Toronto 930 Albion | 22m | 7s | Thistledown Residential | Gabriel Fain Architects

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Northern Light

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Whoa, investment in this dreary stretch in the heart of Rexdale?? Never thought I'd see it...
 
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Northern Light said:
@daniel_kryz You're the first to make a 'sad face' at this one......

Do share why you find it disappointing.
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Thank you! I'm not a big fan of these 70s-looking balconies and the triangle-shaped pillars must be pretty disorienting at the level of the human eye. At the same time, the shape of the street-facing facade is kinda weird and there's nothing breaking up the facade. The windows are also kinda cold-looking and the facade, even though the materials are nice, has a very boring set of colours. Yes, it's not grey or blue but it just has that 20th-century old apartment look that I personally don't like. And just look at those slab balconies on the other side of the building! Perhaps it's just the renderings or maybe because my father lives in one of those tower-in-the-park buildings that makes me so sick of this aesthetic, as I spent so much of my childhood observing the design motifs and experience of living there.
 
daniel_kryz said:
Thank you! I'm not a big fan of these 70s-looking balconies and the triangle-shaped pillars must be pretty disorienting at the level of the human eye. At the same time, the shape of the street-facing facade is kinda weird and there's nothing breaking up the facade. The windows are also kinda cold-looking and the facade, even though the materials are nice, has a very boring set of colours. Yes, it's not grey or blue but it just has that 20th-century old apartment look that I personally don't like. And just look at those slab balconies on the other side of the building! Perhaps it's just the renderings or maybe because my father lives in one of those tower-in-the-park buildings that makes me so sick of this aesthetic, as I spent so much of my childhood observing the design motifs and experience of living there.
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I understand where you're coming from, but many of the aspects of the design you dislike are the ones I love. A case where preferences are subjective.

To me, this takes what worked best with '60s - '70s apartments and brings it into the 21st century. I like the earth-toned brick, which is brought down to ground level. I like the angles incorporated into the facade and balcony designs providing depth and interest. I like the balconies at the back which have useable proportions.

To me, this is all a breath of fresh air.
 
Ottawan said:
I understand where you're coming from, but many of the aspects of the design you dislike are the ones I love. A case where preferences are subjective.

To me, this takes what worked best with '60s - '70s apartments and brings it into the 21st century. I like the earth-toned brick, which is brought down to ground level. I like the angles incorporated into the facade and balcony designs providing depth and interest. I like the balconies at the back which have useable proportions.

To me, this is all a breath of fresh air.
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Interesting how that works. For me, the back gives off a prison vibe. For you, it's beautiful and interesting. Respect.
 
daniel_kryz said:
Thank you! I'm not a big fan of these 70s-looking balconies and the triangle-shaped pillars must be pretty disorienting at the level of the human eye.
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Interesting. I can't say the triangular columns do anything for me; but neither do they offend me at all.

daniel_kryz said:
At the same time, the shape of the street-facing facade is kinda weird and there's nothing breaking up the facade.
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I agree that some level of articulation/granularity would be nice; though, at least this isn't a super-block type building, so I don't think its as damaging as it might otherwise be.

daniel_kryz said:
The windows are also kinda cold-looking and the facade, even though the materials are nice, has a very boring set of colours.
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Here we differ, I would say over-all that it has a warm'ish vibe rather than cool; while the colour palette is certainly not outlandish, I don't know that it's exceptionally dull; it's not Strada! LOL

daniel_kryz said:
. And just look at those slab balconies on the other side of the building
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I don't mind them as much as you, if only because they're a comparatively unusual choice in this day and age. I am somewhat curious, and haven't looked closely yet, at how they are proposing to put those together.
Code doesn't allow panels to be attached to the slab directly anymore; I remember the massive balcony overhauls where panels were replaced, and/or cut-back so that they stopped at the top of the balcony slab rather than covering it.
For the most part, balconies made of solid concrete all the way up (not panel, one piece) have been permitted to stay un-altered.
I'm curious why they are proposing those since most brick today is a panel of a form. I'm wondering if these are one solid piece w/the slab, and if so, I'm curious if they're thermally-breaking them.
I'll have to see if that's clear in the materials or not.
 
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they just sold two semi detached house behind this site 8 & 10 Thistle Down Blvd, not sure who bought them and if this will be incorporated into the site or not? there's still two more semi detached houses behind those 12 & 14 Thistle Down Blvd, if they get all 4 this would be a decent sized parcel.
 
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