dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Start a "best of the decade" mid-rise thread! I've got a list ready, but I can't narrow it down to 10. It was a great decade for mid-rises (excluding a whack of brilliant conversions).
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Top 10 High-rises built this decade
- Thread starter dt_toronto_geek
- Start date
Start a "best of the decade" mid-rise thread! I've got a list ready, but I can't narrow it down to 10. It was a great decade for mid-rises (excluding a whack of brilliant conversions).
junctionist
Senior Member
I see no reason why not to discuss this topic. Uptown has too much monotonous precast and a boring top. It looks like very uninspired Art Deco. No developer should be encouraged to build such poorly detailed buildings.
urbandreamer
recession proof
1. Absolute Ma
2. 18 Yorkville
3. Casa
4. Murano
5. X
6. Lumiere
7. Montage/Neo
8. The Morgan
9. 1 St Thomas
10. Quay West @Tip Top
2. 18 Yorkville
3. Casa
4. Murano
5. X
6. Lumiere
7. Montage/Neo
8. The Morgan
9. 1 St Thomas
10. Quay West @Tip Top
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dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Excellent UD, I missed that one. Damn!
Irishmonk
Senior Member
That's a hard one because they don't stand out as much as high-rises and, to be honest, I don't recall very many actual names of mid-rises--I know a lot of them have "lofts" in the title. Also, what defines a mid rise? Is there an official height or # of floors?
Architecturefan
Active Member
Ok I'll play:
1. Absolute
2. One St. Thomas
3. 18 Yorkville
4. One King West
5. Ritz Carlton
6. Radio City
7. Festival Tower
8. Lumiere
9. Casa
10. Uptown
As for Uptown, I think the massing/setbacks are great and in that sense it can almost do no wrong in terms of cladding. That being said I think the right cladding would have put it over the top and its unfortunate that the details weren't executed better.
Honourable mention to The Met, Casa and Telus
1. Absolute
2. One St. Thomas
3. 18 Yorkville
4. One King West
5. Ritz Carlton
6. Radio City
7. Festival Tower
8. Lumiere
9. Casa
10. Uptown
As for Uptown, I think the massing/setbacks are great and in that sense it can almost do no wrong in terms of cladding. That being said I think the right cladding would have put it over the top and its unfortunate that the details weren't executed better.
Honourable mention to The Met, Casa and Telus
whatever
Senior Member
I don't know exactly what criteria are the right ones, but for me it isn't just a question of which buildings look good on paper or in photos. For me it's a question of the impact the development has had on the surrounding area.
1. Bay-Adelaide
2. Telus
3. RBC Centre
4. 2 Queen East (one of the better facadectomies, and good street integration)
5. Maple Leaf Square
6. Uptown (standing at the NE corner of Yonge/Bloor the cladding doesn't register but the massing sure does)
7. The Met (the before/after impact on Carlton is astounding)
8. Radio City
9. Pantages
10. Quantum I/II
I'd also give honourable mentions to 5000 Yonge, Murano, Lumiere, X, One St. Thomas, 10 Bellair, and Casa/BSN (with a slight edge to BSN, to be honest).
1. Bay-Adelaide
2. Telus
3. RBC Centre
4. 2 Queen East (one of the better facadectomies, and good street integration)
5. Maple Leaf Square
6. Uptown (standing at the NE corner of Yonge/Bloor the cladding doesn't register but the massing sure does)
7. The Met (the before/after impact on Carlton is astounding)
8. Radio City
9. Pantages
10. Quantum I/II
I'd also give honourable mentions to 5000 Yonge, Murano, Lumiere, X, One St. Thomas, 10 Bellair, and Casa/BSN (with a slight edge to BSN, to be honest).
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
I love how this thread's about high-rises in the "GTA" ... so that we can describe the City of Mississauga's wonderful Absolute tower as Torontonian. It reminds me of how, when Ben Johnson first won his gold medal, he suddenly became Canadian rather than Jamaican.
