adma
Superstar
There's a construction photo earlier in this thread. And because the building hasn't fundamentally *changed* after all these years, it doesn't take much to imagine it w/o the grime and the air conditioning units and all...
Toronto Church of Scientology | ?m | 8s
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barit
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cdr108
Senior Member
which begs the Q, does the building have central air, otherwise, why are the window units being used?
if there isn't central air, i wonder if that will be part of the renos?
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Surely building systems and services will be part of the update.
Blovertis
Active Member
Well, Scientology's renos are known to be half-assed. Look at Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
They don't exist to me. Modern creature comforts like HVAC, updated electrical, water/plumbing systems, optical fibre networks, asbestos removal etc. will certainly all be undertaken.
thecharioteer
Senior Member
Case Study No. 4: Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, Poissy, 1931 (and the theoretical Maison Domino 1914):
thecharioteer
Senior Member
Case Study No. 5: British American Oil Company by Peter Dickinson, College and Bay, Toronto 1952:
AlbertC
Superstar
Color can certainly enhance a streetscape when tastefully done but that rendering makes me cringe. This is definitely one of the ugliest proposals I've seen in a while.
LowPolygon
Senior Member
Case Study No. 4: Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, Poissy, 1931 (and the theoretical Maison Domino 1914):
absolutely timeless....
and this too, Casa Sonneveld in Rotterdam. Leendert van der Vlugt, 1933.
adma
Superstar
Judging from the context, I have my doubts. (Would it be the thing at York + Richmond? Unfortunately now spoiled by smoked replacement sash)
Incidentally, there's a contextual argument on behalf of Scientology that's yet to be addressed in this thread, and it's to do with what's across the street: the somewhat later 10 St Mary, built by Mathers & Haldenby as something of an "architect's office building" (the sophistication shows in the detail; and naturally, several firms still have offices here, such as E.R.A, Brown & Storey, et al). Together, the two make a terrific, nay, essential pair of 50s office building gateposts to St Mary; they may be different in approach, but they remain inextricable from one another, all the same...
thecharioteer
Senior Member
Good point, adma. Similar to the two Dickinson buildings at College and Bay, the Continental Can Building on the SW corner and the British-American Oil Co. On the NW corner.
Yes, it is the building at the sw corner of Richmond and York, not 696 Yonge.
696 Yonge's long side is on the side street (St. Mary), not on the main street
696 Yonge has 8 storeys, this has 7
696 Yonge is clad in yellow brick, this is clad in limestone
696 Yonge is at St. Mary, which is not a through street, yet a car is crossing the main street at a 90° angle
696 Yonge was not called the York Richmond Building, which is the name on the sign.
The photo is included in a group of photos taken during the time of the initial construction of the Yonge subway:
Fonds 1128; Strathy Smith fonds
Series 381; Yonge Street Subway construction views
File 308; Urban development
The series description is a bit of a red herring, as this just ain't on the line.
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thecharioteer
Senior Member
thecharioteer
Senior Member
Side note: 696 Yonge was steel construction, where Dickinson's British American Oil Building at College and Bay (as related by Morden Yolles in Concrete Toronto) the first flat-plate concrete construction building in Canada (meaning no capitals or flares on the columns), a system they subsequently refined at the Benvenuto.
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