Toronto 18 Dalhousie | 175m | 53s | Pemberton | Graziani + Corazza

In the second and third renderings, the upper part of the tower is at an angle, but in the rest of the renderings , it's aligned with the lower part of the tower. I know the former is depicting the Dalhousie frontage (east and north facades), whereas the rest is showing the Church St frontage (west and south facades), but it seems unlikely the architects will design a tower with such an awkward shape just for the novelty.
 
In the second and third renderings, the upper part of the tower is at an angle, but in the rest of the renderings , it's aligned with the lower part of the tower. I know the former is depicting the Dalhousie frontage (east and north facades), whereas the rest is showing the Church St frontage (west and south facades), but it seems unlikely the architects will design a tower with such an awkward shape just for the novelty.
It's not for novelty, it's for staying out of the helicopter flight path to St Mike's.

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It's not for novelty, it's for staying out of the helicopter flight path to St Mike's.

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Is that also why they're keeping the west and south sides flush with the lower part? Otherwise, wouldn't it be easier to just turn the entire upper part at an angle so that they can keep 90 degrees corners and avoid awkward layouts?
 
I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'll say that developers are more concerned with maximizing the total GFA they'll be allowed on their sites than they typically are with the units that will have some odd angles in them.

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I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'll say that developers are more concerned with maximizing the total GFA they'll be allowed on their sites than they typically are with the units that will have some odd angles in them.

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True. I guess it's not their problem if some units have useless spaces because of odd angles. It's up to potential buyers to refuse to buy such units and teach them a lesson that maximizing total GFA doesn't always pay.
 


147 Church Street - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act

This item will be considered by Toronto Preservation Board on December 3, 2021.


Summary
This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 147 Church Street (including entrance addresses at 149 Church Street, 18 Dalhousie Street, and 20 Dalhousie Street) for its design, associative, and contextual values under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Constructed circa 1910 for prominent Toronto businessman and contractor Joseph Wright, the property at 147 Church Street spans the shallow block between Church and Dalhousie Streets, and includes a primary elevation on the east side of Church Street and a secondary elevation on the west side of Dalhousie Street. The property is a representative example of the Edwardian Classicism architectural style that was popular for commercial buildings in the early 20th century. The property retains its original scale, form, and massing as a 3-storey flat-roofed building, and its Edwardian Classicism style is reflected in its simple, balanced design and restrained classical detailing.

On June 8, 2018, an Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment application was made for a site at 139-149 Church Street. The original development scheme did not propose the conservation of any portion of the building at 147 Church Street. As a result of continued discussions with the owner in an attempt to resolve outstanding issues, the revised development scheme, at the time of writing this report, involves demolition of the building at 147 Church Street, and panelization and reconstruction of its principal (west) elevation.

In June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108) received Royal Assent. Schedule 11 of this Act included amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). The Bill 108 Amendments to the OHA came into force on July 1, 2021, which included a shift in Part IV designations related to certain Planning Act applications. Section 29(1.2) of the OHA now restricts City Council's ability to give notice of its intention to designate a property under the OHA to within 90 days after the City Clerk gives notice of a complete application.

The application currently under review was deemed complete prior to the new legislation coming into force on July 1, 2021.

Designation will enable City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.​


Current view of 147 Church Street, in the centre of this Google street view image here:


147chu.JPG
 
New documents were uploaded to the AIC on November 16th, 2022.

A summary of the changes from the Cover Letter:
1671657493493.png


And the updated renderings:
18 Dalhousie - Tower Perspective Looking East.png

18 Dalhousie - Tower Perspective Looking West.png

18 Dalhousie - Church Street Podium Looking North.png

18 Dalhousie - Church Street Podium Looking South.png

18 Dalhousie - Church Street Podium Looking East.png

18 Dalhousie - Dalhousie Street Podium Looking South.png

18 Dalhousie - 26th Floor Transition Looking West.png


I'll also bring forward the podium elevation drawings, and note that while this sure does look like curtain wall on the tower, the material listed is simply "vision glass", so we can't really know for sure:
18 Dalhousie - Church Street Colour Elevation.png

18 Dalhousie - Dalhousie Street Colour Elevation.png


Finally, and just for fun, I'll bring a few "interesting" unit layouts forward.

First, this duo on the 2nd floor, which hug the "open to below" space required for garbage trucks on the ground floor:
1671658479202.png


Then, this unit and a half, on floors 9 through 20, listed as convertible into a future 2 bedroom, that would appear to require going through a concrete shear wall to do so (or perhaps by
popping around it on the balcony?):
1671658649962.png


Finally, this one bedroom unit on the 28th and 29th floors, which not only has a very difficult triangle shape that makes it very, very shallow on one end (around 80 centimetres!), but has a whole 90 or so square feet of space that would be inaccessible to anyone who is thicker than about 15 centimetres:
1671659238240.png


(All images taken from the AIC)
 
last one is a good LOL. That will more than likely be "fixed" as layouts get refined by reassigning that space to the adjacent unit.

Convertible units are 100% vapourware and have been since the start. I would be surprised if it's ever actually converted.

Those units wrapping around the garbage area would actually end up with a lot of windows, and probably wouldn't be that bad. I'd be concerned about loading noise though.
 
While the tower looks pretty damn sharp in the renders, with the noted proponents who are involved in this i'm not holding my breath at all. This is probably going to end up being really rough when all is said and done.
 
^Said much more eloquently than myself.

I should always note to be harsher when critiquing the jokes that are Pemberton and G+C.
 

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