Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

[ADRM]

Heyooo.

In December 2018, applications for Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments were made for the site. Since that point in time, GG Duncan Inc. and their consultant team have been working through some design changes with Planning and Urban Design Staff. These changes necessitate an application to the Committee of Adjustment for minor variances to the in-force site-specific zoning, rather than supplementary review through the rezoning process. In advance of making an application to the Committee of Adjustment, GG Duncan Inc. is requesting a review of the enclosed materials in relation to the in-force site-specific zoning.

 

[concrete_and_light]

They've got hats now lol

Which I think I like — resolves the top more.

It seems every time we see new models or renderings of these they have a different cladding and surface detail, but always kind of ambiguous and difficult to discern what the models and renderings are actually trying to represent in terms of real-world materials and forms. I'm a bit worried in this one that some of it could end up looking just kind of messy in reality and that some parts are starting to look a little bit just like standard glass walls, but fingers crossed they pull this off well. It will all come down to the details of execution. Very interested to see what materials they will use to form the crinkly bits and all the different textures.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Both towers look to have been chopped in height as well with the West just about retaining supertall status

 

[allengeorge]

Good catch @ChesterCopperpot: 328m -> 300m and 301m -> 262m.

 

[travis3000]

328m---> 308m
301m---> 266.5m

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

Good catch @ChesterCopperpot: 328m -> 300m and 301m -> 262m.

I think you meant 328m -> 308m. Or least how I am reading the image Mr. Copperpot provided.

...and oh boy, they did more than just tweak that!

I'm only glad that this thread got bumped by real news about this for a change.

 

[allengeorge]

I was quoting to "top of building" not "top of parapet", but you are both correct if that's the 'true' height!

...and oh boy, they did more than just tweak that!

I see the canopy structures at the base are gone, and it looks more like a standard podium. Looks like the tower is more 'chopped up' and blockier as well?

 

[canarob]

The Cheapening strikes again.

 

[ericmacm]

I'm happy with this change. This new iteration of the project is now much more likely to be built than any of the previous ones.

The ripples and curves on the previous iteration would have been beautiful, but are totally impractical (both from a design perspective and from a living space perspective) since they were at the structural level, and every single floor plate would have had to be unique and would have contributed to construction costs significantly, in addition to needing expensive, highly custom cladding pieces to fit the structural curves. Flattening out the massing and simplifying the structural form of both towers makes this project so much more viable. Any ripples and angular elements look like they will be completed on the facade level, which is much easier to do. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of materials will be used. My guess is that it will be a combination of highly reflective curtain wall glass and multiple types of stainless steel panels.

 

[stjames2queenwest]

Wow. That’s disappointing.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I have to say I actually liked t his version more (except for the base) - the juxtapositioning of the "blocks" and the different textures will probably make it stand out more than the previous iteration.

AoD

 

[smably]

It's only disappointing if you actually believed that the last version had any chance of being built as designed.

I don't have any strong opinions on the new design yet because a lot of the documentation is still pretty vague, but the fact that this is finally starting to feel like something that could realistically get built is good news.

 

[ushahid]

I think this a more realistic one.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Would appreciate some more detail about what is going on at street level. It's nothing more than a blank canvas in this render. However, the waterfall elements appear to be retained. so yay for that.

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I see the canopy structures at the base are gone, and it looks more like a standard podium. Looks like the tower is more 'chopped up' and blockier as well?

I think they've been significantly reduced, but not entirely gone. As the remnants of the canopy are there if you squint hard enough...

It's only disappointing if you actually believed that the last version had any chance of being built as designed.

But that's my issue. As my biggest disappointment is that water fall effect that we where to get will no longer be there...as if the buildings have been rearranged to break that all apart currently. Now it looks like offset stacked blocks with various textures, for good or bad. And it feels this has been done before, but only more Gerhy'ized, IMO.