Toronto 2002 Lake Shore West | 122m | 36s | Marlin Spring | Graziani + Corazza

I think and hope that these are only very preliminary drawings. For one thing, it looks as if they haven’t even begun to think about the podium yet. It is just a featureless box. The basic structural ideas seem to be derived from Massey Tower and Wellesley on the Park for the more or less triangular building and Absolute Towers for the oval one. But I suppose you could say the triangular one has an interesting shape to the floorplate.
 
The podium does indeed look like it's the least considered aspect of the design. It seems little more than a flat platform for the buildings themselves. No real common design language to link the podium to what's above.

I remind myself that these visions are still preliminary and we're in the early stages of the process.
 
New docs posted May 13:

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Both towers are now 21 storeys:

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Amare said:
One step closer to yet another piece of certified trash being built along the waterfront. Especially considering that BOTH Marlin Spring and G+C involed, this is going to be bad.
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How do you know that it'll be bad on account of Marlin Spring's involvement? They're relatively new and don't have a big portfolio of completed projects yet. A lot of their projects are just infill projects in lower-profile locations and appear to be decent in the renderings, with no junk yet like Tridel's 300 Front Street West.
 
junctionist said:
How do you know that it'll be bad on account of Marlin Spring's involvement? They're relatively new and don't have a big portfolio of completed projects yet. A lot of their projects are just infill projects in lower-profile locations and appear to be decent in the renderings, with no junk yet like Tridel's 300 Front Street West.
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Because any developer who's committed to consciously working with G+C not just once, not just twice, not just 3 times, not just....well you get the idea, and then comes up with things like this:

801 The Queensway

The Tailor

WestBeach Condominiums

201 Sterling Road

Canvas Condominium

I mean, really need I say more?
 
Amare said:
Because any developer who's committed to consciously working with G+C not just once, not just twice, not just 3 times, not just....well you get the idea, and then comes up with things like this:

801 The Queensway

The Tailor

WestBeach Condominiums

201 Sterling Road

Canvas Condominium

I mean, really need I say more?
Click to expand...

Those are a bunch of restrained and fairly generic designs, but it's hardly a horror show. They all seem to have good urban manners by meeting the street with retail and commercial space. They're all bringing density to underdeveloped areas with good future potential to be dense and vibrant. I think that as the developer establishes itself through a series of successful projects, it'll be more inclined to invest in architecture and design.
 
I'm really curious why you're willing to give such a broad pass to relatively unproven developer consistently using a firm with absolutely no positive record to speak of?

"Bringing density to underdeveloped areas with good future potential to be dense and vibrant." This molding trashbag has been left to fester on the curb of the *Danforth* for the past two years. I don't see future vibrancy, I see a disappointing eagerness to cash in on a boom and a building that will blight one of our primary east-west thoroughfares for decades to come.

20200229_094932-jpg.233790

Pic by @AlbertC
 
junctionist said:
Those are a bunch of restrained and fairly generic designs, but it's hardly a horror show. They all seem to have good urban manners by meeting the street with retail and commercial space. They're all bringing density to underdeveloped areas with good future potential to be dense and vibrant. I think that as the developer establishes itself through a series of successful projects, it'll be more inclined to invest in architecture and design.
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Any developer can bring density to underdeveloped area; that in and of itself is not an overly difficult feat to achieve. We dont need Marlin Spring to do it, because many other developers would have been willing to do it.

As to your point about a developer establishing itself through successful projects and being more inclined to invest in design after completing projects, there in lies a big problem. Why would a developer consistently find the need to bring us horrid quality developments to prove to themselves that they can be successful, before upping the quality of their developments? If anything that's counter-intuitive and illustrates that the developer doesnt believe they can build.

If a developer truly cared about the quality of their builds, they would do it from the start. If they dont do it from the start, that just shows their greed and that they couldnt care about anything else asides from squeezing as much profit as they can by building the cheapest quality build possible.
 
Amare said:
Any developer can bring density to underdeveloped area; that in and of itself is not an overly difficult feat to achieve. We dont need Marlin Spring to do it, because many other developers would have been willing to do it.

As to your point about a developer establishing itself through successful projects and being more inclined to invest in design after completing projects, there in lies a big problem. Why would a developer consistently find the need to bring us horrid quality developments to prove to themselves that they can be successful, before upping the quality of their developments? If anything that's counter-intuitive and illustrates that the developer doesnt believe they can build.

If a developer truly cared about the quality of their builds, they would do it from the start. If they dont do it from the start, that just shows their greed and that they couldnt care about anything else asides from squeezing as much profit as they can by building the cheapest quality build possible.
Click to expand...

You seem to dislike the architecture of the facades, but I've seen no evidence of "horrid quality developments". With regard to their project, the Stockyards District, no one was willing to build anything but townhouses in the area until they came along. It's not an area that was desirable to the same extent as the residential side streets of the Roncesvalles area. A lot of people start businesses with no track record and inferior assets like land in less desirable locations.

Then, they have to build up some cash flow and keep the business stable before indulging in nice features to have like beautiful architecture. With that said, this excuse can only hold up for so long. I know that local residents provided feedback on the architecture of the Stockyards District, which was not incorporated into the final design.

Ultimately, if they have the resources to build condominiums, they have the resources to get the architecture right and contribute positively to the city's development. But there is a business side to it that needs to be analyzed too.
 
It doesn't cost orders of magnitude more to design and build great buildings. You just have to care about what you're creating. Consistently hiring G+C is proof itself that Marlin Spring do not.

Also, a bit of an LOL there on the idea that these folks are wide-eyed neophytes when it comes to development. They know what they're doing and they know how to allocate capital. That they chose not to spend on architecture or design speaks to their values, not some kind of learning curve.
 
PMT said:
Both towers are now 21 storeys:
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I don't like that the towers will have the same high. The whole South Swansea will be a neighborhood of twin towers.

Maybe we should start calling that neighborhood Geminis 😂

On a plus side, these towers will visually connect (more or less) South Swansea and HBS, with the help of Mirabella Condos and Southport square (if it ever gets built). After that, I don't see much more room for new construction projects. Maybe Ripley Ave (where the Cheese Boutique is) and the corner of S Kingsway and Riverside Dr could handle something being built in a distant future.
 
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