Toronto Aquavista at Bayside | 46.94m | 13s | Tridel | Arquitectonica

Has there been an announcement about retail tenant here yet? Asking because this bit in this new Retail Insider article highlighting Organic Garage's expansion plans got me thinking about which building they're referring to: "...the company’s next store will open along the waterfront in the east end of Toronto. Construction is expected to start sometime this summer with an opening either late fall or early winter."

With that anticipated timeline, and thinking about the size and layout of the various retail units planned along this stretch, does it pretty much have to be in either this building or the new Pier 27 tower?

 
Has there been an announcement about retail tenant here yet? Asking because this bit in this new Retail Insider article highlighting Organic Garage's expansion plans got me thinking about which building they're referring to: "...the company’s next store will open along the waterfront in the east end of Toronto. Construction is expected to start sometime this summer with an opening either late fall or early winter."

With that anticipated timeline, and thinking about the size and layout of the various retail units planned along this stretch, does it pretty much have to be in either this building or the new Pier 27 tower?

I expect that it is the water-facing retail unit here. That could make for a pretty popular store here, and I hope the make the best of its prime location by making its frontage somewhat porous: there will likely be piles of people strolling by here on good weather days as the area fills out and the boardwalk gets extended, while an increasingly large local population willl keep it going through less temperate times of the year.

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Took a few photos during a bike ride this past weekend:

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While I agree that this building is more on the dull side (especially the north face), I do appreciate the depth it created from the 'zig-zag' east/west face and the waved inner pool courtyard facing the lake. Materials are good (real brick), there's a decent street presence, retail and affordable housing – in my eyes this makes it a 'dull' solid build.

Maybe this average building will let some of the upcoming exciting Bayside projects standout even more (Aquabella, Aqualuna, T3 phase 1 & 2)?
 
While I agree that this building is more on the dull side (especially the north face), I do appreciate the depth it created from the 'zig-zag' east/west face and the waved inner pool courtyard facing the lake. Materials are good (real brick), there's a decent street presence, retail and affordable housing – in my eyes this makes it a 'dull' solid build.

Maybe this average building will let some of the upcoming exciting Bayside projects standout even more (Aquabella, Aqualuna, T3 phase 1 & 2)?

The problem is that it’s right on the waterfront. It has no business being there IMO
 
A small step above Suburban-tier architecture, but better than Aqualina as it's more architecturally honest. That building is inexcusable for the amount of spandrel it has (while pretending to be an all-glass building)- and worse of all, it fronts a park. Absolutely brutal, and I can only hope a facade failure happens there so that it gets reclad.

While Aquavista's not too interesting from a detailing point of view, the materiality is decent enough, and it has interesting elements that catch shadows, creating depth.
 
It actually looks much better in person. Not that it'll win any innovation awards, but it's a nice waterfront building when you see it close up.

Grey on grey on grey just doesn't work for me on a waterfront. Just think the end result is mediocre at best. Grey brick tends to do that so there should be accents that stand out and here, they're just grey.
 
The issue for me is that due to the colour of the bricks, the building doesn’t register as a largely brick building unless you’re very close to it. From a distance the cladding appears really dark and solid with little texture. Adding a bit of colour through the masonry would have highlighted the material while adding a contrast to the window wall and balcony railings. It’s unfortunate because this is all hand laid real brick but the colour doesn’t highlight it at all.
 
Grey on grey on grey just doesn't work for me on a waterfront. Just think the end result is mediocre at best. Grey brick tends to do that so there should be accents that stand out and here, they're just grey.


The issue for me is that due to the colour of the bricks, the building doesn’t register as a largely brick building unless you’re very close to it. From a distance the cladding appears really dark and solid with little texture. Adding a bit of colour through the masonry would have highlighted the material while adding a contrast to the window wall and balcony railings. It’s unfortunate because this is all hand laid real brick but the colour doesn’t highlight it at all.

What a coincidence, my wife and I were driving past on Queens Quay just yesterday and we felt the exact same way. Seeing it from the car it looked really bland, and for some reason, reminded me of the old Regent Park apartment buildings.

The south facing side's curvature is quite nice though.
 

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