Toronto Clear Spirit | 131.36m | 40s | Cityscape | a—A

[Irishmonk]

These towers still look unfinished and sloppy. Is this really it, I mean, shit, aA is supposed to be the king of execution and all, so what gives? Regrettably, they're probably the most visible buildings from Pan Am central and the hemispheric media (shouldn't we be trying harder to impress the likes of Antigua and Paraguay?).

Frankly, the city, and this unique neigbourhood deserved much, much better.

 

[salsa]

These towers still look unfinished and sloppy. Is this really it, I mean, shit, aA is supposed to be the king of execution and all, so what gives? Regrettably, they're probably the most visible buildings from Pan Am central and the hemispheric media (shouldn't we be trying harder to impress the likes of Antigua and Paraguay?).

Frankly, the city, and this unique neigbourhood deserved much, much better.

The fact that the city decided it was appropriate to plunk a pair of glass towers on top of a historic low-rise heritage area is even more cringeworthy than the towers themselves. If Montreal or Quebec City were like Toronto, here's what they would look like. Tell me this is not dumb.

(apologies for my terrible cut n paste job)

 

[ProjectEnd]

Looks fine to me.

 

[TheKingEast]

It is a little ridiculous. Some mid rise condos would have been a better idea but not as lucrative so....yea.

 

[interchange42]

These towers still look unfinished and sloppy.

View attachment 46775

I think you're confusing unfinished and sloppy with supercool and eye-catching.

There may be some glass panels to fix, I'm not sure, but the designs aren't going to be scoffed at by Antiguans, Paraguayans, or even Belizeans. Please!

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[Tewder]

The fact that the city decided it was appropriate to plunk a pair of glass towers on top of a historic low-rise heritage area is even more cringeworthy than the towers themselves. If Montreal or Quebec City were like Toronto, here's what they would look like. Tell me this is not dumb.

Quebec City is an unfair comparison. Montreal or Boston though:

 

[wolfewood]

I think everyone here is working on separate definitions of "appropriate" neighbourhoods for condos such as these. The photo above of Boston is near the middle of its downtown and surrounded by high rises dating back to the early 20th century (like the Customs House which is down the street from the building pictured). In comparison, Old Quebec, the Distillery District and, to a lesser extent, the Old Port (which has some modern buildings on its northern edge) are all quite distant from their city cores and are primarily made up of the old buildings. A better comparison with Boston would be the North End which is largely older, low- to mid-rise stock. The Gooderham towers would feel in place around the building pictured above but almost certainly not in the North End.

Personally I agree that these condos feel incredibly out of place but conversely the Distillery District is so small that it really doesn't make much of a difference in the end. The city was inevitably going to build out this portion of the east end because there is so much brownfield land left over from the demolition-happy days of the mid-20th century. The area immediately around and within the District could have been more carefully and respectfully worked with but what's done is done. I will say the criticism of the towers is weird, they look perfectly fine to me. They did look incomplete for awhile but they're more than finished looking now...

 

[TheKingEast]

The mechanical penthouses are clumsy IMO.

 

[junctionist]

These towers still look unfinished and sloppy. Is this really it, I mean, shit, aA is supposed to be the king of execution and all, so what gives? Regrettably, they're probably the most visible buildings from Pan Am central and the hemispheric media (shouldn't we be trying harder to impress the likes of Antigua and Paraguay?).

Frankly, the city, and this unique neigbourhood deserved much, much better.

The problem is that there's too much going on with the towers--too many angles and horizontal lines. The mechanical boxes are too big. With that said, I don't think the development is tragic because the Distillery District isn't our old town. It was just an interesting Victorian industrial complex turned into a unique little neighbourhood. These towers look better up close than from a distance.

 

[Tewder]

...the Distillery District isn't our old town. It was just an interesting Victorian industrial complex turned into a unique little neighbourhood.

Exactly, it wasn't a neighbourhood until those towers were added. Going tall and modern was definitely a bold choice but these towers define the area now as much as the heritage buildings do.

The Gooderham towers would feel in place around the building pictured above but almost certainly not in the North End.

ok but the Distillery isn't exactly the North End either. It was a fairly stand-alone grouping of buildings surrounded by brown fields. Don't get me wrong, mid-rise buildings would be entirely appropriate here, I just don't see that high-rise is necessarily inappropriate.

 

[Edward Skira]

Frankly I find the additions to the Distillery from the early 2000's cringeworthy. These turned out great.

 

[salsa]

Looks fine to me.

Looks fine until the OMB approves a bunch more towers in the Distillery District now that the precedent has been set. Maybe Kirkor, Tridel or Conservatory Group will build the next one. Then we'll see how fine that would look.

 

[interchange42]

There is one more tower proposed at the southwest corner of the Distillery District, and then it's pretty much built out. There's no more land left there. All three towers in the district were allowed there as the revenue tools to pay for the restoration of the Victorian industrial buildings. All three (plus the fourth being proposed) were from the same development team that carried out the expensive restoration work.

Sure, there may be more things that go up around the site in the future, but they would likely have to bring substantial community benefits with them to be allowed to go tall in that area. Unless they offer substantial benefits, the City wants buildings in the surrounding area more in line with what we've seen go up in the Pan Am Athlete's Village over the past two years.

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[TheKingEast]

There is one more tower proposed at the southwest corner of the Distillery District, and then it's pretty much built out. There's no more land left there. All three towers in the district were allowed there as the revenue tools to pay for the restoration of the Victorian industrial buildings. All three (plus the fourth being proposed) were from the same development team that carried out the expensive restoration work.

Sure, there may be more things that go up around the site in the future, but they would likely have to bring substantial community benefits with them to be allowed to go tall in that area. Unless they offer substantial benefits, the City wants buildings in the surrounding area more in line with what we've seen go up in the Pan Am Athlete's Village over the past two years.

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I could see them building on top of some of the existing 1 storey structures in the district.

 

[interchange42]

Without permits?

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