Towered
Senior Member
I fully agree - if only all of Toronto's suburban arterials could be lined with buildings scaled exactly like this, we'd have a far more dynamic, interesting, and even handsome city. One can dream!
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TCHC: West Don Lands Affordable Housing (589 King St E, 2x 4 + 8s, Core Architects)
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
I fully agree - if only all of Toronto's suburban arterials could be lined with buildings scaled exactly like this, we'd have a far more dynamic, interesting, and even handsome city. One can dream!
AlbertC
Superstar
299 bloor call control.
Senior Member
The entire King Street frontage of the TCHC building is retail, while the westernmost space on the tower of River City is also retail. Given the seniors' component of the TCHC building, I would think it would be highly ideal for a medical office/pharmacy move into that space.
DSC
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The TCHC crane is being taken down today and the project is looking very good. The WT January Newsletter says:
Toronto Community Housing Construction Update
Toronto Community Housing continues to make great progress constructing its three-building development in the West Don Lands that will provide affordable housing for seniors and families.
At the King Street seniors’ building, concrete forming is complete and exterior brickwork is expected to be complete by the end of January. Window installation is progressing well and has reached the sixth floor. Interior masonry work is underway and mechanical and electrical installation continues.
Progress has also been steady at the two family buildings located between River and St. Lawrence streets. Concrete forming is complete and the exterior wood cladding is progressing well. The cladding is installed to the fourth floor at the River Street building, and to the second floor at the St. Lawrence Street building. Mechanical and electrical installation continues at both buildings.
Occupancy for all three buildings is scheduled for this fall.
Toronto Community Housing Construction Update
Toronto Community Housing continues to make great progress constructing its three-building development in the West Don Lands that will provide affordable housing for seniors and families.
At the King Street seniors’ building, concrete forming is complete and exterior brickwork is expected to be complete by the end of January. Window installation is progressing well and has reached the sixth floor. Interior masonry work is underway and mechanical and electrical installation continues.
Progress has also been steady at the two family buildings located between River and St. Lawrence streets. Concrete forming is complete and the exterior wood cladding is progressing well. The cladding is installed to the fourth floor at the River Street building, and to the second floor at the St. Lawrence Street building. Mechanical and electrical installation continues at both buildings.
Occupancy for all three buildings is scheduled for this fall.
rdaner
Senior Member
Photo taken 2 February 2013.
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TOCondoGarden
Active Member
today:
Xray_Crystal_Junkie
Senior Member
When fully built out, this will be a great neighbourhood to live in.
Peepers
Banned
^I don't understand why builders are allowed to use wood-frame construction in multi-level multi-unit apartment buildings. That looks like a disaster in the making.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
I think it's a bad decision as well. It was a staple of good building historically to put a brick wall up between every home or two in rowhouses, just in case of fire. Now I'd argue we still need it for not just fireproofing, but against noise and bug infestations as well. One case of bedbugs in a hollow wood wall - and you've got trouble. I was shocked to see that there was not even cinderblocks being used in the new townhomes in Regent Park, the rowhouses at Parliament and Aberdeen, and other new lowrise residential around the city. It seems there should be better minimum for walls between units, IMO. I wouldn't buy one.
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Lenser
Senior Member
It's a shame that they're getting away with this. The project looks great and I'm excited about all the development going on here but I too would be very reluctant to purchase any unit here when you have no brick between units... it's an obscene cheap-out that screws the customers. Shame.
Modern building methods, with all these corners being habitually cut, leave much to be desired.
Modern building methods, with all these corners being habitually cut, leave much to be desired.
agoraflaneur
Active Member
Is this just pure speculation or do you two actually know what you are speaking about? In Vancouver plenty of construction has been done with wood for a long time. Regarding noise, proper insulation blocks it - you certainly don't need brick. Regarding insects, I don't know, but it seems to me that bed bugs can live anywhere. Can anyone who is proficient in building techniques comment: is this simply a cheapening or just a different use of materials?
SP!RE
°°°°°°
You beat me to it. I was just going to say: we've moved WAY past brick walls between townhouse units as a fire retardant and on to much more effective materials. I can assure you the fire safety standards these days are much higher and more effective than using brick between buildings.
For whatever reason, I do prefer when urban buildings are made out of concrete, but there is also a strong case to be made for wood sometimes.
Lenser
Senior Member
I can't speak for the others but I wasn't specifically addressing fire retardant issues - the issue of noise is far more my concern. As for the spread of bedbugs, though it's unfortunate that particular infestation is back in modern times, I have no idea if brick or cement block would be more effective for containment.
Peepers
Banned
In BC they promote wood-frame construction to support their forestry industry. But if you look at the BC governments own literature they refer to wood-frame buildings as "combustible" and concrete buildings as "non-combustible". I think I would prefer to live in a non-combustible apartment building.
http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/building/wood_frame/qanda.htm#1-1
This is the aftermath of an Edmonton apartment fire:
beaconnews.ca
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agoraflaneur
Active Member
Going back to one of my earliest memories in Toronto:
http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_queen_s/
Proper fire retardant measures and code provisions obviously mitigate fire danger, though I don't doubt that in a large fire, there may be an issue - yet brick buildings seem to go up in flames as well.
http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_queen_s/
Proper fire retardant measures and code provisions obviously mitigate fire danger, though I don't doubt that in a large fire, there may be an issue - yet brick buildings seem to go up in flames as well.
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