Toronto Eaton Centre (Ongoing Renewal) | ?m | ?s | Cadillac Fairview | Zeidler

[TheKingEast]

Armour is pretty bang on - the panorama of the interior of the Eaton Center above is a great example of what's wrong with Toronto's design sensibilities right now. That space used to be pretty spectacular - now it's a complete mess. CF had an opportunity to return some of the magic to the mall with this renovation - and has only succeeded in cluttering it up even more. The rest of the city is no exemption - Toronto cuts corners with design to make a buck.

Agreed. Seems like if you're not gushing about everything, you're deemed as negative. There isn't a lot to like about the design choices in this "world class" city.

 

[Josh]

Perhaps I feel this way because I never experienced the eaton centre in its apparent glory. It's a mall. It's for shopping, it looks no worse than any other mall out there. I'd rather more retail than a bigger atrium.

I get the desire for better architecture I just think it's weird that people expect that in the form of a mall struggling to make the most of its limited space.

I agree it's not the most glorious structure. I just don't think most people care. It's more about the retail.

The point is - more retail isn't mutually exclusive of better architecture. In fact, good architecture often means a better and more efficient use of space. The atrium in the Eaton Centre is a great example of wasted space- look at that panorama photo, half of it's dedicated to blank walls and service ramps.

 

[interchange42]

The blank walls are only there until such time as all the new retailers open. Seems premature to be complaining about them.

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[Josh]

I wasn't referring to the new retailers blank walls - but rather the blank wall behind the ramp - as well H&M's blank wall.

 

[interchange42]

Into everybody's atria, a few ramps must fall. Big deal, there's a ramp to handle a grade change, and beside it, there's a blank wall. When every other blank wall in that area becomes animated as a store front, the blank wall will be a little relief.

The H&M blank wall? Once those LEDs are turned on, it's going to look anything but blank.

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[Josh]

We're totally doing circles here. The point was that Toronto is increasingly ignoring design in favour of the cheapest possible solution. A fantastic space like the original atrium has been filled in largely by blank facing walls that aren't doing the mall any favours. And while it's nice that H&M is trying to address the issue with digital screens - the space could have been designed in a far better way. The space as it stands is awkward for retail (tiny entrance to H&M) and awkward for circulation - and wastes key mall frontages as blank walls. I think it's okay that we ask for more than just 'good enough'.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Of course, it wasn't a fantastic space for retail, as it produced no revenue. Revenue production is the sole purpose of a shopping mall. And so the owners renovated to fix that.

 

[interchange42]

Meanwhile, I want to keep the circle going a little longer, even though I don't think I'm the one doing the spinning.

@Josh keeps complaining about blank walls. There's only going to be one small blank wall here, as far as we know. Complaints about H&M's interior frontage are a bit premature until we see how the wall looks in operation. Meanwhile, there's a stairwell down immediately in front of it, so I'm not sure another door there to the store would be that helpful.

I want better than 'good enough' too, but with a complete lack of renderings for us to go on here, we have no idea what this space will look like ultimately, and therefore no idea if it's only going to be 'good enough' or whether in fact it might be downright terrible or blow-your-mind fantastic.

So my point is, why complain about something you don't have enough information to complain about?

Wait, I remember why: because that's what Torontonians actually are masters at.

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[Josh]

I'm talking about the space as it currently stands. And the blank walls are only a small portion of what's wrong inside this space. The point is - there doesn't have to be blank walls! The stairs should have been put further East in the space to allow H&M to open out into the atrium. The entry to the tower should be on the lower level, with access to the corridor to the Canadian Tire - instead of eating up valuable retail space on the ground floor. The atrium itself should have never been filled in for a minor one storey addition like H&M. And it's justified to complain about the city allowing a pretty magnificent space to deteriorate into the mess it is today.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

The city doesn't regulate where stores go in malls.

 

[interchange42]

Updates from last night:

With Free People open, there's only one store left to fill in this area, on the west side north of Shoo.

There are a number of other stores in the mall which need retailers.

H&M Home opens in the expanded H&M store at the north end a week today.

They really take their time on some of these…

Just when is "soon"?!

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[AndreaPalladio]

That store is never going to succeed if they keep giving the people away for free!

 

[NBGtect]

Just when is "soon"?!

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Government 'soon'. So Fall 2016. ish.

 

[Stupidandshallow]

While walking through the new lower part of the Eaton Centre I couldn't help but find it a tad depressing. I think it's the lighting and the floors. It's a bit dingy and the floors look dated.

 

[Kitsune]

... that coming soon has been a feature for a few years now. It pops open in November as a Calender Club and closes in January. It did pop up during the summer a couple years ago as a toy store but closed as soon as Disney moved in next door.