Urban Shocker
Doyenne
It was one of the 15 winners of the 2007 OAA Awards for design excellence.
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2007 Pugs
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Gardiner is belle of the ball
Jun 07, 2007 08:25 AM
Christopher Hume
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art may be the smallest of the cultural projects now transforming the city, but so far it’s also the best.
Torontonians voting in the third annual Pug Awards agreed and gave the project an unprecedented approval rating of 81.5 per cent.
The Gardiner was one of 22 buildings up for evaluation in the Pugs this year. Eligible structures had to measure more than 50,000 square feet and have been registered in 2006.
The vote, which was held online in May, attracted 40,000 entries.
Scant support for the Be Bloor condominium, at Bloor and Lansdowne, made it the worst ranked building of the bunch; it received a positive rating on only 2.7 per cent of ballots.
The most popular residential project, One King West, trailed only the Gardiner, gaining a 77.7 per cent approval rating. Designed by Stanford Downey, the elegant 51-storey tower site sits atop and beside the old 1914 Dominion Bank Building, which has been incorporated into the condo/hotel complex.
Third place went to the Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building, at the northwest corner of University Ave. and College St. on the University of Toronto campus. This is acclaimed London architect Norman Foster’s first Canadian outing; it’s probably best known for the two enormous “pods” suspended in the glass-enclosed atrium. Illuminated at night with coloured light, these pods have become something of a local landmark.
Tip Top Lofts, a remake of the old garment factory on Lake Shore Blvd., garnered a 73.9 approval rating to capture fourth place. The Art Deco original has been lovingly restored and the extra floors on top were conceived with unusual sensitivity.
After that, it was the Federal Court Building at 180 Queen St. W. Like the Gardiner, it was designed by Toronto’s KPMB, an architectural practice known for excellence. Although the tower suffered a number of indignities at the hands of the city planner and its bureaucratic tenants, it managed to survive them all and stand out as one of the best new structures in the neighbourhood. Designer Tom Payne cleverly gave the building two faces. One, more formal, faces east to Osgoode Hall and City Hall. The other, facing south, addresses the more casual conditions of Queen West.
The second project of Toronto’s so-called Cultural Renaissance included in this year’s Pugs was the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre. Designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects, it was the only Renaissance facility to have been built from scratch; the rest were additions or remakes. Still, it managed no better than seventh place, with a positive vote percentage of 59.7 per cent.
Located at Queen and University, it has been praised mostly for its acoustics. Architecturally, it clearly disappointed a lot of people, which might have something to do with the choice to clad the building in nondescript black/blue masonry. The result is strangely industrial, an effect underlined by the fact that two of the four facades are almost blank.
The Ryerson School of Business, which came in 15th, was the only other non-condo site in the line-up. It got a 43.5 per cent approval, which some might consider generous given the unremarkable quality of the design by Zeidler Architects.
On the good side, the building is a superb example of mixed-use planning. In addition to Ryerson, it houses a parking garage and Canadian Tire store at grade. This is exactly the kind of combination that will allow the city to achieve the densities it needs in the age of climate change, when the need to stop sprawl has never been more urgent.
As usual, the institutional building scored better than their private-sector counterparts, but this year the gap was closer than ever. That’s the good news. The bad news is that all but one of the 10 lowest ranked buildings were condos.
The people have spoken; what more need be said?
Jun 07, 2007 08:25 AM
Christopher Hume
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art may be the smallest of the cultural projects now transforming the city, but so far it’s also the best.
Torontonians voting in the third annual Pug Awards agreed and gave the project an unprecedented approval rating of 81.5 per cent.
The Gardiner was one of 22 buildings up for evaluation in the Pugs this year. Eligible structures had to measure more than 50,000 square feet and have been registered in 2006.
The vote, which was held online in May, attracted 40,000 entries.
Scant support for the Be Bloor condominium, at Bloor and Lansdowne, made it the worst ranked building of the bunch; it received a positive rating on only 2.7 per cent of ballots.
The most popular residential project, One King West, trailed only the Gardiner, gaining a 77.7 per cent approval rating. Designed by Stanford Downey, the elegant 51-storey tower site sits atop and beside the old 1914 Dominion Bank Building, which has been incorporated into the condo/hotel complex.
Third place went to the Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building, at the northwest corner of University Ave. and College St. on the University of Toronto campus. This is acclaimed London architect Norman Foster’s first Canadian outing; it’s probably best known for the two enormous “pods” suspended in the glass-enclosed atrium. Illuminated at night with coloured light, these pods have become something of a local landmark.
Tip Top Lofts, a remake of the old garment factory on Lake Shore Blvd., garnered a 73.9 approval rating to capture fourth place. The Art Deco original has been lovingly restored and the extra floors on top were conceived with unusual sensitivity.
