Central Waterfront Public Realm (West 8/DTAH)

[AlvinofDiaspar]

From Waterfront Toronto:

Central Waterfront Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting Presentation Part 1:
http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/dbdocs//46a89eef660c4.pdf

Central Waterfront Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting Presentation Part 2:
http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/dbdocs//46a89f3206d5e.pdf
(~20MB total; provided details on the Spadina slip project)

Start of Queen's Quay EA:
http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/dbdocs//46f91d53b1bb6.pdf

AoD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Full report on the initial West 8/DTAH competition design from Waterfrontoronto:

http://waterfrontoronto.ca/dbdocs//476048bf29037.pdf

(~20MB)

AoD

 

[MetroMan]

West8's plan was the most realistic... so realistic in fact that it is being implemented just one short year after it was commissioned.

I think that the wavy boardwalks and plenty of timber will be a Toronto signature just as much as is the CN Tower and the SkyDome.... which reminds me.. thank gawd they ditched the kitchy Maple Leaf in the harbor.

 

[syn]

So are the Maple Leafs back on the drawing board?

 

[MetroMan]

That link leads to the competition document that West8 submitted. Things have changed (surprisingly little) and the maple leaf out in the harbor is gone.

 

[syn]

That's too bad I was hoping they'd revive the Leaf.

 

[Hipster Duck]

A lot of this plan incorporates grand gestures that are very uncharacteristic of Toronto. For example, I love how Queens Quay gets the Las Ramblas treatment. Also, the 30 m high John Graves Simcoe feels like something out of Paris. The wooden bridge reminds me of the Ponte dell'Accademia in Venice.

If they can pull all this off this could be one of the best things to ever happen to Toronto. More than any other city I can think of, Toronto is a tug of war between the cynic and the visionary. This time I really hope the visionary wins.

 

[MetroMan]

Yes, the foot of York looks like something pulled out of an old European city. Of course that's not surprising seeing that the designers of this vision are Dutch.

Foot of the University/York Corridor

I also like how West8 isn't being presumptuous in assuming they know it all. They've acknowledged Janet Rosenberg + Associates' hTO park and wants to repeat it on other parts of the waterfront.

EDIT: add on note about hTO park being extended to other waterfront spots: Harbor Square park is going to be refurbished to fit the hilly islands and urban beach seen on hTO park.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

The leaf islands are a terrible idea...anything in the plan that blocks the view of the Islands from the water's edge must be automatically nixed.

 

[syn]

The leaf islands are a terrible idea...anything in the plan that blocks the view of the Islands from the water's edge must be automatically nixed.

How would they block the view of the islands?

 

[Mystery White Boy]

Yes, the foot of York looks like something pulled out of an old European city. Of course that's not surprising seeing that the designers of this vision are Dutch.

Foot of the University/York Corridor

I also like how West8 isn't being presumptuous in assuming they know it all. They've acknowledged Janet Rosenberg + Associates' hTO park and wants to repeat it on other parts of the waterfront.

EDIT: add on note about hTO park being extended to other waterfront spots: Harbor Square park is going to be refurbished to fit the hilly islands and urban beach seen on hTO park.

If only the water was that crystalline.

 

[Mystery White Boy]

What is that monument supposed to be? Is Ernie Coombs finally being recognized?

 

[Hydrogen]

^Is that to be Butternut Square then? That memorial structure looks all wrong. Where is the Tickle Trunk statue?

 

[nstuch]

how long do you think it will take before the first City of Toronto asphalt patch appears on the new Queens Quay? i give it about 90 seconds... with 2 years it will be back to looking as craptacular as it does now

 

[Mystery White Boy]

Seriously, what is that monument?