Toronto 100 Davenport | 72m | 19s | Diamante | Scott Shields

The York region HQ is amazing on the inside. It's four different "buildings" with atriums in between them, and a gigantic lobby level, really nice.

They are building a new wing of it though by WZMH, which is a much more run of the mill office tower.
 
A great fan of Douglas Cardinal's work. Timeless architecture. When visiting Grand Prairie we saw his Grand Prairie Regional College complex - it was immediately recognizable as one of his projects.

There was some work being done at one end of the building - so could not tell if it was a new building, just being finished, or maintenance to a pre-existing structure - from the visual appearance of the building one could not tell. Turned out that the GPRC building was Cardinal's first major commission, completed in 1976, contributing much to his initial architectural prominence.
 
Same old from Cardinal. Can't say I'm fan and I do appreciate his landmark work. He hasn't evolved with the times. The podium and crown in an urban Toronto context appears incredibly dated. At least it shows quality and will satisfy those enamoured by curves.

I do look forward to this going through rezoning. The site was approved through a long process for 7 storeys maybe 7 years ago. A jump to 39 would confirm the whole zoning process as completely arbitrary.
 
Dated? In an "urban Toronto context" that podium, with its materials and expressive curves, feels like a breath of fresh air. It's something of an antidote to the tyranny of prevailing contemporary styles.
 
stjames2queenwest said:
Does not look dated to me. At what point in time was Toronto doing stuff like this? It looks refreshing to me.
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That you don't see a lot of this dated style in Toronto is the whole point. Cardinal's same old inspirations also feel lost in a flat concrete city like Toronto. I guess a product of this massive boom is that something different can be seen as refreshing. I just don't see it with this tower although I can live with it. My main concern is over the massive increase in density proposed here from just 7 years ago. Only in Toronto and maybe Houston.
 
Typical knee jerk reaction from UD. Constantly overbearing negativity. I can't imaging being at a party with him.... "These decorations are the worst, all the people in the living room lack style and imagination...If I had catered this party it would have had way more interesting food. This party was done by a total loser!"

The tower has a little flair that looks good and the base is a very cool mix of glass and masonry. It looks very organic with that undulating wall on one side. I see nothing Dubai-tacky about this tower. A little flair or joie de vivre is very different from something overtly tacky imo. Toronto would do well to encourage this kind of thing a bit here and there. I was at a conference once and Jack Diamond was made the argument it's better to have less unique towers in that 'Toronto's towers don't cry attention to themselves like in Dubai'. I agree, and don't wish to emulate the slave states' towers, but I do think that's unfortunate most of our towers blend in such monotony. I do think it's getting better though with some of the recent proposals, especially in the office sector.
 
This feels Gaudi-esque. I can't think of any other high rise in Toronto that's quite like it.

That said, I'm sad for the loss of the clock tower. A clock tower crown would have been a nice contextual gesture here.
 
Not sure what 'dated' means. There are no new styles of architecture, just variations of what's been done before. I'm happy that's it's different, curvy and has organic-looking masonry.
 
My first impression from the rendering is, what a interesting focal point the building gives in this part of Toronto. I'm not sure what " dated " means in the Toronto context, when compared to the cookie-cut assembly architecture we see all around. Mass production satisfies demand , and assembly lines produce standard things. However, interesting architectural projects are in the works for Toronto, if the projected slowdown doesn't choke them first. For Toronto , I'd say this building stands against the " dated ", and that's a good thing.
 
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