Toronto First Canadian Place Rejuvenation | 298.08m | 72s | Brookfield | MdeAS Architects

[MetroMan]

Add me to the glass campaign. I would however, like to see the tower remain white.

You can either do this:

Frosted glass

or you can do this:

sticker or etched pattern

Either one would leave the tower white on a much more reliable, inexpensive and easy to maintain cladding.

EDIT: The more I think about it, the more the etching makes the most sense. Buying a laser etching machine would fall under $5,000, pennies for Brookfield. They can then get regular glass panels and one by one, etch them on their new etcher, perhaps with a nice pattern. From far away, the building would appear white but up close, you could see a beautiful pattern.
Patterns could be: diamonds, waves, circles, Brookfield's logo (hard to sell the tower in the future) or anything interesting.

Pretty cost effective solution if you plan on replacing all those marble slabs.

 

[SP!RE]

I think the white circles on the glass would be really unique and would keep it looking more of a white colour. It'd be a really contemporary, "Toronto" touch for FCP.

Yeeeahhh... but I won't get my hopes up from Brookfield's eventual announcement.

 

[MetroMan]

^ Yeah, I'm really digging the etched circles idea.
Increasingly smaller circles could be etched on to the top and bottom of actual windows giving the distant look a gradient transition from wall to window.

 

[Andrew3D]

I like the idea of etched glass as well. But instead of preserving the horizontal lines, why not go with a random pattern? No other building in the core has that.

 

[MetroMan]

I like the idea of etched glass as well. But instead of preserving the horizontal lines, why not go with a random pattern? No other building in the core has that.

^ Indeed a tribute to its checkered past

 

[officedweller]

The random pattern wouldn't be acceptable - it would only work for the spandrel panels. Tenants would cry bloody murder if their views were blocked by etched glass. Can you imagine your two-bay office suddenly blocked by one-bay of etched glass?

 

[Andrew3D]

You can still see through etched glass if it's done with a fine pattern.

 

[whatever]

It's being reclad with white granite. They've got a really aggressive replacement scheme, something like a floor a week. I'm not sure if that includes the windows as well, but from what I've heard it's just the marble.

 

[BuildTO]

Indeed.

It's being reclad with white granite.

Sigh. Whatever...

 

[MetroMan]

Ok, not bad... but if it's going to get all grimy and falling off like the previous one, what's the point?

 

[MetroMan]

It's being reclad with white granite. They've got a really aggressive replacement scheme, something like a floor a week. I'm not sure if that includes the windows as well, but from what I've heard it's just the marble.

oh... how many floors does FCP have? Shoot! That's not agressive at all.. it'll take several years to get it done that way.

 

[Mongo]

Ok, not bad... but if it's going to get all grimy and falling off like the previous one, what's the point?

If it's granite, it won't. The particular marble that was originally specified for FCP and AON by the architect (the same one for both buildings) was about the worst possible cladding material, guaranteed to rapidly stain and lose strength (on a timescale of years). The granite that replaced the marble on AON still looks fine after several decades, and has suffered no weathering problems that I know of.

Bill

 

[Edward Skira]

oh... how many floors does FCP have? Shoot! That's not agressive at all.. it'll take several years to get it done that way.

A year and a half bit isn't that bad. And Mongo is right, granite will work just fine. Good to hear.

 

[Andrew3D]

A year and a half bit isn't that bad. And Mongo is right, granite will work just fine. Good to hear.

Ed I was thinking the same thing but we'd both be wrong.

First of all, the swing stage is only rated for 550 kilos - so that means two workers are limited to taking up or down four panels per trip. Secondly, we can't work between October and April because the winter winds are far too strong and would pose a serious safety hazard." Not only that, but since there is no direct elevator access to the roof, the new marble has to be raised and the old slabs lowered very carefully by hand down through a shaft to the level below!

info found here. http://www2.bmo.com/bmo/files/news%20release/4/1/Sep304_faceliftEN.html

 

[Ziggy]

Good to hear...Granite is a far superior material to marble.

I find it looks a lot better too, a case in point is Scotia Plaza, which still looks shiny and new. White granite should look nice.