Eaton Centre needs a facelift?

[MetroMan]

I went to Yorkdale for the first time in well over a year and I was so impressed at how the final product of their multi-year renovation turned out.

It's a gorgeous mall and a tribute to our wintery city. You almost feel like you're walking outside browsing at shops.

Similarly, I paid a visit to Dufferin Mall and liked how their renovations turned out. The once "ghetto" mall has come of age and is ready to compete for higher end patrons.

This begs to mention: The Eaton Centre's main mall looks like it hasn't been renovated since the 80's. The floors are old and in need of a good polish (or replacement), the railings seem reminiscent of a prison, the vaulted atrium ceiling glass tiles are opaque from dirt and the general off white colour of the painted walls and ceilings are in need of an update.

The South foodcourt is one of the least desirable places to eat in this city. It's small, cramped, under-supplied of seating and worst of all: smelly. I used to work nearby and had no choice but to eat there. I would always return to work smelling like grease.

This photo makes it look great...

This one doesn't...

It can be great once again. I would propose a few things:

• Replacing the vaulted ceiling skylight with new transparent, self cleaning glazing without mullions.
• Reflooring the entire mall with warmer coloured tiles and granite designs
• Removing the stores surrounding the South food court (FIDO, The Source, TD Bank, the gaming store, Blacks) to extend the available seating by at least 30%. Consolidate the center seating and the McDonalds seating into the main foodcourt and reconfigure the escalator to "land" into the heart of the new foodcourt. Ensure that stores around the foodcourt are replaced with ones dedicated to food.
• Replacing rails with either cast iron gate style railing or a more modern glass sided rail.
• Redesigning all bathrooms to be "doorless", accessible and easy to maintain clean.
• Replace glazing on the offices with tinted coloured (TBD) glazing without mullions.
• Improving lighting in the lower levels. The upper levels benefit from the atrium skylight. The lower levels don't but are treated the same with regards to installed light despite having different lighting needs.
• Learning a lesson from Yorkdale: ceilings matter.

Does anybody know if Cadillac Fairview has any plans to renovate the Eaton Centre's main mall or are they only committed to their new additions?

Discuss.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

I disagree... Eaton Centre's overall architecture is what defines it - no other mall looks like it.. not to mention its motifs pervade beyond just the mall, but to the office towers as well. This is why the new additions (and the in-progress at 20 Queen West) have been perverse to the original intent of the architect.

The look of the mall is improving through modernized storefronts which I think are more than enough to stylize the mall for today. The new wayfinding signage is great too... it modernized the mall without even touching the architecture.

 

[TKTKTK]

I think the north end of the mall needs to be redone again. The main atrium should stay largely untouched though. Those elevators are possibly the most handsome in the entire city.

The food courts and bottom levels need some love too, maybe the south food court should move to the middle facing the fountain? or just Marche could kick out Body Shop.

 

[junctionist]

The food court is just like you described it and I rarely eat there anymore. I don't see how the new mullion-free glass ceiling would improve things, except that it would be "self-cleaning" of course. The mullions add some detail and the look is more characteristic of the time when it was built. Cast iron gate style railings don't sound appropriate given the modern look of the interior. Things like improved lighting and flooring aren't going to ruin the architecture if carefully selected.

This is a interesting topic because freshness appeals to shoppers, especially in fashion. Yet, there's less possibility for change in this Zeidler design, so the changes have to be more careful and subtle.

 

[Jayomatic]

I agree about the foodcourt and skylight. Maybe I wouldn't go with a totally different version but just clean up the glass there now and make it look consistent. The railings and such really give it a sense of time and don't really look that bad but the foodcourt definitely needs an update. Something nice and modern like one at the San Francisco Westfield downtown. That foodcourt was beautiful. It seems like the mall is trying to go more upscale and the foodcourt should as well.

 

[ShonTron]

I agree only that the mall, like the subway, could use a good cleaning and "back to the fundamentals" thinking. That said, the south food court is a depressing pit, and getting rid of Radio Shack, er Source, and Fido won't be a loss. I also found it odd having the two McDonald's - food court and eat-in versions, right on top of each other as well.

I still miss the backlit yellow wayfinding signs.

 

[MetroMan]

Another item worth mentioning is that the Queen St. entrance is in desperate need of an improvement as well. It's dark and gritty and the bridge from The Bay is not particularly attractive.

Imagine a Gehry AGO inspired bridge curling over Queen St.
How about super transparent non-reflective glass allowing people on Queen St. to peer into the Eaton Centre and see the Canada Geese flying below the canopy?

I'm not advocating touching the architecture of the building. I support refreshing the finishings to update the look. Off white really belongs back in the 80's.

 

[ShonTron]

The other thing that seems to make it look tacky is all the ads now that CF has allowed on the escalator sides and the interior blank walls where the parkade is.

 

[MetroMan]

I don't see a problem with the ads on the parkade walls. This is a temple to consumerism and the ads actually add to the shopping experience.

I do agree with you in regards to the escalator ads. They look tacked on and take away from the beauty of the escalator enclosures.

