Toronto Downtown Data Centre | 38.5m | 4s | Equinix Inc | WZMH

jje1000 said:
Interesting though that some cities in Europe like Dresden and Berlin are rebuilding some areas that have been lost to war (i.e. City Palace in Berlin), while erecting top-notch contemporary architecture in other areas.

The year and architectural zeitgeist should not determine the type of architecture being built through- sometimes it benefits an area to consolidate and in-fill the heritage (i.e. the ghost facade at Bay Adelaide), whereas other times it might be worth starting fresh.

Regardless, it's usually the cost that determines what gets built or not. I think though that guidelines like those on Queen make sense in ensuring that new architecture still carries the spirit of the local architecture without copying old forms directly.
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Apples and Oranges. I've lived in a 400 year old tenement in Europe. Find me the same in Toronto.
 
maestro said:
Apples and Oranges. I've lived in a 400 year old tenement in Europe. Find me the same in Toronto.
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Well that's not a very good comparison, mostly because 400 year old buildings don't really exist in Toronto.
 
That was my point. It makes sense from the German perspective. It doesn't make sense here. One has been rebuilding for decades while the other would be creating old world charm from scratch.
 
Wednesday:

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Quick take: I honestly think this is a fascinating building typology, whether or not it's relevant or not for this site. You get to build a cool form that has no programmatic relevance, that's fine, clad it in cool copper and put a cool Scandi-pitched roof on it, it does the job. But why is it so hard to push that perimeter 'security wall' into the building ground floor plan a bit and pop in some friendly retail space at grade? Having some sort of 'light exhibition' cavity wall feels really mean along Parliament St which is a rather significant pedestrian corridor from the streetcar stop at King to Distillery, or at least has the potential to be.

I understand these facilities have specific HVAC and security requirements that don't lend themselves well to mixed-use, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. I'm starting to miss the library...
 
everydayhim said:
Quick take: I honestly think this is a fascinating building typology, whether or not it's relevant or not for this site. You get to build a cool form that has no programmatic relevance, that's fine, clad it in cool copper and put a cool Scandi-pitched roof on it, it does the job. But why is it so hard to push that perimeter 'security wall' into the building ground floor plan a bit and pop in some friendly retail space at grade? Having some sort of 'light exhibition' cavity wall feels really mean along Parliament St which is a rather significant pedestrian corridor from the streetcar stop at King to Distillery, or at least has the potential to be.

I understand these facilities have specific HVAC and security requirements that don't lend themselves well to mixed-use, but that doesn't mean it's not possible. I'm starting to miss the library...
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It is the security requirement that's put a stop to anything else here: the developers simply don't want to have to worry one iota about it. They promise failsafe internet access to their customers in these buildings, and the contracts typically include huge penalty clauses to the hosts for service interruptions… but the customers are more interested in an absolutely secure environment than they are in raking in penalties if a security indecent does bring service down. As these buildings are an exception in the urban environment, can we not space the occasional block for a blank wall? Thank goodness for the interesting architecture in lieu of that.

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While this new design is very nice, I think I preferred the old "punchcard" design more, since it followed the massing of its neighbour. The new copper cladding will match the neighbouring building's terracotta elements, but the massing is quite a bit different now and doesn't match up as nicely.
 
Interesting tidbits here from Matt Elliott's excellent City Hall Watcher newsletter:

Equinix’s Data Centre, operators of that building near the Distillery that looks like a punch card and has lots of servers inside, has hired StrategyCorp to lobby Toronto Building staffers to “ensure the continued construction of Equinix’s data centre expansion, which supports the provision of an essential service.” It appears they want to make sure they can keep working on their expansion during the pandemic. StrategyCorp’s Aidan Grove-White is on the file.
 
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