jozl
Active Member
I really hate the exterior of the Bay Wellington Siamese twin tower(s) thing. Notwithstanding Calatrava's gorgeous atrium.
Toronto 191 Bay | 301.74m | 64s | QuadReal | Hariri Pontarini
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thecharioteer
Senior Member
For all the comments about the courtyard being “underused”, it is one of the finest urban spaces in the downtown, with beautiful detailing of materials and a wonderful balance between the transparency of CCW, the Art Deco solidity of CCN and the sleek sophistication of old Montreal Trust Building. The scale of the surrounding buildings all work in harmony. Any complaints about liveliness and animation are solely a function of its grade-related uses.
What I find appalling about the City’s apparent support for this project is its hypocrisy in ignoring every premise of the Tall Buildings Guidelines given that this is an office building, not a residential condominium. One can only imagine planning staff’s reaction if a condo was proposed with this floor plate and impact on both a public open space, and a designated heritage building, not to mention the demolition of buildings by an architect who is considered one of the preeminent architects of the late 20thC.
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TransitBart
Senior Member
That about sums it up for me. The photo above is reminiscent of night time winter views of Rockefeller Center at Rockefeller Plaza. I don’t think that this will be preserved if this proposal goes ahead.
Amare
Senior Member
Here's an interesting view of where this tower would go, I took this shot from Brookfield Place about a year ago. It would be on the west side of the ScotiaTower, completely blocking the Bay-Adelaide East tower for those a little unfamiliar with the area:
There's no doubt that this proposal needs more separation between the current CIBC tower by either physically shifting the proposal or slimming it down. It would look just downright silly going up in it's current iteration.
There's no doubt that this proposal needs more separation between the current CIBC tower by either physically shifting the proposal or slimming it down. It would look just downright silly going up in it's current iteration.
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It would be on the east side of the Scotia Tower.
You'd only see half of the Scotia Plaza tower or the Bank of Commerce tower from the vantage point above.
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adma
Superstar
You write as if "current skyline prominence" is all that matters.
adma
Superstar
Indeed, it deserves at least as much blame for the bleakness of that stretch of Wellington--all the more so in its being so much taller than CCS, and on the overshadowing *south* side at that. (And it displays the pitfalls of 80s-PoMo "streetfront urbanism" as applied to skyscrapers, i.e. in the name of maximizing rentable space, blithely discarding both the then-unfashionable TD/CCW-style "tower in a plaza" *and* the finely moulded Deco setbacks from between the wars.)
adma
Superstar
Though one problem I've always found with the courtyard: it leaves the projecting south face of CCN "overexposed", with a weak and unfinished-looking top further marred by unsightly mechanical boxes. A reminder that it was designed for a denser urban environment than Commerce Court presently provides. (All is presently forgiven; though they *really* should do something about those mechanical boxes.)
Amare
Senior Member
I really shouldn't be posting when i'm half asleep, but indeed it would be on the east side, NOT the west side like I stated above.
pw20
Active Member
I initially was skeptical of this proposal - of all the major ones (160 Front, Union Centre) this seemed to be the most unlikely to be built... but then - I was reminded about The Board of Trade's World Trade Centre proposal and the image on the Board's website seems like an early massing project for CC3.
https://wtctoronto.com/
https://wtctoronto.com/
ryguy7787
Active Member
I initially was skeptical of this proposal - of all the major ones (160 Front, Union Centre) this seemed to be the most unlikely to be built... but then - I was reminded about The Board of Trade's World Trade Centre proposal and the image on the Board's website seems like an early massing project for CC3.
https://wtctoronto.com/
I would prefer any of the other cities buildings to be honest...
LUVIT!
Senior Member
I think 3 are ugly (Bahrain, Seoul, + Shenzhen)
ProjectEnd
Superstar
The desaturation in the NYC photo makes the difference in the glass near the top look truly appalling (not that it looks good otherwise).
ryguy7787
Active Member
Anything to get less blue/grey/green boxes out our core skyline the better... it' already bad that 90% of Southcore already looks that way.
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
If they are hellbent on replacing Pei's buildings then I hope they redesign this into something a little more exciting and groundbreaking. This looks like it could be a peripheral tower at the Hudson Yards complex- atrium included. Why not something a little more daring and neo-futurist- not just strictly flat glass curtain facades.