Toronto 641 Queen East | 29.1m | 9s | Streetcar | Giaimo

N

Northern Light

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Ok...this proposal has me genuinely smiling ear to ear............you'll find out why, after the application:

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app.toronto.ca

Application Details

app.toronto.ca app.toronto.ca

This is the site of several existing heritage buildings, collectively known as 'The Smith Block'. They are in varying states of repair or disrepair currently; and their former 'Central Block' was demolished many years ago, for a surface parking lot:

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*Docs are Up*

The proposal substantially retains and restores the surviving heritage, not just the facades either (first 10M), ............AND.......reconstructs the facade of the original central block feature that was lost, so many years ago! 😀

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Pretty please let this be 'real'. LOL (seeing something like this always makes you wonder if @ProjectEnd is nearby pin in hand, looking mischeviously at the balloon you're holding)

It then slides into the 9s massing of the new build deeply set back on the site.

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Residential lobby fronting Queen..............this one time.................don't care.

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I saw the first picture and I was like NO WAY, there is a catch. then scrolled down and saw the building behind 😅
 
Possibly the most exciting proposal I've seen in a long time. I don't even care that the new structure is boring, this goes above and beyond on the heritage element. I'm curious, have there been any other complete reconstructions like this in Toronto? Material and craftsmanship will be very important here, I've always wondered how well a faithful reconstruction could be pulled off these days.

Best shot of the original block I can find, it certainly was attractive. Anyone have any others?

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Northern Light said:
All the detailing is there. The store front level, the windows, the cornices.

What is not to love about this if they pull it off. It would be a wonderful precedent to set too!
Click to expand...
What I also love is that the heritage buildings bookending the row are preserved to full depth. It really helps to avoid the historic facade tacked onto a new structure look; it's more natural and cohesive. Indeed this would be a wonderful precedent, I'd love to see more faithful reconstructions in the future.
 
We should send Streetcar a fruit basket with our applause 🥝🍍🍉🍓🍒🍏

This is indeed a wonderful precedent! (props due to Garden District for their reanimation of historical buildings too).

Speaking of reanimation, we should get @Undead installed on the 12th floor of City Hall to make sure this kind of idea/precedent sticks.
 
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