In general, I could care less about view corridors either in Toronto or anywhere else. 

When someone mentions view corridors, a couple questions come to mind: why is protecting a singular viewpoint so important? And how is this conversation any different from someone in a high rise complaining at a neighbourhood meeting about their 6th floor view being wrecked by a new condo going up a block away?

When I look down a street, I like to see the city stacked on top of itself. Just yesterday the brilliant Daily Dose of Imagery posted a photo of a shot down Adelaide St from the east end towards downtown. Different styles of architecture are piled upon each other and it looks very Toronto to me. It’s messy, it’s urban, and from this view you also get see variations of glass that are not just green.

Some experts have weighed in further on the view corridor issue and I have read up on what they have said. The Tall Buildings Study included a regulation that three distinct corridors that should be preserved:

• the view of Queen’s Park along College Street at the intersection of University Avenue
• the view of City Hall from the south side of Queen Street between Bay Street and York Street
• and the view of Old City Hall from Bay Street at the intersection of Temperance Street.

The Study says:

Landmark buildings provide the City with cultural memory and a distinct sense of place. They are unique markers that help us attain a collective appreciation and understanding of Toronto’s past and future.

In Downtown Toronto many landmark sites and view corridors have origins that date to Toronto’s Victorian period, while others represent later iconic architecture of civic and cultural significance. Sites located at a street terminus have often been used to give the City’s public buildings heightened prominence. Views to any such landmark buildings should be considered in the review of any tall building proposal. (page 28)

After reading the Tall Buildings Study explanation, as well as additional work done by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO), I am inclined to agree.

From certain vantage points, we can and should retain the three view corridors. I am proud of our city and our civic buildings.


Queen’s Park Silhouette

Let’s look at the view of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario building, which on the UT forum has been under heavy discussion due to the approved 21 Avenue Road proposal (the site of the current Four Seasons Hotel).

Recently, the ACO with the Centre for Landscape Research (CLR) and Du Toit Allsopp Hillier has done its own study on the Queen’s Park silhouette and whether the new criteria outlined in the Tall Buildings Study regarding the proposed allowed as-of-right and maximum heights will compromise the desire to retain the view corridor.

As you can see, the maximum height allowed along Bloor Street will compromise this view corridor from College:

While this view corridor point of view and the next are not recommended in the Tall Buildings Study, we can see the potential of having the as-of-right right be changed to the maximum height for this stretch of buildings along Bloor in the Study.

From Orde Street (that’s the massing for the 21 Avenue Road proposal you see behind Queen’s Park on the right hand side):

And from Queen Street:

The recent OMB decision on 21 Avenue Road pointed out the clear lack of policy at both the City of Toronto and the Province to protect this view. MPP Rosario Marchese has introduced a private members bill (Bill 95) to protect the silhouette of the LAO from Queen Street and University Avenue, but so far there is nothing from the government side.


What are your thoughts? Leave a comment here, or click the link below to join in the discussion in Urban Toronto's thread for the Tall Buildings Study.

This article was originally published in forum thread: New rules could limit Building Heights