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

Fully agreed with our esteemed site admin. You couldn't have asked for a better utility building.

Maybe people won't use the benches, but having benches on site clearly doesn't hurt anyone, does it?
 
jje1000 said:
Not sure how I feel about the roof, which seems disproportionate to the rest of the building.
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.dwg said:
The roofline is completely out of proportion and just looks like it's trying to hide mechanical equipment. I'm not convinced.
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That is exactly what it's doing. Data centers need incredible heat suppression measures - far more than a normal office building - and these angles are really just hiding the chillers etc. required to cool the place. See this section:

Capture.PNG
 
WislaHD said:
Maybe people won't use the benches, but having benches on site clearly doesn't hurt anyone, does it?
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Agreed, no harm in adding some benches, and I didn't mean to give the impression that they shouldn't be added here. Just wish there was some way to better activate this space, which I'm not convinced that the public art and seating will do, in the absence of any nearby destinations.
 
ProjectEnd said:
That is exactly what it's doing. Data centers need incredible heat suppression measures - far more than a normal office building - and these angles are really just hiding the chillers etc. required to cool the place. See this section:

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I completely understand why, I just think that beyond the colour, the roof seems disconnected from the design language of the first lower floors.
 
bilked said:
Agreed, this will look great.
At the same time (allow me to rant), it's sad that a significant public library was razed here as part of a land swap for the first parliament site that apparently will be commemorating our heritage for years (decades) as a surface parking lot, car wash and car dealership. The developers of the data centres had much more ambitious/productive plans for that land.
The master plan for the swapped land is supposed to finally issue by fall 2020..to build the site out over...10 to 20 years: https://www.toronto.ca/services-pay...ent-project/first-parliament-project-details/
The work on the land swap deal is already approaching its 20th anniversary. Here's a 17 year old G&M article discussing: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...ite-imminent-councillor-says/article25286720/
I appreciate Rome wasn't built in a day, but seriously?
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There was no library here. There was the Toronto Public Library's uninspired PoMo Administration/Service Centre. Here's what it looked like in Oct 2011, from Google Street View:

TPLAdminServCtr.jpg


However, yes, the plans for the First Parliament Site across the street are taking forever, and I'm looking forward to seeing a plan, getting a good one, and then having it built. The area's library on The Esplanade a block or two to the west is way too small.

42
 
bilked said:
Agreed, this will look great.
At the same time (allow me to rant), it's sad that a significant public library was razed here as part of a land swap for the first parliament site that apparently will be commemorating our heritage for years (decades) as a surface parking lot, car wash and car dealership. The developers of the data centres had much more ambitious/productive plans for that land.
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You clearly do not know what you are talking about. The land on which this part of the data centre is being built was the 1960s(?) home for the TPL's administration and technical services. The land where the significant district public library (replacing the much smaller St Lawrence branch on Front @ the "Rabba Building") is still planned to be is on the First Parliament Site on the west side of Parliament. The Master Plan for that whole site is almost complete (and would be complete now if covid-19 had not intervened.) The new District Library remains in the TPLs plans for next 5 years.
 
DSC said:
You clearly do not know what you are talking about. The land on which this part of the data centre is being built was the 1960s(?) home for the TPL's administration and technical services. The land where the significant district public library (replacing the much smaller St Lawrence branch on Front @ the "Rabba Building") is still planned to be is on the First Parliament Site on the west side of Parliament. The Master Plan for that whole site is almost complete (and would be complete now if covid-19 had not intervened.) The new District Library remains in the TPLs plans for next 5 years.
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i42 already corrected my mistake in referring to the TPL admin building as a library in the post directly above yours. a follow-up 'you don't know what you're talking about' post does what exactly?

i'm aware that a new library is planned for this site and it's great to hear that the master plan is soon to be released... the timing is consistent with what i outlined in my post.

but the whole thing has been painfully slow. that was my only point. if'you think the years/decades that we'll be living with this massive surface parking lot is all perfectly explainable, i'm all ears.
 
robmci said:
I think I am in the pro-oversized roof camp. It's definitely a statement and I appreciate the boldness of the massing - unlike anything in Toronto (in a good way!). Though (materials aside) perhaps the Supreme Court in Ottawa is a distant cousin?
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I just don't like the way this looks and how something looks is more important than being bold and different. The symmetry that works for the Supreme Court's roof in Ottawa is the same reason the asymmetrical look doesn't work for me here. It looks like half a project. Almost like the other half was demolished for the data centre south of it.
 
Site Plan docs now available:

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adHominem said:
Hard to tell from the rendering, but based on the "materiality" slide on the previous page, they might be going for a textured metal. "Metallist?" (That sounds p badass actually)
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Oh, I almost missed that one...great reply, lol!
 
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