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

alklay said:
Of course it was not proposed. The developers could not make as much money preserving the building as they could by knocking it down and replacing it with a condo tower. It would have been proposed had preservation of historic structures been a prime motive (and enforced by the city).
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Exactly.

It's not like developers always come up with the best ideas. They come up with ideas, first and foremost, that will make them the most money.

We keep hearing the Rackhouse isn't reusable, but they could clearly convert it into residences if they really wanted to.

A a couple of skyscrapers would just make them more money.
 
I am not sure it could be turned into residences, but the whole Distillery is proof that these unique spaces are treasures that could be reused in interesting ways. And yes, what a great gallery or performance space this building would probably make.
 
Rack House 'M' could be turned into residences for moles, given enough fluorescent light ... 'Molehouse M' maybe?

The footprint of Rack House 'M' will remain, the rendering indicates that the vertical pilasters that are there will be a characteristic of the new retail/ residential podium building ( which will be shorter and more in keeping with the scale of the neighbouring rack houses ), and the forum's faux fanboys can even claim that they're getting a prettier little fake rack house than the original. Perhaps it will even contain an art gallery or two, though with several performance spaces already next door at the Yonge Centre another one in this building may not be necessary.
 
alklay said:
I am not sure it could be turned into residences, but the whole Distillery is proof that these unique spaces are treasures that could be reused in interesting ways. And yes, what a great gallery or performance space this building would probably make.
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Well, I think anything is possible with enough investment. They've managed to salvage more far gone buildings than Rackhouse M and turn them into residences, so I think it was definitely possible here.
 
Urban Shocker said:
Rack House 'M' could be turned into residences for moles, given enough fluorescent light ... 'Molehouse M' maybe?
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Part of restoring it would be getting rid of the moles.

With this kind of thinking none of the Distillery would've been restored.

Urban Shocker said:
The footprint of Rack House 'M' will remain, the rendering indicates that the vertical pilasters that are there will be a characteristic of the new retail/ residential podium building ( which will be shorter and more in keeping with the scale of the neighbouring rack houses ), and the forum's faux fanboys can even claim that they're getting a prettier little fake rack house than the original.
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It isn't he same at all, so I don't know why you keep trying to make it seem as though the building is being salvaged and bettered. It's a new podium for a 50 storey condo.

I think keeping the original rackhouse, with it's scale and height, and turning them into residences would be a better solution than tearing it down in favour of a 50 storey condo.

But then that wouldn't be profitable enough for the developer.



Urban Shocker said:
Perhaps it will even contain an art gallery or two, though with several performance spaces already next door at the Yonge Centre another one in this building may not be necessary.
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Or perhaps they'll surprise with more parking spaces. Everyone though it was retail and residences with Pure Spirit.
 
Urban Shocker said:
I agree. Construction update photographs - in this thread and others - have played an important part in promoting lively discussions about design, land use, and planning issues.
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syn said:
I think the updates also keep the debate going. They're all tied together.
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Sir Novelty Fashion said:
I'd add an after-the-fact concurrence in there too, Sean. I know that it's important to keep discussions on-topic, but conversations are organic things. Mechanically separating them into different threads isn't necessarily the best idea.
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unimaginative2 said:
I also agree with everyone else about not splitting the threads.
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scarberiankhatru said:
And this thread should be kept as is....
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Well, I managed to get total agreement on something in this thread! Group hug?
 
I've had a tour of the interior of the said rack house in Waterloo. It is indeed a beautiful building for which many uses could be possible. The interior structure of wood and brick there was quite striking, and I remember the natural light quite well (most of the interior lights were off). Rack House M may not be the most historic or the most beautiful building in the Distillery District, but there are plenty of opportunities to use the space without demolition. A market, a theatre, hotel (which would draw many tourists, bar and shop patrons in, more perhaps than a larger permanent population).
 
The Seagram rack house has lots of windows, which is how natural light gets in. Rack House 'M' in the Distillery District doesn't have any, so you'd have to add lots of them ( so much for "respecting" the building! ), and large windows at that, to get the residences that syn proposes.

Unless, that is, he proposes a retirement home for rich old moles?

The only people who "thought it was retail and residences with Pure Spirit" are a few people on this forum who didn't bother to check the plans.
 
Have you been there? If so, when was the last time? No, no natural light gets in through the windows other than to one small room at one end. Many of the windows have closed shutters. The natural light penetrates through skylights and from the attached addition. It's absolutely beautiful with the light cascading down through the intricate wood latticework. I think that a residential conversion would not be the best use for the building, as it would make retentioin of the beautiful wood racks frame more difficult.
 
and the forum's faux fanboys can even claim that they're getting a prettier little fake rack house than the original.
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I'm curious who on this forum prefers faux historical to real history.
 
I didn't even know we were getting a 'prettier little fake rack house.' I thought we were getting a private condo lobby.
 
The replacement for the disused, windowless hulk of Rack House 'M' will sit on the same footprint as the original and will indeed be prettier - the renderings indicate that it adopts details from the rack house while reducing the bulk, so it'll match the surrounding buildings, an improvement. As with other podium buildings there will be windows, and light, and people living there, and retail.

Disused buildings are thus being revived - Distillery District buildings have already been converted to offices, retail, and theatres, and now residences - and real history is being made there. Something to celebrate!
 
Well, the footprint is being revived, not the building. That's like not caring about the death of a person because you've kept a tracing of their shadow.
 
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