 

[CanadianNational]

I think the galleria skylight is one of the most impressive and interesting architectural features of the centre, in the way it was structurally articulated. It could have been done a lot more simply or crudely. The 70's was the age of hexagons and 45 degree angles, after all. Instead, the architects went for a sort of complex, spiky, neo-victorian greenhouse look which plays surprisingly well off the sci-fi deco-inspired touches throughout lower interior. I think it could use a cleaning, but not be altered. In fact, I'd rather see the recent alteration of the center-west galleria window facade brought more into line with the look of the 70's original that it meets.

I agree, though that the south entrance is uninspired. It could use an unobtrusive but thorough makeover to improve visibility and access. Especially the entry doors, which always give the impression of being small and hard to open. The food court down at that end is low-ceilinged and awkward as well, and never a joy to visit. I think it should expand its capacity or get broken up and spread around through the mall. The po-mo touches on the columns and the like I find clumsy as well.

I like the unified off-white of the interior as well as the excellent integration of details - from mechanical through pedestrian - in the main galleria. I think the handling of the new floors under Sears and access to them is poor, though, at both ends of the store, including the new street-level entrance at Dundas, which has no flow, grandeur or grace to it inside.

I wouldn't mind seeing, along the lines of what Yorkville did, of the galleria being extended in the same style as exists, through what is now the Sears store. That could open up some architectural and aesthetic opportunities that could benefit the place as a whole.

 

[MetroMan]

I wouldn't mind seeing, along the lines of what Yorkville did, of the galleria being extended in the same style as exists, through what is now the Sears store. That could open up some architectural and aesthetic opportunities that could benefit the place as a whole.

That is a great idea! If SEARS were to fold, extending The Eaton Centre galleria all the way up to Dundas would be a stroke of genius. A large number of stores could be added, generating far more rent for Cadillac Fairview than the current department store arrangement.
This would also give purpose to the new Dundas St. entrance which requires people to turn around, go downstairs, follow under SEARS and finally emerge into the main mall. You could of course just walk through SEARS but if you'd like to remain in the mall corridor window shopping, you'd have to take the itinerary described.

 

[MetroMan]

Since the median opinion here seems to be somewhere between modernizing the mall and restoring it to its original form, I wonder if anybody has photos of when the Eaton Centre opened.

I remember it as a child before moving to another country and returning a decade later to find it feeling different. Was the top floor of Indigo accessible via a "balcony" as it is now? What was in its place?

 

[FutureMayor]

Eaton Centre needs some TLC

Where were all these people preaching preservation of the unique Eaton Centre Design when CF destroyed the beautiful glass Dundas Entrance to the mall, and replaced it with a tacky oversized electronic billboard? They are currently doing the same to the Queen Street entrance to the office tower. The only real improvements I’ve seen to the mall are the renovation to the Queen Street washrooms.

I’ve long complained about the lower Queen Street food court. In my opinion it has to be the nastiest food court in all of the city of Toronto and is an embarrassment to tourists visiting. Hell, KFC still has the old “Kentucky Friend Chicken†as its sign. The mall has so much potential to be a magnificent space to be truly proud of, yet it needs some major TLC both inside and out to return it to its former glory.

As for the renovation to Yorkdale Mall, it was about time they did something. However, they need to start focusing on improving the appearance of the exterior of the mall which is a mix match of ugliness at the moment.

Another CF property that also needs some major TLC is Sherway Gardens. Great mall, hot looking shoppers, beautiful food court however, its really showing its age.

Louroz

 

[Skeezix]

Where were all these people preaching preservation of the unique Eaton Centre Design when CF destroyed the beautiful glass Dundas Entrance to the mall, and replaced it with a tacky oversized electronic billboard? They are currently doing the same to the Queen Street entrance to the office tower. The only real improvements I’ve seen to the mall are the renovation to the Queen Street washrooms.

I’ve long complained about the lower Queen Street food court. In my opinion it has to be the nastiest food court in all of the city of Toronto and is an embarrassment to tourists visiting. Hell, KFC still has the old “Kentucky Friend Chicken†as its sign. The mall has so much potential to be a magnificent space to be truly proud of, yet it needs some major TLC both inside and out to return it to its former glory.

I agree with you that the Dundas entrance redevelopment was very disappointing. However, the previous Dundas foyer had been destroyed years and years before, looking nothing like what was originally intended, and the lower levels had deteriorated to pretty marginal retail. However, it would have been nice if they had restored the foyer and entrance, rather than replacing it with the soulless box that sits there now.

As for the south foodcourt, I agree with everyone that it needs a major overhaul. When the old Submarine Place morphed into Subway, one of the papers did a story on the franchisee, who decided to increase his business by switching his banner to the name chain. The article indicated that CF intended to redo the food court at some point in the relatively near future, and the franchisee feared that he would tossed out unless he increased his sales.

 

[simply Dan]

Louroz:

hot looking shoppers

Hahaha... yes, the Eaton Centre should begin barring access to the mall of all ugly people - perhaps that would be the best (and cheapest) physical improvement to the retail experience Cadillac Fairview could make?