condovo
Senior Member
No. Just no.
Toronto 49-51 Yonge Street | 226.86m | 62s | SmartCentres | a—A
- Thread starter Northern Light
- Start date
Koops65
Senior Member
Here is a render of the site, with a generic box-shaped 60 floor tower placed at the extreme SW corner to give maximum separation (19 metres is all I could get) from the 55 Yonge proposal. It's a very tight fit, even for a slender tower.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
It's only be a 60 story tower covered in medium-grey spandrel now, Mr. Towered. Like a cat o' nine tails that's been reduced to five... >.<Maybe they'll haphazardly paste their facades onto a 100 storey Canderel tower covered in medium-grey spandrel
Northern Light
Superstar
At first blush, very concerning/discouraging.
The footprint is relatively small, and almost fully occupied by the heritage............
cd concept
Senior Member
It would look real nice if the tower looked the same as next door proposal 55 Yonge creating twin identical towers. Just imagine that on Koop's diagram photo up above!
condovo
Senior Member
November 11, 2021
There’s no room for a 60-storey tower, or any tower, without destroying the existing building(s). And preserving the façades alone is destroying the buildings. There’s probably no room even to maintain the façades in situ during construction. This is a hard no. 100% no.
Even if this gets whittled down to 45 storeys, 25 stories or 10 storeys, this is a no. No. No. No.
There’s no room for a 60-storey tower, or any tower, without destroying the existing building(s). And preserving the façades alone is destroying the buildings. There’s probably no room even to maintain the façades in situ during construction. This is a hard no. 100% no.
Even if this gets whittled down to 45 storeys, 25 stories or 10 storeys, this is a no. No. No. No.
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Amare
Senior Member
At this point, asides from Queens Park, I dont think there's any historical building in Toronto that's safe from development.
Im just waiting for the day we see a proposal on Nathan Phillips Square, and the lawn in front of Old City Hall. Heck maybe even on top of the observation deck of City Hall. This is just getting beyond ridiculous.
Im just waiting for the day we see a proposal on Nathan Phillips Square, and the lawn in front of Old City Hall. Heck maybe even on top of the observation deck of City Hall. This is just getting beyond ridiculous.
gabe
Senior Member
I just love the look of this building! Walking down Wellington approaching Yonge, or walking down Yonge st, this building is an eye catcher. You do stop and look at it.. But to have the facade tacked onto a modern skyscraper would look cartoonish. It just wouldn't work.
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
The developers here are welcome to restore this building to its former glory. As long as they can take their 60 floor tower proposal over to some surface parking lot or some inconsequential building that's been put to skeezoid/pointless use. I heard Hooters over on Adelaide and John would be prime spot for this.
TossYourJacket
Senior Member
I'm sure given the chance, Doug would let one of his developer friends stick a condo tower on top of Queen's Park if he thought he could get away with it.
Bjays92
Senior Member
This has to be shot down by the city. We cannot lose buildings like this, Canada has hardly any of them to begin with and so many are being destroyed. I've been on this forum long enough that most people probably know I'm a big fan of height, but this is simply not the place for it.
The Preservationist
Active Member
It will be a very dark day for the city if any of this is realized...
cd concept
Senior Member
We definitely know the exterior facade will be saved! But is the interior worth saving I've never seen the inside? If so these two buildings should be preserved!
Rimsky44
Active Member
I don't know about the upper floors but the Irish Embassy should be preserved!
Townie
New Member
So-called "heritage preservation" must address not just exteriors but also interiors. Sure, Toronto has lots of beautiful old bank buildings (Americans joke that Toronto had a bank on every corner, whereas their cities had a tavern on every corner), but much of the beauty was on the inside. Even if the buildings still stand, many of these marble, granite and wood interiors were replaced with formica counters and cubicle offices over the past decades -- a serious loss and an insult to interior design. The building at 49 Yonge has not only a beautiful exterior but also a grand, airy, spacious interior from its former life as a banking hall, beautifully maintained and respected by the current occupant, The Irish Embassy (an excellent establishment, if you haven't been there). It deserves to be preserved in a way we can all continue to experience and enjoy it. If the interior can't be preserved in a way that is respectful, functional and accessible, then the heritage objective is moot.