construction costs can be spent on public art. Hard construction costs are the actual building, not the real estate and not the decor inside. The public art means it has to be out and visible to the public. That has created many interesting things around the city, from the geese in the Toronto Eaton Centre to sculptures outside the Air Canada Centre.''
Williams and Greer wrote a Public Art Plan and Terms of Reference that must be submitted to the city for review.
"The building is located at a high-profile corner on Fleet Street. You can see it if you are either driving behind it along the Gardiner or along Lake Shore Boulevard West. There are parks beside it and across the street," says Williams.
"So we wanted something that would really stand out. But as more buildings get closer to the sidewalk, and in this case the TTC has a lot of streetcars along that route, there is less space. So the idea of a frieze placed about seven metres up, around the second floor of the building, worked best," says Williams.
The frieze is in good company. This building was inspired by 1930s Art Deco style. Across the street is the Tip Top Tailor building at 637 Lake Shore Blvd. W. and it has a frieze too. So does the frieze that was saved and restored from the Postal Delivery Building and incorporated into the facade of the Air Canada Centre on Bay St., as well as the Design Exchange at 234 Bay St., which used to be the old Stock Exchange.
"We did not say the frieze had to have a theme of any kind. It was mostly technical details that we provided to the artists. They met Les Klein of Quadrangle Architects and Plazacorp's Leslie Yager. We gave them boxes of samples of the building materials, architectural drawings and things like that for inspiration," says Williams.
Five months later, a mid-point technical review was conducted to address questions.
"They also had to price it out and give us technical assurance that their proposals were possible. They met the building's project manager and the pre-cast expert, which is how the frieze will be inset," says Williams.
"All the proposals were completely different. It always astounds me how different they were. They had a lot of discussion about them, but had a unanimous choice," says Williams.
For Pond, all the 55 constellations will be spread over 43 panels on four sides of the building, creating a continuous band of artwork that is about 105 metres long. The panels are all two metres high, but range from two to seven metres in length.
Kruger wrote in his proposal, "I chose the water lily motif because of the proximity of the building to the lake. Water lilies grow in calm, sheltered areas of a lake or pond (an ideal condition for a harbour) where their natural shape provides shelter and support for many forms of life above and below the surface. In addition to the variety of plant and animal life found in such a small area there are many other analogies one could draw between the ecosystem of a pond and the microcosm of a condominium and its surrounding environment."
Each arrangement of lily pads and flowers of each panel is arranged to match one of the 55 northern hemispheric constellations. The flowers represent the stars most commonly associated with a particular constellation and the lily pads are the prominent stars within the constellation border.
The material to be used is still being decided. The choices are glass, porcelain tile or granite. Whether they will have a shine, or be matte, is also being determined.
West Harbour City looks like a 1930s design because there is a lot of brick and pre-cast material. "We've had many favourable comments from people who come into the sales office who say `Oh good, something different at the waterfront' instead of the usual glass and steel skyscraper," says Yager.
"So I thought Nestor's concept was the most lyrical and it fit most appropriately with the architectural aesthetic of the building. It was just stunningly beautiful and I liked the constellations theme. That gave it recognition factor. You can recognize the Big Dipper, and that makes you feel comfortable. We wanted to bring comfortable feelings to this building," she says.
"And the bonus is that the water lily is a symbol of good luck."
Plazacorp hopes that they become known as `the building with the water lilies.' "That's a real compliment. Fleet Street sort of curves, so where this frieze is going, you can see it from quite a distance. It's going to a very prominent feature. The tiles are huge."
Kruger supports the idea of having a brochure to outline the constellations. "The Big Dipper will be recognizable but with the others you might need a map to figure them out. There is something calming about water lilies. The building is a kind of gateway into the city. I consider it as a reference mark because it straddles the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Blvd. ," he says.
The frieze will be mounted to a stone slab with epoxy and then grouted and inserted into a recessed pre-cast panel. That will be attached to the building with a combination of mechanical hooks and cement bond.
The occupancy date for the condo is March 2008. The frieze will take about a month to install after the building is complete.
AoD
Y
yyzer
Guest
Interesting article! Hopefully they will release a rendering soon..
