Toronto Massey Hall Revitalization at the Allied Music Centre | 48.46m | 7s | KPMB

This render showed restored windows, but as mentioned above.. perfect place to promote programming.

7461-76089.jpeg

UT
 
This render showed restored windows, but as mentioned above.. perfect place to promote programming.

7461-76089.jpeg

UT

That's one of the initial renders (back in 2015 or so?) - you can tell from the widely panned glass canopy along Shuter - since dropped. The cladding on the addition is also different - and the "jewel box" is more intricate than it is currently executed.

AoD
 
I think they might (?) have cleaned it - and chose to have gone with light cleaning.

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(Google Streetview 2017)

The brick was a lot darker then - it got an almost orange terracotta tone to it now.

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Yup, the building has definitely been cleaned, even if the bricks don't look new exactly. It's rare for bricks to be sandblasted anymore: no-one wants to remove the surface of the brick now as it was found that sandblasted bricks simply start to crumble. So, what's been cleaned is lighter now while still retaining some patina of the years, and that strikes me as preferable anyway.

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There are non invasive ways of cleaning bricks like power washing, soda blasting and poultice - I think the average visitor to the theatre isn’t going to register this as a conscious creative decision but rather a mistake or shortfall. It doesn’t look good to me right now - I’m hoping they take another pass at it.
 
There are non invasive ways of cleaning bricks like power washing, soda blasting and poultice - I think the average visitor to the theatre isn’t going to register this as a conscious creative decision but rather a mistake or shortfall. It doesn’t look good to me right now - I’m hoping they take another pass at it.

I would like a slightly more aggressive cleaning as well (mainly in the area directly underneath the old fire escape; the uneveness of the frieze is also an area that should be worked on), though not to the point of it looking flat. Having said so there was a rather vocal minority early on who thought doing anything to the hall is sacrilege. In any case I don't think the average visitor to Massey would care about the exterior, especially at night. And yes, that scarred pediment is still bothersome - it's like looking at a defaced statue.

As to brick cleaning techniques - let's go pew pew:


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They could - though I think that space directly behind them is used for cash bar (or coat check?)

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This is where the Shoppers' treatment of covering the inside of your windows could work.

Aside from event messaging, one could simply insert an something desirable, but very slim) to look at, hiding whatever use may be beyond.

You could also use glass that can't be seen through w/o it being brazen mirror glass or overtly tinted.

There's also sorts of tricks.

Any where way, I think restoring the windows was the right way to go.

It would have removed some of the most glaring mismatches in brick tone; and would have freed up some nice colour-match bricks to fix other sections.

This is a pic from @DSC 's post:

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Not the anomalous red tone int he window bricked-up window and edge of same on the right-hand side of the pic.

Note the left-side window has a tone more in line w/the rest of the structure.
 
As to brick cleaning techniques - let's go pew pew:


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Portion of the video where the fingers placing the brick in question to be zapped sure made me wince. As few times they seem to be on a verge of meeting their Goldfinger/Bond moment. /shudders
 
I really wish they were restoring the pediment too but I think that's beyond the scope of this project. Too bad.

The HIS was silent on restoring the pediment. I don't know if they have any documentation of that pediment that would actually allow it to be replicated - it might be something they have to create completely anew (and I am sure the very thought of doing that will lead to howls from certain quarters around issues of authenticity, etc)

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The HIS was silent on restoring the pediment. I don't know if they have any documentation of that pediment that would actually allow it to be replicated - it might be something they have to create completely anew (and I am sure the very thought of doing that will lead to howls from certain quarters around issues of authenticity, etc)

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Now that the front façade has been tidied up, the decrepit state of the pediment is all the more glaring. Hopefully, the HIS will agree to do something to fix it up. Probably not though...
 

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