Toronto Aquabella at Bayside | 50.9m | 14s | Tridel | 3XN

WeirdFishes · Nov 7, 2020

Otis_YVR said:
I walked by this the other day. It’s looking great, but one smallish quibble.... I‘m not sold on the stripey balcony panels. Did anyone else think they were going to be wood/wood-esque? What they‘ve gone with is suggestive of the tiled mensroom walls in my local multiplex.

(render from Urban Toronto project database)

View attachment 281282

You have a great point. I'd love to know the background on why they netted on this material. I imagine this choice would have a lot more longevity to it over wood. And maybe the two panels was more cost efficient or it has to do with the engineering of the building itself?

And while I agree, it could have been better, the colour and detail of this building is excellent and a welcoming addition to the waterfront (finally). Way to go, 3XN!

smably · Nov 7, 2020

Wood isn't generally allowed to be used as an exterior cladding material in the Ontario building code, so any time you see something that looks like wood in a rendering it's actually going to be a fireproof material with a similar look (GFRC, metal panels, etc).

AlvinofDiaspar · Nov 8, 2020

I think it might look better if they had alternated the different shades randomly at each balcony.

AoD

Johnny Au · Nov 8, 2020

smably said:
Wood isn't generally allowed to be used as an exterior cladding material in the Ontario building code, so any time you see something that looks like wood in a rendering it's actually going to be a fireproof material with a similar look (GFRC, metal panels, etc).

This does not apply to wooden roller coasters, given that the wooden sections are replaced quite often.

smably · Nov 8, 2020

Johnny Au said:
This does not apply to wooden roller coasters, given that the wooden sections are replaced quite often.

True, likely also significantly different fire protection standards since they're not permanently occupied.

A Torontonian Now · Nov 8, 2020

To me, the rendered version looked like okoskin, which I also do think would have looked better than the final treatment. That said, what they went with is not that bad, in the grand scheme of possible cheapening.