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Bay Adelaide Centre West Tower (Brookfield, 50s, WZMH)

alklay said:
And I do not recall the city rejecting any design because of shadowing.
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Brookfield is building (BA1) to the maximum allowable hieght which the city gave. Their first proposal was between 280 Meters and 300 Meters. At Bay an Richmond and office tower at that size, we can all assume the city decision would have been automatic.

Again, I'll give credit to Brookfield for trying. But I'm not at all disappointed with what is going up. - Boring ,Safe, Timeless & Classic is always better than crapola.
 
caltrane74 said:
Brookfield is building (BA1) to the maximum allowable hieght which the city gave. Their first proposal was between 280 Meters and 300 Meters. At Bay an Richmond and office tower at that size, we can all assume the city decision would have been automatic.
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How was this 'first proposal' different than this design, except in height?
 
caltrane74 said:
Yes, but with the restriction on hieght, the developer has to consider the motivation for building the tower. (which is profit) To get the same sq footage into that space now you are almost forced to go with the most basic design.

Edit: Give Brookfield credit. They wanted to us a real show stopping Manhattan style skyscraper. ( Like the one they are planning on the railway lands in Manhattan)

But our city elders gave their plan the boot.
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The City only restricted how high it could go. Just because it ends up square doesn't mean it can't be exciting. Why can't we get our own version of this:
agbar002p.jpg


Developers (and often the major tenants in this city) are not very imaginative.

42
 
Version three looks terrible. The first two are certainly better than what is being built today.

And height has never been, nor will it ever be, and excuse for bland architecture and lack of creative drive. The TD towers are shorter, for example.
 
Verison 1 is PoMo. Oh man, I hate PoMo.

Version 2 is ok, but short. Oh man, I hate short too.

Verison 3 - I don't think this is the best render out there. There was a full size colour rendering that Brookfield did that was quite stunning. - It was a very nice and balanced office tower, and yes it was very very tall. - The Trump developers would have had nightmares had this gone up. An office tower of that size would have blocked all views from their suites.
 
alklay said:
Version three looks terrible. The first two are certainly better than what is being built today.

And height has never been, nor will it ever be, and excuse for bland architecture and lack of creative drive. The TD towers are shorter, for example.
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^ and Simcoe Place for that matter. I don't think its design would have cost too much more for some adjustments to the 'box' formula
 
Version One is best. Sure it reflects the late eighties obsession with PoMo but at least it makes a strong(er) statement. Version two was bland and version three atrocious (reminds me of why I hate Aura's design so much.) Today's final version is extremely cautious and conservative--reflecting the conservative law firms that are taking over the tower. Yuck.:(
 
urbandreamer said:
Version One is best.
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Actually, I am quite glad that we did not end up with anything representing PoMo high on our skyline - when the first plan was stumped, we were saved from an embarrassing reminder of that architectural epoch on Toronto postcards. Three cheers for that downturn.

42
 
It's interesting how people's opinions vary regarding the evolution of this project. I personally don't like the first version but could have lived with #2 or #3. What I think a lot of us agree upon is that waiting this long for another box has been a huge anticlimax.
 
2 and 3 are a mess. 1 would have been tolerable as representative of its time and a particular style. Perhaps I'm partial due to the fact I'm writing in the present, but I find the last incarnation to be the best, if underwhelming.
 
Why the hell are the city's height restrictions so low here with FCP and Scotia right across the street? Is it just because of shadow studies? Give me a break!

The original design looks like it belongs in Atlanta or Houston. Caltrane's right. PoMo is hideous.

Second design is meh.

Third design is a mess! When did George Lucas become an architect?

Final design is safe, but elegant since they're using high quality materials. It'll look fine with the 2nd tower is built.
 
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