Toronto Bay Adelaide Centre | 217.92m | 51s | Brookfield | KPMB

Pl80SmA.jpg
 
Spire is still looking good after all these years.

The building that started the green glass, point tower revolution in Toronto. Massive amount of discussion on UT when it was being built. I have pics from the time it was a parking lot to today.
 
The building that started the green glass, point tower revolution in Toronto. Massive amount of discussion on UT when it was being built. I have pics from the time it was a parking lot to today.

Tangental reply: the tower that signifies the start of the 'condo/highrise boom' in Toronto is the Pantages Tower.
 
The building that started the green glass, point tower revolution in Toronto. Massive amount of discussion on UT when it was being built. I have pics from the time it was a parking lot to today.

It was certainly one of the early condo point towers. I would say that the one that kicked off the current point-tower boom was Pantages Tower, four years earlier.
 
You guys are right. Pantages did seem to start it. And the disappointment that seems to come from many projects. Remember the fins at the top it had in the renderings that didn't make it to the final building?
 
In the end, I don't think having two of essentially the same tower will have too much of a negative impact on the skyline or streetscape. It's good filler.

A quick question for those who work or live in the CBD. Is it loud on higher floors? I was staying at a hotel a few month ago in mid-town Manhattan and I was surprised how loud it was even above 15 storey from street-level. Toronto is obviously less busy but the built form is not very different from Toronto's downtown. Would a desk near the window in this office be loud or are modern commercial buildings sealed to the point where it's not noticeable?
 
It was certainly one of the early condo point towers. I would say that the one that kicked off the current point-tower boom was Pantages Tower, four years earlier.

I would say we never looked back with point towers like Matrix and Apex. The taller Pantages was more product of them. The boom started several years earlier in the 'burbs notably around Yonge and Finch with the founding of the Pemberton Group and Empress Walk across from Lastman Square. The Prince Arthur and The Penrose on Bay gave us luxury and height in the downtown.
 
I would say we never looked back with point towers like Matrix and Apex. The taller Pantages was more product of them. The boom started several years earlier in the 'burbs notably around Yonge and Finch with the founding of the Pemberton Group and Empress Walk across from Lastman Square. The Prince Arthur and The Penrose on Bay gave us luxury and height in the downtown.

Indeed - you can definitely see the shift in style post Matrix/Apex, though there is a sort of mini, 20-30s precast boom of sorts in the late 90s in the core area. Take a look at the BuildTO database for projects between 1992 and 2003:

http://www.tobuilt.ca/php/tobuildin...4&search_fd10=>1992&multisearch_fd16=17,19,34

Also recall that there is a period of time when every aA project (mainly by Context) was eagerly anticipated (particularly on UT), given how it breaks the mould of condo architecture at the time (along with, in many ways, other firms like Core). It was sometime after the first crop (20 Niagara, District LOFT, Tip Top, etc) that the more mainstream developers picked up on the Clewesian trend.

re: SPIRE

Let's not forget Indigo (early 90s) right next door, which is arguably an example of proto-Clewsian architecture that would come to dominate in 20 years time.

AoD
 
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They should of built the 44 storey building where the 51 storey building is and visversa. The reason for this is to give some breathing room for the Trump Tower. And also to gain back some of the view for the Scotia Tower for tourist to see from city hall.
 

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