Observer Walt
Senior Member
1. Absolute (Absolutely amazing; there are really no words to adequately describe)
2. Radio City (Good in its own right, complements the amazing National Ballet School)
3. 18 Yorkville
4. Maple Leaf Square (Great complement to the ACC, brings new life to the area south of the RR tracks)
5. Festival Tower / Lightbox (Good design, but chosen more for its cultural importance. Probably does more than any other building to put Toronto on the map.)
6. Bay Adelaide
7. RBC Dexia
8. X (classic, almost retro, feeling)
9. Ritz Carlton (they took a bit of a chance on this, which is unusual in Toronto)
10. CCBR Building (Donelly Centre) at U of T.
Honorable mention: Republic at Yonge / Eglinton (not so much for the aesthetics of the two buildings, but for the very innovative mixed land use)
Not really qualified as an honorable mention, but would be if it had started construction: the conversion of the former Imperial Oil building.
2. Radio City (Good in its own right, complements the amazing National Ballet School)
3. 18 Yorkville
4. Maple Leaf Square (Great complement to the ACC, brings new life to the area south of the RR tracks)
5. Festival Tower / Lightbox (Good design, but chosen more for its cultural importance. Probably does more than any other building to put Toronto on the map.)
6. Bay Adelaide
7. RBC Dexia
8. X (classic, almost retro, feeling)
9. Ritz Carlton (they took a bit of a chance on this, which is unusual in Toronto)
10. CCBR Building (Donelly Centre) at U of T.
Honorable mention: Republic at Yonge / Eglinton (not so much for the aesthetics of the two buildings, but for the very innovative mixed land use)
Not really qualified as an honorable mention, but would be if it had started construction: the conversion of the former Imperial Oil building.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
1. Minto Midtown
2. Ritz Carlton
3. 1 St. Thomas
4. Spire
5. Casa
6. Uptown
7. X
8. One Bedford
9. The Hudson (sort of a high rise for the area - at least at the time)
10. Morgan (Ditto. This thing draws your eye upward, which is more than can be said for the fridge-like RBC Dexia)
None of the office towers we built would even make it onto my top 20.
2. Ritz Carlton
3. 1 St. Thomas
4. Spire
5. Casa
6. Uptown
7. X
8. One Bedford
9. The Hudson (sort of a high rise for the area - at least at the time)
10. Morgan (Ditto. This thing draws your eye upward, which is more than can be said for the fridge-like RBC Dexia)
None of the office towers we built would even make it onto my top 20.
archetype
New Member
1. CASA
2. One St. Thomas
3. Ritz-Carlton
4. Uptown
5. Radio City
6. Absolute
7. X
8. Festival Tower/Lightbox
9. Lumiere
10. One King West
Nothing in the skyline beats the simplicity and elegance of aA's CASA with its distinctive "hat" lit up at night, and shimmering vitrine at ground level on Charles Street East.
2. One St. Thomas
3. Ritz-Carlton
4. Uptown
5. Radio City
6. Absolute
7. X
8. Festival Tower/Lightbox
9. Lumiere
10. One King West
Nothing in the skyline beats the simplicity and elegance of aA's CASA with its distinctive "hat" lit up at night, and shimmering vitrine at ground level on Charles Street East.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Not even Telus?
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
^No, not even Telus. All of our new office towers are boxy, unoriginal and clad with the same reflective blue glass. The need for large floorplates basically makes them all fat and wide with none of the soaring verticality that skyscrapers should possess.
sodapop
Active Member
i would have liked to see some cool hearst magazine tower type building where telus is
maestro
Senior Member
1. X
2. Murano
3. One St Thomas
4. CCBR
5. Morgan
6. Spire
7. Dia
8. Hudson
9. MoZo
10. Executive Learning Centre
2. Murano
3. One St Thomas
4. CCBR
5. Morgan
6. Spire
7. Dia
8. Hudson
9. MoZo
10. Executive Learning Centre