Toronto Esports Performance Venue and Hotel | 112.23m | 30s | OverActive | Populous

mjl08 said:
Knowing the recent quality of architecture at Exhibition Place, watch this be a wall of spandrel.
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Putting aside your dire prediction, the hotel element is a slight improvement to what they originally had, IMO.
 
I feel like this is trying to be too weird and too tasteful at the same time.

Also doesn't really feel like a e-sports venue to me... more like fancy bathroom bamboo soap dish and table lamp, which just isn't a vibe that screams e-sports to me. Feels like spa decor but also a swoopy scifi thing. It's weird, and I don't know in a good way. But I'll keep an open mind.

Is that a band of screen across the south and wrapping half way up the side? Looks like it? And what will be projected there if it is? Random artistic graphics is cool, though kind of still incongruous with the style of the rest of the building to me, but also are we going to get event info/gamer stuff projected there? Ads? In between the bamboo soap dish and the green roof? It's just weird and incongruous to me.
 
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I think the venue looks interesting. Have to agree on the hotel: it's rendered well, but $$$ to 000 it'll end up with a ton of spandrel. I'm more curious about the public realm, which is what the DRP had significant issues with on the previous iteration of the design.
 
I am highly suspicious of anyone designing by the "gamer aesthetic" - speaking as a gamer, it usually speaks to the lowest common denominator - lots of RGB, "edgy" lines and doodads that looks cool - when you're 15.

AoD
 
Moving forward? I'm down for an interesting new venue being built, the exhibition getting some new features etc - but I also wonder about longer term re-use, in case esports doesn't have the legs. Which is just a practical enough thought.- I mean, Disney built his first studio with wide halls so he could sell for re-use as a hospital in case things didn't work out. So- concert venue? exhibition space? community centre?

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Toronto's huge esports and performance venue is now a step closer to happening

The big reveal of a new esports and performance venue for Toronto garnered "oohs" and "ahhs" early this year, announcing the new …
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E-sports will never fill a 7,000 seat venue for 200 nights a year. Esports can be hosted anywhere, even a place like massey hall, you just need a stage and large format screens. I suspect the esports angle is purely for headlines/marketing and not its primary function.

I'm surprised this is getting approved alongside the Ontario Place plans, which has a significant redevelopment and expansion of Budweiser Stage. Part of those plans are for Budweiser Stage to have the ability to turn into a 9,000 person indoor venue. Not sure why the area needs two 7,000 + 9,000 capacity venues less than 250m from each other.
 
cereal said:
... alongside the Ontario Place plans, which has a significant redevelopment and expansion of Budweiser Stage. Part of those plans are for Budweiser Stage to have the ability to turn into a 9,000 person indoor venue. Not sure why the area needs two 7,000 + 9,000 capacity venues less than 250m from each other.
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At one point in the 1990s, when the Leafs and Raptors had separate ownership, they each had their own plan to build an arena near Union Station, but sanity prevailed eventually.
I think the more likely outcome here will in the end similarly be one Live Nation indoor entertainment venue built at Exhibition Place. As far as I can see, OverActive still does not have enough money for their planned project, and Live Nation rebuilding the Ontario Place outdoor amphitheatre seems impractical and they haven't even bothered to produce a rendering of the supposed indoor winter configuration.
 
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some renderings included in a City report. Not sure how many we have seen before:


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coming from a young adult, yes I would say so. just wait until you see how fast Scotiabank Arena will sell out for LoL worlds next year.
 
sixrings said:
What I am gathering here is that there is almost as many people who would like to watch people play video games than watch argos football.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Toronto could pack 30k+ for a well-marketed e-sports event if such a venue existed.

I'm sure twitch stream volume from Toronto already far surpasses Argos attendance and broadcast viewership combined.

But either way, we are lacking a venue of this size range. This will be an excellent addition to the entertainment landscape for far more than just e-sports events.
 
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