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Surprise, surprise: a newly-erected cheap, flimsy grey-spandrel box disappearing comfortably into a forest of cheap, flimsy grey-spandrel boxes.

Strong postwar/60s-modernist aesthetic vibes with this development, minus the socially alienating tendencies of tower-in-the-park designs at ground level. The "new Honest Ed's" gets a solid A-A+ in my books.

Social, as disappointing as its too-transparent balcony gimmicks are, has nothing on the true "examplars" of over-spandrelized ghastliness: YC, Daniels Waterfront, 365 Church, the Britt...

Though I appreciate this sentiment, that we urban design aficionados are forced to resort to sour-grapes defense mechanisms for aesthetically unsatisfactory builds such as "it'll be hidden from view in time" or "it'll disappear into the dark night sky" speaks volumes about how pathetic the state...

As easy as it is to be cynical about Toronto's cheap, spandrel-laced 2000-2020 architectural character, I do sense that the tide seems to be turning in the last few years. A return to solid exterior walls, a higher level of finesse, etc. in recent proposals and builds. I'm hard-pressed to think...

Splashes of colour would certainly mark a welcome departure in a city whose dominant "design" philosophy in the past two over-spandrelized decades has been a numbing, nihilistic mediocrity of infinite greyness.

Strong West-Side-Manhattan-y vibes with this one.

Love this project. A true jewel among spandrel t*rds in the Entertainment District. Hariri Pontarini rarely fails to impress with their design philosophy of highly finessed curvatures.

Plenty of quality materials and attention to design detail in this one...but the monotonous charcoal-black imparts quite an oppressive totalitarian feel. River City this certainly isn't, despite superficially similar vibes.

I get it, but I also don't (if you know what I mean). A parsimonious developer erecting a steaming pile...on the main street of the biggest city in a (generally) respected and wealthy nation...where is the pride and sense of occasion? This would never happen in Sydney or Seoul, let alone Tokyo...

I honestly don't get the uniquely Torontonian (and perhaps general Canadian?) obsession with opaque charcoal grey window wall masquerading as "all glass" in residential architecture. It's cheap, not sleek. Nearly every city of importance outside this country constructs residential buildings with...

145 Wellington West also got a rare render upgrade with a striking new PARTISANS design. Torontonians are slowly transcending our painful culture of cheapness, parsimony, and "tall-poppy-ism" (The Well and a few other projects are a testament to this incremental cultural shift), albeit at a...

Vertical penitentiary aesthetic.

The upscale interior and quasi-historical podium are the only remotely redeeming elements of what's otherwise a giant trash heap of charcoal-grey spandrel pretending to be a "prestige project". Nobu, which is about to commit nearly the exact same sins, ought to be taking notes.

"Life in Spandrelopolis: An Odyssey of Tastelessness".

Nice sense of solidity/permanence with the non-spandrel walls but that dreary grey couldn't possibly be a blander design choice.

Even "golden" spandrel can't salvage this absolute mess of a "prestige" project. Sprinkling turds with Estée Lauder doesn't make turds any less turd-y.

I'm liking the recent return of solid exterior walls as an architectural trend in Toronto. Lends a sense of dignity and solidity that's been sorely missing from most new builds over the past ~15 years.

Sharp lines, attention to detail, quality materials, and inviting colour schemes. Quite a rarity in over-spandrelized Toronto these days.

Sterile and hospital-like. Not a place I'd want to make a home for myself in. The whole design of this monstrosity screams "emergency care complex" to me. Very clinical and not very residential.