Toronto 88 Scott Street | 203.9m | 58s | Concert | P + S / IBI

As ProjectEnd has already pointed out there are many interesting ways to combine boxes together to create an interesting design. A building doesn't have to just be a box.
 
The forum seems pretty devided. Just my 2cents, I love this building! Would look better if it were stretched taller, IMO.. but it's def a good switch-up from the Toronto norm!
Excited for this one to hit the skyline!
 
This building is a nice break from a lot of the highrises we have seen lately. I like it. It will fit in nicely.
 
can someone explain to me what people are criticizing (the upper portion, middle, lower, the whole thing, materials, etc..) ?

from a design POV, it's definitely above average in terms of Toronto standards and what an "average" skyscraper here is (the ones built in the past decade)... and it's not a box either (depending on what your definition of a box is), yet, people are still complaining box or not box.

if the materials are well executed, my guess is this will be an amazing project. if not, it'll end up being Trump.
 
A very refreshing design compared to the monotonous boxes that have been proposed as of late. I do like the render a poster made where the protruding boxes are photoshopped out, but it still gets an A-.

It will be all in the execution. Good materials will make this one of the better buildings put up during this boom. Crappy materials will make it another Uptown. I'm obviously hoping for the former (thanks Spire).
 
Last edited:
I've always hoped we'd see some taller office buildings being constructed East of Yonge before the CBD is boxed in by condos. That being said I like how this building manages to hide the balconies very well, which is something I wish more condos would do.
 
can someone explain to me what people are criticizing (the upper portion, middle, lower, the whole thing, materials, etc..) ?

The critique is that it's a cluttered mess, a grab bag of contradictory architectural tics and retreads, and that it therefore fits right in with the new parvenu neighbours - the dithery collection of boxes that is London on the Esplanade, the generic-faux-plus-extruded-Modernist-core that is Berczy, and 1 King West - where a decent enough core peeks out of a dimpled and snaggle-toothed cloak of precast that's supposed to echo the old bank building it is attached to, but doesn't.

Apart from that it is lovely, just lovely.
 
Well I think this is a fantastic building for Yaletown or MCC, but Toronto? I think we've moved on beyond the 2002 school of design.

Yeah, Concert is a Vancouver developer - and it doesn't do "modernist" glass box.
I can't think of a Concert project that doesn't have traditional elements or some sort of grid in the architectural design (and their interiors are generally more traditional too) - I think they aim for an older demographic
 
There is nothing wrong with using traditional elements - the "wrong" with this project is the schizophernic nature of the design. Either go the way of 1 St. Thomas or present a similliar massing with modern forms - not having all that doodads (thank you US) and then slap a box on of each stepback - and the arrangement of the latter is all weird - it offers no symmetry classical forms dictates, and it is really quite harsh on the eyes.

Take the Wells-Fargo Centre used by Hipster as an example - the symmetry in the form is clear, and each set back adds delight to the height. - and the detailing is crisp and add to the overall sense of verve This project offers none of that finesse - steeping back for the sake of doing so (with perhaps the exception of the top portion). And these projects which tries to "reinterpret" traditional forms often comes out less than desired - note Trump (which suffers the similiar problem of looking fuzzy). Even Minto Midtown suffered significantly IMO from the loss of intricacies from the original to built.

I really, really want to like this project but I can't.

AoD
 
Last edited:
^ The one they are putting up behind city hall is quite modernist and handsome, not so much a glass box but a nice building none the less.
 
The critique is that it's a cluttered mess, a grab bag of contradictory architectural tics and retreads, and that it therefore fits right in with the new parvenu neighbours - the dithery collection of boxes that is London on the Esplanade, the generic-faux-plus-extruded-Modernist-core that is Berczy, and 1 King West - where a decent enough core peeks out of a dimpled and snaggle-toothed cloak of precast that's supposed to echo the old bank building it is attached to, but doesn't.

Apart from that it is lovely, just lovely.

"the generic-faux-plus-extruded-Modernist-core" Can you please explain what that means to those of us who do not speak architectural-hyphenated-gibberish-speak?
 
The critique is that it's a cluttered mess, a grab bag of contradictory architectural tics and retreads, and that it therefore fits right in with the new parvenu neighbours - the dithery collection of boxes that is London on the Esplanade, the generic-faux-plus-extruded-Modernist-core that is Berczy, and 1 King West - where a decent enough core peeks out of a dimpled and snaggle-toothed cloak of precast that's supposed to echo the old bank building it is attached to, but doesn't.
So it's post-Modern?
 
The critique is that it's a cluttered mess, a grab bag of contradictory architectural tics and retreads, and that it therefore fits right in with the new parvenu neighbours - the dithery collection of boxes that is London on the Esplanade, the generic-faux-plus-extruded-Modernist-core that is Berczy, and 1 King West - where a decent enough core peeks out of a dimpled and snaggle-toothed cloak of precast that's supposed to echo the old bank building it is attached to, but doesn't.

Apart from that it is lovely, just lovely.

Are you kidding?? You're including the Berczy as an example of bad architecture? It's a great design that is perfectly sized and fits in well with the neighbourhood. Kind of the anti-501 Yonge.
 

Back
Top