Toronto Solaris at Metrogate Condos | ?m | 40s | Tridel | Graziani + Corazza COMPLETE

[AlbertC]

Looks pretty sleek from that angle, Scarborough seems like the place to be for checking out elliptical condo towers. The view entering the city from the east along the 401, is a lot nicer than entering from the west.

 

[Solaris]

May 16 2011 update

Click to Enlarge

Views from Within - South

Views from Within - West

 

[HHC]

Solid looking towers, wish they were downtown though!

 

[Tridel]

On the roof of Tridel's Solaris

Tuesday May, 24, 2011 I spent the whole day at Metrogate filming a corporate video for our annual staff meeting. Lots of photos uploaded to our Facebook fanpage photo gallery.

Belinda the Intern wrote up a great story about the day and took lots of pictures as well. Check out her Picassa Gallery.

Here's a view of downtown Toronto looking from the northwest section of the roof of Solaris 2.

Pool:

The Solaris miniput course:

 

[Solaris]

Thank you for the comprehensive photos TWM .... quick question, will the rooftop architectural feature @ Solaris (even if just the silver portion) be lite up at night ? It would be really too bad if this feature wasn't highlighted, a lost cause in my opinion ~ Similar lighted rooftop features turned out quite nicely @ Ultra Ovation, New York Towers, Arc, One Park, Ellipse, and various Cityplace Towers

Cheers

 

[Tridel]

From construction project mgmt: "We can not light the mech PH due to restrictions related to our LEED Neighbourhood Development credit."

 

[egotrippin]

Strange. RBC managed to light up their building quite extravagantly, and it's LEED Gold certified.

 

[Tridel]

Listen to audio clips Belinda the Intern took on the Metrogate site on May 24, 2011.

Photos of Ventus construction was uploaded to our Facebook Fanpage photo gallery.

Metrogate Townhome photo gallery updated on Facebook.

 

[Solaris]

From construction project mgmt: "We can not light the mech PH due to restrictions related to our LEED Neighbourhood Development credit."

That is VERY unfortunate news .... truly disappointing again Tridel (thanks for finding an answer though TWM)

Strange. RBC managed to light up their building quite extravagantly, and it's LEED Gold certified.

interesting note egotrippin ... I wonder what Tridel has to say about that, I can't imagine it being that different achieving LEED Gold Building vs LEED ND (neighbourhood)

 

[marcus_a_j]

The buildings stand out enough as they are without the roof top lights. The rooftop finishing/crown was executed nicely, but I take bigger issue with the above-ground parking podium that is more visible from the 401 than the crown is.

In terms of LEED certifications, I think it is unfair to compare one building to the next considering that the LEED certification is a credit-based system with many different factors earning "points" throughout the whole process of construction and building operations. The level of certification (silver, gold, platinum) is based on the number of points achieved. RBC might have gained points due to proximity of public transit (close to the subway) that Metrogate did not. I am not an expert, but still somewhat familiar with the certification process. I am not as familiar with the LEED-NC certification as opposed to the single-building LEED certification so perhaps there's an extra layer involved.

 

[Uncle Teddy]

Lovely looking buildings. Good to see Tridel focus on their architecture.

 

[Tridel]

The buildings stand out enough as they are without the roof top lights. The rooftop finishing/crown was executed nicely, but I take bigger issue with the above-ground parking podium that is more visible from the 401 than the crown is.

In terms of LEED certifications, I think it is unfair to compare one building to the next considering that the LEED certification is a credit-based system with many different factors earning "points" throughout the whole process of construction and building operations. The level of certification (silver, gold, platinum) is based on the number of points achieved. RBC might have gained points due to proximity of public transit (close to the subway) that Metrogate did not. I am not an expert, but still somewhat familiar with the certification process. I am not as familiar with the LEED-NC certification as opposed to the single-building LEED certification so perhaps there's an extra layer involved.

1. The parking garage rises as much as it does because of the water table on this site. It had to go above ground to provide adequate parking for residents and visitors. It also forms a buffer against the adjacent GO track. There was extensive grading on site. Listen to the audio interviews on Tridelbelinda.com to get an appreciation of the intricacies of the Metrogate site.

2. Metrogate is one of North America's first LEED Neighbourhood Developments, and the requirements are different than just for a single building. Not putting lighting on the roof was a LEED ND credit that we chose to pursue. There are many LEED points on this site. Transit is close to this site including GO and TTC. We even gained points for demolition and recylcing the asphalt from the site.

Does LEED matter that much? We just measured the difference on two buildings, one LEED silver and the other not built to LEED standards and the energy savings amounted to 41%. The results even exceeded the computer energy model. Read about it on condo.ca.

 

[egotrippin]

Fair points. I'm just surprised a few rooftop spotlights could make such a big difference. But hey, who am I?

 

[Solaris]

May 29 2011 update

The Approach

Identity Signage - I'm pleased to see this

Directional Signage - echoing the geometry of the rooftop architectural feature

 

[klb86]

Taken just outside of my backyard. Sorry about the poor quality, it's only a 7MP camera with an awful zoom.