M
Mark Dowling
Guest
If only the City insisted on % PAC for all developments, not just ones that break the OP.
OP busting developments need additional and mandatory infrastructure contributions so that the extra water/sewer/transit doesn't fall on the shoulders of the people that built to the plan.
OP busting developments need additional and mandatory infrastructure contributions so that the extra water/sewer/transit doesn't fall on the shoulders of the people that built to the plan.
M
mark simpson
Guest
does it matter as when does a new proposal ever not 'break' the OP
M
Mark Dowling
Guest
all the more reason then
M
Mike in TO
Guest
Mark,
The new developments don't really break the OP - the OP is intended to be a general guideline that is meant to evolve rather then a very specific document. The new developments are often inconsistent with the zoning and therefore require amendments to the zoning which then amends the OP. Also it should be noted that the zoning in most areas of Toronto haven't been updated since the 1960s... so I'm not sure how relevant the zoning is anymore. Zoning should reflect what kind of development the city envisions for the future rather than what existed in the 1960s. (As part of Bill 51 which was proclaimed Jan 1, the city and all other Ontario municipalities will be required to update their zoning within 3 years of passing an OP, and OPs must be updated every 5 years - hopefully this will bring zoning up to date in the near future).
Development Charges are calculated on a per unit basis (so whatever 'extras' are gained through approvals result in additional development charges for the city. Also for development that exceeds the zoning the city often extracts section 37 contributions from developers which are usually used to pay for community benifits (e.g. day care facilities or other local improvements). Those fees are in addition to the public art contributions as well as cash-in-lieu or parkland fees that the city charges developers. Water and sewer improvements on site are all paid for entirely by the developer. Off site improvements are calculated as part of the background studies for development charges (water/sewer/transit are all components of DCs).
The new developments don't really break the OP - the OP is intended to be a general guideline that is meant to evolve rather then a very specific document. The new developments are often inconsistent with the zoning and therefore require amendments to the zoning which then amends the OP. Also it should be noted that the zoning in most areas of Toronto haven't been updated since the 1960s... so I'm not sure how relevant the zoning is anymore. Zoning should reflect what kind of development the city envisions for the future rather than what existed in the 1960s. (As part of Bill 51 which was proclaimed Jan 1, the city and all other Ontario municipalities will be required to update their zoning within 3 years of passing an OP, and OPs must be updated every 5 years - hopefully this will bring zoning up to date in the near future).
Development Charges are calculated on a per unit basis (so whatever 'extras' are gained through approvals result in additional development charges for the city. Also for development that exceeds the zoning the city often extracts section 37 contributions from developers which are usually used to pay for community benifits (e.g. day care facilities or other local improvements). Those fees are in addition to the public art contributions as well as cash-in-lieu or parkland fees that the city charges developers. Water and sewer improvements on site are all paid for entirely by the developer. Off site improvements are calculated as part of the background studies for development charges (water/sewer/transit are all components of DCs).
B
building babel
Guest
A nice idea - using the constellations as an inspiration - like the two Daoist temple wall paintings in the ROM's Chinese gallery.
A
AndrewJM3D
Guest
Yup been done though not much has been posted in a while. We could use some pictures from the site.
C
Canuck 36
Guest
I like the setbacks round back, but I'm a bit fearful this may turn out too bulky.
M
mark simpson
Guest
I'm more concerned on the colour than the bulkiness - Plazacorp seems to use a lot of peachy, pinky coloured brick
S
Suicidal Gingerbread Man
Guest
Bulky? Not really. It looks very urban. Good job.
B
Bogtrotter
Guest
I appreciate that it breaks away from the boxy conventions of many so called 'TO style' condos. However it seems to me that this design might be more befitting a taller tower..? So yeh I would agree that it might be a little awkward and bulky looking, especially for a lakefront condo.
A
AndrewJM3D
Guest
Am I mistaken in thinking there will be a subsequent tower here that will be shorter then the first? Providing this building isn’t too broad I think it’ll look pretty good. It complements Tip Top Lofts and will stand out against Malibu (which btw is on floor # 7 now).
If someone knows where the pdf is of this project I'd love to make a model of it.
If someone knows where the pdf is of this project I'd love to make a model of it.