Fantasy Renderings

[Joe R.]

Armoury Tower is beautiful. That would look incredible if it were real. Cut a deal with a developer and get it built.

 

[urbandreamer]

Could Picasso on Richmond be getting a sexy new neighbour? Hmm....

One idea for the site:

Wonder what the nimbies think?

 

[urbandreamer]

Could Picasso on Richmond be getting a sexy new neighbour? Hmm....

One idea for the site:

Wonder what the nimbies think?

 

[Lenser]

Armoury Tower looks great - quite elegant. Love its massing and that twist you've given it. Were it built, I can see it as some kind of sleek black thing... it would have a huge presence.

 

[cruzin4u]

Could Picasso on Richmond be getting a sexy new neighbour? Hmm....

One idea for the site:

Are people suppose to live in NimbyTect's proposals or hamsters?

 

[urbandreamer]

You don't like it? It's just a crude massing study with some colour tossed in--red brick is ideal but use your imagination.... The rest of the building could either be (frosted, etc) glass curtainwall (yawn) or alternative material with smaller windows.

I did mess up the name--was supposed to be 1-296-GET-RICH because it's on Richmond, not Ade(LAID)e. Ha.

I'll keep at my NimbyTecture until I've mastered it.

As for that Armoury Tower? Yawn.

I always imagine I've got a real proposal on the boards. That means I check out the neighbourhood, zoning, shadow studies etc. I do keep budgets in mind but not to the degree that the majority of Toronto developers do--because the results are, well, a bore.

 

[Lenser]

You may free yourself from the shackles of budgetary constraints but in practical terms any proposed building project that makes the cut must be strictly controlled for expenditures. Cost overruns help sink many a great initial design - the cheapening, as it's often called in here.

It's nice to dream but if your designs as posted here were actually implemented I imagine you'd experience first-hand how brutal the dictates from the money men can be.

So what is it you don't like about that armoury tower? I'm curious. The fact that real world zoning and neighbourhood issues have not been taken into account? Or that the design itself somehow bores you? I mean, you did yawn.

 

[Contra]

Armoury Tower looks great - quite elegant. Love its massing and that twist you've given it. Were it built, I can see it as some kind of sleek black thing... it would have a huge presence.

Thanks, despite not following proper zoning, areas such as that which do not cast much of a shadow, or any at all on NPS, actually have some real potential for approval given the right names associated to the project. I lived across the street from the plot for years so I was able to judge traffic flow and the like.

As for that Armoury Tower? Yawn.

I always imagine I've got a real proposal on the boards. That means I check out the neighbourhood, zoning, shadow studies etc. I do keep budgets in mind but not to the degree that the majority of Toronto developers do--because the results are, well, a bore.

No offense, but every single one of your proposals so far would be ripped to shreds in any design or architecture class. I think you need to get your head around materials and colours in certain areas. Bright reds, though they pop, can often be too much for most regions. Also odd massings can lead to impossible interiors, or just plain weird.

I'd love to see your work with some different materials and perhaps some different proportions between the often clunky podiums and stubby towers.

Anyways, sure you'll yawn at this too...image courtesy of a screen cap from Ryan Emond's Planet Toronto http://vimeo.com/53072482

 

[Lenser]

Lovely.

Your building feels a little like the monoliths from 2001. Sleek, dark, mysterious. That Planet Toronto link was very nice, too.

 

[urbandreamer]

Interesting, 2 week's later I'm still loving that Richmond Street West proposal.

Anyhow, I've turned my (tiny, infantile, aspergerish) attention span to Bazis' 838-848 Yonge Street Toronto site. Think of this as a NimbyTect's Alliance massing study--NimbyTect meets the classic aA minimalist box designed for investors to gobble gobble. 848 Y0Y0, which stands for Y0(nge)+Y0(rkville) because another trademark NimbyTect feature is witty project names.

Just a simple buildable glass box with some NimbyTect-style stepped balconies/units rising up ziggurat style on a Casa-style red brick 6-8s podium set back from Yonge Street behind the historic Yonge Street facades. Curtain wall would be nice here esp considering its AA location.

