k10ery
Senior Member
The rendering
I think it could end up looking as bad as this
though not quite as bad as this
(Sources Heritage Toronto and ERA respectively.)
Toronto Broadview Hotel | 28.65m | 7s | Streetcar | ERA Architects
- Thread starter nstuch
- Start date
I think it could end up looking as bad as this
though not quite as bad as this
(Sources Heritage Toronto and ERA respectively.)
Tewder
Senior Member
I agree that it turned out poorly in the execution. I still like the concept of the Berczy but the choice of materials was way off.
Hamiltonian
Active Member
I think they did a pretty good job with the Dineen building... It doesn't take away from the original architecture. The same could go for the Bloor Gladstone Library, they did a really good job adding more space while respecting the original building.
Tewder
Senior Member
I agree with you on both counts!
maestro
Senior Member
I understand the need to add inexpensive square feet having gone through a few extensive restorations. The costs are comparably expensive and there's almost always hidden surprises. It's unfortunate the addition is so tall/large. Think a simple charcoal curtainwall would also be a better choice.
Hamiltonian
Active Member
The one thing that could've been done to the Dineen building would have been to put a curved piece of glass on the corner though... Would have looked a million times better.
J T CUNNINGHAM
Senior Member
Some try to smooth the corners; other cut them.
Regards,
J T
Regards,
J T
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
the Gladstone TPL Branch is great, and it hardly touches the heritage structure. Not sure what the complaint is about.
AoD
The Gladstone TPL turning out great as it left the original basically alone. The Dineen addition was done poorly. Luckily you can't really see it unless you look up.
agoraflaneur
Active Member
+1 I love the Gladstone library. It is a haven of beauty on that stretch of Bloor.
Agreed.
k10ery, have you seen it live, or only in that photo? Not that the photo is bad, but it doesn't do it justice.
If you have seen it live and don't like it, might it simply be that you're against modern additions to traditionally styled buildings? Ot are there examples of that you like?
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k10ery, have you seen it live, or only in that photo? Not that the photo is bad, but it doesn't do it justice.
If you have seen it live and don't like it, might it simply be that you're against modern additions to traditionally styled buildings? Ot are there examples of that you like?
42
smably
Senior Member
From the report:
Not a huge fan of the addition, but I'll give it a pass because I'm so happy to see this building restored. The addition can always be reclad later.
Yes please!
Not a huge fan of the addition, but I'll give it a pass because I'm so happy to see this building restored. The addition can always be reclad later.
k10ery
Senior Member
Yes, I see it regularly and have been inside a couple of times.
As an exercise in formalism, I think it is trying to do something but ultimately it fails. The decision to mimic the size and shape of the original in a glass box leaves the extension looking inadequate in comparison. It lacks the strength and monumentality of the original, and it appears unfinished.
This is not just a complaint about modernism or minimalism. A glass box could have worked, if they had done something as simply as extending the original's roof and cornice line in darker coloured glass, for example. But I think a taller, more soaring shape would have been better, as at RCM or National Ballet School.
It's kind of you to ask my opinion, which is after all just some random guy's opinion . I see that it is not shared by many here!
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ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
Is it definitely confirmed the addition is glass? Maybe zinc panels like the Porter House Apartments in NYC
modernizt
Senior Member
The Broadview Hotel addition's exterior expression, as depicted in the rendering, doesn't even seem to take any cues from the heritage building. Even scale of the spacing of the vertical bands seems random and too "heavy". The bands are too wide, there is too little variation, there is no interplay with the heritage component.
And no, I am not saying that it should make literal historical references in its design, but rather it should seek some sort of half-way point with the existing structure, to create an interesting story. i.e. the way the Gardiner Museum plays off its neighbours in subtle ways, especially from the geometry of the UofT building immediately to its north.
And no, I am not saying that it should make literal historical references in its design, but rather it should seek some sort of half-way point with the existing structure, to create an interesting story. i.e. the way the Gardiner Museum plays off its neighbours in subtle ways, especially from the geometry of the UofT building immediately to its north.