After that, it was the Federal Court Building at 180 Queen St. W. Like the Gardiner, it was designed by Toronto’s KPMB, an architectural practice known for excellence. Although the tower suffered a number of indignities at the hands of the city planner and its bureaucratic tenants, it managed to survive them all and stand out as one of the best new structures in the neighbourhood. Designer Tom Payne cleverly gave the building two faces. One, more formal, faces east to Osgoode Hall and City Hall. The other, facing south, addresses the more casual conditions of Queen West.
The second project of Toronto’s so-called Cultural Renaissance included in this year’s Pugs was the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre. Designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects, it was the only Renaissance facility to have been built from scratch; the rest were additions or remakes. Still, it managed no better than seventh place, with a positive vote percentage of 59.7 per cent.
Located at Queen and University, it has been praised mostly for its acoustics. Architecturally, it clearly disappointed a lot of people, which might have something to do with the choice to clad the building in nondescript black/blue masonry. The result is strangely industrial, an effect underlined by the fact that two of the four facades are almost blank.
The Ryerson School of Business, which came in 15th, was the only other non-condo site in the line-up. It got a 43.5 per cent approval, which some might consider generous given the unremarkable quality of the design by Zeidler Architects.
On the good side, the building is a superb example of mixed-use planning. In addition to Ryerson, it houses a parking garage and Canadian Tire store at grade. This is exactly the kind of combination that will allow the city to achieve the densities it needs in the age of climate change, when the need to stop sprawl has never been more urgent.
As usual, the institutional building scored better than their private-sector counterparts, but this year the gap was closer than ever. That’s the good news. The bad news is that all but one of the 10 lowest ranked buildings were condos.
The people have spoken; what more need be said?
Canuck
Active Member
I don't think 1 King would have done as well if the members of this forum were surveyed.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
1KW's high ranking is a shocker. I would have ranked it below a lot of the other buildings, including the Four Seasons Centre (but definitely higher than the Ryerson Business School). Perhaps the only real highlight of the building is the restored old Dominion Bank Building, which wasn't too impressive of a job in my opinion.
The Gardiner Museum deserves top spot. On the outside it is a landmark building that fits in well with its context, and is well lit at night. On the inside it has great gallery spaces, both in terms of design and quality of construction. Congrats to the Gardiner!
The Gardiner Museum deserves top spot. On the outside it is a landmark building that fits in well with its context, and is well lit at night. On the inside it has great gallery spaces, both in terms of design and quality of construction. Congrats to the Gardiner!
adma
Superstar
Weren't the full Pug percentages published somewhere today?
Funny thing is, they *aren't* yet on the Pug website--which compounds the site's fancy-schmancy-web-design sins...
Funny thing is, they *aren't* yet on the Pug website--which compounds the site's fancy-schmancy-web-design sins...
Observer Walt
Senior Member
^ The full results (22 projects) were in the print edition of the National Post. Can't find an electronic version to link to.
Highest were Gardiner Museum (81.5%), One King West (77.7%), Leslie Dan Building (77.9%), Tip Top Lofts (73.9%), Federal Court Building / 180 Queen West (73.0%). Lowest were Zed Condominium s(25%), Pinnacle Centre Tower One (22%), and Be Bloor (2.7%). Four Seasons (Opera House) came in at 59.7%.
Quote: "Be Bloor, obviously, did horrifically", Mr. Berman said. [Gary Berman, co-founder of the awards] "That's by far the lowest we've ever received."
Highest were Gardiner Museum (81.5%), One King West (77.7%), Leslie Dan Building (77.9%), Tip Top Lofts (73.9%), Federal Court Building / 180 Queen West (73.0%). Lowest were Zed Condominium s(25%), Pinnacle Centre Tower One (22%), and Be Bloor (2.7%). Four Seasons (Opera House) came in at 59.7%.
Quote: "Be Bloor, obviously, did horrifically", Mr. Berman said. [Gary Berman, co-founder of the awards] "That's by far the lowest we've ever received."
mettle
Active Member
will the rom be in next year's awards or does the building have to be built from scratch?
adma
Superstar
If a building had to be built from scratch, Tip Top wouldn't be there...
mettle
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Skeezix
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Most people see I King from a distance, where it does seem very impressive and a good addition to the skyline, and few see the mess that 1 King is at grade.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
^ Compared to a lot of the current skyscrapers u/c or fresh off the drawing board (like Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La, Four Seasons or even Bazis' 1 Bloor East), 1KW doesn't seem that impressive on the skyline either.
adma
Superstar
I've been thinking re all those Pug entries: CORE architects sure is turning into a new-wave Toronto School equivalent of old modernist-apartment-buildings-by-the-pound practitioners like E. I. Richmond...
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Perhaps the Sanjaya effect was at play with 1KWest's showing?
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
Considering it's a hotel with an anorexically slim profile, perhaps 1 King West is popular for the same reason Paris Hilton is.
unimaginative2
Senior Member
I always enjoy these, and I agree with most of the results, except for the pharmacy school. The problem is that the ratings reward mediocre, tame architecture since few people would say that they have a negative view. That way, a competently-executed box condo could get higher rankings than the ROM, even though the ROM supporters are far more passionate about it than the people who liked the condo.