 

[urbandreamer]

So as you're all aware, they've sent aA's 501 Yonge Street back to the boards. While they're at it, they may as well knock some sense into me.... I went on an acid trip via Rotterdam and came back colour blind:

This is a one tower solution for 501 Yonge Street although in reality I've snuck in 4 towers, from 10s to 75s. If you shock 'em with stunning design, they'll swallow it imo. First floor CRU, then four floors of parking with some office use "windows on the street" overlooking Yonge, followed by what would be windows/balconies set back into the sloping roof/walls of each massing. Red brick, black brick, a funky brown metal cladding stamped with ornate designs, and the glass'n black stone tower on the south end of the site.

You don't have to read the colours literally if you're an average black, beige'n blah lov'n Torontonian.

Four distinct facades facing Yonge yet all tied into a common theme.

Toronto--ya ready for this party?

 

[urbandreamer]

Back to Bazis' 848 Yonge Street site.

The idea is similar to 848 YOYO, hence it's merely a "remix" along the same massing idea. The real major difference is a better resolved podium--ie the red brick podium slopes back from the heritage facades creating a sort of pitched roof addition and a nod towards the red brick reference library stepbacks across the street. Here, the pitch only rises to a podium height of 6s, although with 8s obviously would be more dramatic. Diagonally patterned glazing mixed with patterned fritted glass panels &/or clay/zinc/whatever panels in a rich cream with hints of red lines matching the red brick podium complete the tower look. Beautiful rich cherry wood/wood veneer under the balcony overhangs is a great luxurious touch on this 38s tower.

Buildable modernism with a hint of luxury flare. Nimbies, what ya think?
(Due to fire regulations, tower would actually be flipped--yep I screwed up--ie balcony overhangs facing Yonge & the alley not north & south.)

Edit: Another version, corrected. NimbyTect presents 848 YOYO (House Remix) edition:

East & West balconies get the wood look against a creamy white fritted curtain wall glazing and North & South elevations get smaller "wood"-framed windows with white fritted glass "shutters."

 

[urbandreamer]

Do you like remixes of popular tunes? Me too.

501 YUM remix is my original 501 YUM (stands for Yonge-Und-Maitland) one tower massing proposal for Lanterra's 501 Yonge Street that has been sent back to be redesigned by aA to fit the nimbies' wishes. So this version has me pretending I do work for aA, have a tight wad developer client and am aiming to please area nimbies.

1)Red brick 3 double height (4s equivalent with parking levels above CRU) storeys with two towers, one a "mini" 10s tower the other 40s+ (heights could easily change.)

2)Gorgeous wood-laminate/whatever-wrapping the amenities level.

3)Ice blue aluminium cladding, vision glass alternating with floors/sections of patterned white fritted glass creating a distinctive "striped" appearance--almost like a stack of books.

4)Extensive green space--It's the Garden District here.

5)Possibility for small office space in podium level facing Yonge Street.

6)Above the podium, 2 levels of "lofts."

7)Alternatiting stone masonry, wood & glass for CRU (retail units)

8)Distinctive window treatment at podium level to creative illusion of variety of Yonge Street facades.

9)Appropriate setbacks.

10)Towers still a WIP. Stay tuned.

11)501 YUM remix: Does it move yaA?

 

[urbandreamer]

Slightly modified 501 YUM remix (the gold edition?

1)Raised the red brick facade at the south end so it rises to meet that fugly hotel south of the site.

2)Idea #1 for what I call the "loft" tower--the shorter tower. Either wood/laminate, a wood "screen" or a metal screen over the glass "loft box."

South tower looks to be a 50s equivalent (podium included)--I put in 12' ceilings instead of the typical 10' so that would have to change.

North tower--ideally keep it under 20s (podium included)

Don't be shy--scream & yell like a Nimby so I know what y'all thinking.

 

[urbandreamer]

625 Yonge Street is causing consternation amongst the local nimbies (and not so local people as well.) The problem I believe stems from the lack of sensitivity towards the local context: the century old brick streetwall with appropriate setbacks. But do we have to copy everything to exact details? No. Here's what I'm working on:

Terrible quality photo--shot taken from computer screen sorry. More details/screenshots when I find the time.