Toronto 11 Bay | 269.45m | 54s | QuadReal | Daoust Lestage

I initially didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me after looking at the renders for a bit. It almost looks like something you'd see going up in Melbourne or Sydney. It's an incredible improvement over the bunker that currently sits on site.

As for the tenant, my guess is also Salesforce. They're bolstering their presence in Vancouver, so it wouldn't surprise me to see them make a move in Toronto too. I think Toronto (and the rest of Canada too) is going to continue to be quite attractive to US/overseas companies post-COVID, considering our comparative stability during these times.
 
It looks like it's trying to be everything while remaining conservative. And sucking at everything in doing so, save for remaining conservative... /sigh
 
Here two images I've rendered to further visualize 11 Bay Street in context:

50335037416_a7e7a67032_k.jpg

50334349208_ffcbcf2d93_k.jpg
 
I’m really shocked at the hate on this design. It’s got height character meets the steel beautifully for this area. The materials, art And over presence adds a lot to this area brings light down to street again. (Wile adding shadows a bit behind sure). However I’m curious for another go at it. I’ll also add I do feel it’s maybe slightly too tall here
 
+1. People r being over dramatic. It's not the best design but it's not that bad, doesnt deserve all that hate. I mean how often do we get golden in Toronto.
 
Last edited:
+1. People r being over dramatic. It's not the best design but it's not that bad, doesnt deserve all that hate. I mean how often do we get golden in Toronto.
I'm not sure being dramatic for the lack of being dramatic is entirely a bad thing...

...I will say that Mr. steveve simu demonstrates a rather improtant point when comparing this to The Hub behind it though. Where a bit more imagination and style can dramatically improve the building over this proposal by miles, while still remaining essentially a glass box. The quality in difference is apparent. And one does not need to be drama queen (or king) to realize that.
 
Bridges. Why? Is this Calgary in 1975?
The bridge to the Weston makes sense as a condition of sale as it connects the conference spaces to the hotel.. and can you really lease a million square feet downtown this close to Union without a PATH connection?

the way the PATH works in southcore, it’s usually quicker to walk outside at least. If I worked here my typical day walking from union would probably be outside unless there was some terrible weather or something as taking the PATH would take twice as long to get to the platforms at Union.

i get the sentiment of it “sucking” away the street life, but it mostly just moves inside. It doesn’t remove the life, just puts it in a climate controlled environment.

Also, southcore isn’t exactly a grand pedestrian environment. The Gardiner and associated traffic make it a giant traffic sewer which isn’t super pedestrian friendly. Especially since a lot of the earlier condos have terrible public realms.
 
Last edited:
The whole point of the PATH system is to alleviate the extremely heavy pedestrian traffic from Toronto's narrow downtown sidewalk system. I dont see anything inherently wrong with expanding it along the waterfront, especially when the population around this part of town will be booming in the near future and there's no sign of any transit realistically being improved along Queen's Quay East (ie: apart from study, after successive study).
 

Back
Top