Toronto Daniels Waterfront - City of the Arts | 156.05m | 45s | Daniels | RAW Design

I think the fault many, including myself, find in this isn't so much that it's 'simple' per se, but that the execution is *so* cost-conscious and ham fisted that it just comes off as cheap and lazy. The capital costs of true architectural simplicity are extraordinary which is why we rarely see it done right. Here, Daniels are just nailing some 'Schrute Yellow' spandrel on a rectilinear form with little thought or care to the outward expression or architectural legacy of the project.

And that's not just me and others saying that online, the architect has publicly claimed the same.

If there's a silver lining it's the fact that the Daniels office is moving down here very soon and they'll have to look at it full time.
 
This morning (Nov 10th)

South side:
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West side:
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Wonder why they didn't hide those hydro poles for this section when they had the ground dug up during construction.

Because the burying of the Hydro lines will only happen when Queen's Quay east is rebuilt and this project awaits a decision on the much-talked-about LRT. The plan is to have QQE like QQW.
 
I personally disagree, buyers saw the models in the presentation center and they signed and sealed the deal. And, there are "hundreds" of buyers see things differently. Would you buy a car that look like a piece of shxt ?

Cars and real estate are completely different things. With cars, there is huge competition within the same price range and aesthetics play a huge role. With real estate, aesthetics is probably last on the list of priority for the majority of buyers. At the time you are ready to pull a trigger on a preconstruction condo, there are just a handful of projects out on the market. At that point, the main criteria you are left with are:
- Location
- Price
- Floor plans
- Interior finishes
- Amenities
The other factors that impact the purchasing decision are having floor to ceiling windows and nice transparent railings on big wrap-around balconies. Those sure look hideous from the outside and are terrible for energy efficiency, but sell the apartments like hotcakes because the buyers see them as awesome from the inside. The overall aesthetic of the building from the outside is probably last on the list of priorities for most buyers.

To give a personal example, I bought a preconstruction condo in a building that looks not just like sh!t, but more like a turd that had a grey spandrel factory vomit on it. But the other factors were so overwhelmingly right for this purchase, that I didn't give the building looks a second thought, even though it was very clear what the building will end up looking like from the showroom models.

So, to finish my point, unfortunately architectural design does not really affect the market demand. If the developer wants to get away with lazy and cheap architecture, in a hot market like Toronto, they totally can.
 

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