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

[Benito]

Today.

 

[Geekaroo]

 

[jje1000]

The new facade is really helping to break up the blank walls, but the Eaton Centre isn't really a draw for me these days- it's simply no longer spectacular.

The interior has gotten considerably blander (fewer plants and unique features), the store curation is bog-standard, and the layout at the North end remains an odd and ungraceful terminus for the atrium. Meanwhile- the atrium desperately needs to be reclad- there's considerable yellowing and staining that heavily detracts from the entire experience. It's essentially stagnated and lost its architectural direction, while other malls around the GTA have caught up to it.

IMO- it needs a treatment that the Core Mall in Calgary received. A new glass roof and at least some more interesting attractions, please!

 

[Northern Light]

View attachment 195907

What stands out to me in this picture is how what is arguably 'the' anchor of the Eaton Centre (at least north of Queen), Nordstrom, has had its stature really minimized. That should not be confused with endorsing the former look of Sears or Eatons before it. It's really a very interesting tell on the diminished role of anchors in the modern mall.

 

[Amare]

The new facade is really helping to break up the blank walls, but the Eaton Centre isn't really a draw for me these days- it's simply no longer spectacular.

The interior has gotten considerably blander (fewer plants and unique features), the store curation is bog-standard, and the layout at the North end remains an odd and ungraceful terminus for the atrium. Meanwhile- the atrium desperately needs to be reclad- there's considerable yellowing and staining that heavily detracts from the entire experience. It's essentially stagnated and lost its architectural direction, while other malls around the GTA have caught up to it.

IMO- it needs a treatment that the Core Mall in Calgary received. A new glass roof and at least some more interesting attractions, please!

Couldnt agree more, both the Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens are no longer attractive to me. Ever since Cadillac Fairview got their hands on both, the shopping experience has just gone downhill with both.

These days I find Yorkdale much more of a better experience, but i'm hardly around that area so I shop at Eaton Centre and Sherway by default when I have to.

 

[Richard White]

Couldnt agree more, both the Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens are no longer attractive to me. Ever since Cadillac Fairview got their hands on both, the shopping experience has just gone downhill with both.

These days I find Yorkdale much more of a better experience, but i'm hardly around that area so I shop at Eaton Centre and Sherway by default when I have to.

Even Scarborough Town Centre is slightly better than the Eaton Centre. I find the Eaton Centre focuses less on the shopping and more on being a tourist attraction in its own right.

I get that they want to modernize the mall but a flashy exterior cannot hide a lackluster selection inside.

 

[jje1000]

Couldnt agree more, both the Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens are no longer attractive to me. Ever since Cadillac Fairview got their hands on both, the shopping experience has just gone downhill with both.

These days I find Yorkdale much more of a better experience, but i'm hardly around that area so I shop at Eaton Centre and Sherway by default when I have to.

TBH, Cadillac Fairview also did do the Erin Mills renovations- and their new glass sphere centrepiece is absolutely spectacular from an architectural point of view- don't know why it doesn't receive more attention.

Eaton Centre may suffer from having inherently high traffic due to its location, necessitating fewer renovations- after all, why fix what's not 'broken'? I do hope that they have some better planned down the road- sometimes a lack of action hides a lot of things going on behind the scenes.

 

[interchange42]

TBH, Cadillac Fairview also did do the Erin Mills renovations- and their new glass sphere centrepiece is absolutely spectacular from an architectural point of view- don't know why it doesn't receive more attention.

Eaton Centre may suffer from having inherently high traffic due to its location, necessitating fewer renovations- after all, why fix what's not 'broken'? I do hope that they have some better planned down the road- sometimes a lack of action hides a lot of things going on behind the scenes.

Erin Mills is 20Vic, not Cystic Fybrosis.

42

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The new facade is really helping to break up the blank walls, but the Eaton Centre isn't really a draw for me these days- it's simply no longer spectacular.

The interior has gotten considerably blander (fewer plants and unique features), the store curation is bog-standard, and the layout at the North end remains an odd and ungraceful terminus for the atrium. Meanwhile- the atrium desperately needs to be reclad- there's considerable yellowing and staining that heavily detracts from the entire experience. It's essentially stagnated and lost its architectural direction, while other malls around the GTA have caught up to it.

IMO- it needs a treatment that the Core Mall in Calgary received. A new glass roof and at least some more interesting attractions, please!

I don't think the roof need a complete reconceptualization - it does need to cleaned up and have some of that clutter removed.

As to the mall itself - CF has sterilized it to an inch of its' life and populated it with the most characterless offerings, making it about as interesting as walking through a department store. I can't wait to see The Well come onlne and offer it some stark contrast.

AoD

 

[JasonParis]

The transformation of Eaton Centre’s Yonge St facade has been evolving over decades from having its back turned on to Yonge initially to gradually opening up in the 2000’s and finally achieving that goal now. It’s no longer a blank wall, sucking the life off Yonge. Some work still left to be done on the southern half but 2 Queen W will help quite a bit in that regard.

Yes. It's just that section between 2 Queen W and 250 Yonge that needs re-thought, or at least, re-clad.

 

[T.E.C.II]

Even Scarborough Town Centre is slightly better than the Eaton Centre. I find the Eaton Centre focuses less on the shopping and more on being a tourist attraction in its own right.

I get that they want to modernize the mall but a flashy exterior cannot hide a lackluster selection inside.

But what does Town Centre offer that the Eaton Centre doesn't? The only thing I can think of would be Walmart, but everything else feels like a lesser version of what the Eaton Centre already has.

 

[DavidCapizzano]

Most of the Yonge street frontage from Shuter to Queen is just covering a parking garage. A lot of the Pomo facades on that side have false 3rd and 4th stories with nothing actually behind them. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is rethought in the future.

 

[zang]

Most of the Yonge street frontage from Shuter to Queen is just covering a parking garage. A lot of the Pomo facades on that side have false 3rd and 4th stories with nothing actually behind them. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is rethought in the future.

I can’t understand why this parking lot is still kept. With subway access and a big tourist draw, I can’t see how there’s more value in parking cars than adding a few more floors of stores at premium lease prices.

 

[Richard White]

I can’t understand why this parking lot is still kept. With subway access and a big tourist draw, I can’t see how there’s more value in parking cars than adding a few more floors of stores at premium lease prices.

They actually did remove part of the garage years ago for the Bay Street Promenade. The spiral parking ramps were removed to make way for the Canadian Tire, Best Buy and Joeys.

I think it is more of a large ticket item thing that they include parking. Spend alot of money, buy alot of useless crap and then drive off with it.

They may also be making a fortune off parking by locals too.

 

[Blixtein]

I can’t understand why this parking lot is still kept. With subway access and a big tourist draw, I can’t see how there’s more value in parking cars than adding a few more floors of stores at premium lease prices.

There's probably quite a bit of demand for parking from the offices nearby.