Toronto Fort York Visitor Centre | ?m | 2s | Fort York Foundation | Patkau

[Tewder]

This is the welcome centre for a 'fort', right?… and still under construction!

I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm ashamed to say i've never been to Fort York but will definitely plan a trip when this opens.

 

[modernizt]

Impression: cramped, low-ceilings, dark, tomb-like. Is this what the architects were going for? Might end up joining the recent CN Tower base canopy and the aquarium entrance as yet another oddly off-putting arrival space for visitors to our city. Compare with the base of the Ryerson student centre, which already has a more inviting presence thanks to its better proportions and articulation of volumes.

The base of the Ryerson Student Learning Centre is a strange comparison; it's a retail podium located on a dense urban street. This is an institutional visitors' centre at old Fort York.

As for it appearing cramped, it is still under construction. That said, the place is clearly trying to invoke some sort of feeling of being quite literally "fortified" or barricaded against invasion / the expressway / the city at large... which in my opinion, is exactly the sort of feeling that a visitors' centre at the old Fort should invoke. It creates an experience.

Retail is generally about creating a specific type of experience; a space that shoppers will find light, airy, open, and comfortable, and will want to spend lots of time milling about and looking at product. A visitor's centre is a different type of experience, and should create a specific type of experience depending on the site or history it represents. Not every building should be light and airy by default, and that's exactly why this building has a very different expression and will create a very different experience than a retail store/ commercial unit.

 

[santoki]

I've been looking for information on this, so it looks like the Visitor's Centre is going ahead as planned. Does this mean the current plot of land with the small houses across from the train tracks (I suppose the battlefield for recreations) will be left untouched for the foreseeable future?

I've been looking at projects here including resale at 169 Fort York, so I'm curious to know what is planned for this site.

 

[atodaso]

I've been looking for information on this, so it looks like the Visitor's Centre is going ahead as planned. Does this mean the current plot of land with the small houses across from the train tracks (I suppose the battlefield for recreations) will be left untouched for the foreseeable future?

I've been looking at projects here including resale at 169 Fort York, so I'm curious to know what is planned for this site.

If you mean the Gated Fort York historic site on the grassy knoll on the southwest corner of the Bathurst Bridge, then you can rest assured that nothing will change at that site in our lifetimes. The remaining park will see improvements including the addition of the pedestrian bridge linking the park to the north, but as it is an important historic park site, it will never be commercially developed.

 

[k10ery]

Impression: cramped, low-ceilings, dark, tomb-like. Is this what the architects were going for? Might end up joining the recent CN Tower base canopy and the aquarium entrance as yet another oddly off-putting arrival space for visitors to our city. Compare with the base of the Ryerson student centre, which already has a more inviting presence thanks to its better proportions and articulation of volumes.

I thought it was supposed to have a full glass wall with a sort of brise soleil made out of rusting steel. When did that get value engineered into poured concrete?

 

[santoki]

If you mean the Gated Fort York historic site on the grassy knoll on the southwest corner of the Bathurst Bridge, then you can rest assured that nothing will change at that site in our lifetimes. The remaining park will see improvements including the addition of the pedestrian bridge linking the park to the north, but as it is an important historic park site, it will never be commercially developed.

I'm talking about this area...I'm guessing it's the same.

 

[RiverCity1]

There will still be the rusted steel, unless something has changed that I'm unaware of. You can see where it will go overtop of the walls (with the insulation) between the windows. Everything should look like the renderings here. Public projects (normally!) don't get value engineered as much as say residential condos. I don't think we need to worry.

 

[PinkLucy]

I'm talking about this area...I'm guessing it's the same.

View attachment 23271

Um yeah, that's Fort York, the national historic site ....

 

[interchange42]

There will still be the rusted steel, unless something has changed that I'm unaware of. You can see where it will go overtop of the walls (with the insulation) between the windows. Everything should look like the renderings here. Public projects (normally!) don't get value engineered as much as say residential condos. I don't think we need to worry.

RC1 is right. There's no cause at all to worry. The building is still under construction, lots more to come!

42

 

[Automation Gallery]

Anyone know what's in store for that parking lot at the north-east corner of Fleet/Strachan-Gardiner?.....

 

[kram74]

what it will look like when finished,

 

[k10ery]

There will still be the rusted steel, unless something has changed that I'm unaware of. You can see where it will go overtop of the walls (with the insulation) between the windows. Everything should look like the renderings here. Public projects (normally!) don't get value engineered as much as say residential condos. I don't think we need to worry.

Could be a trick of the camera then. But this is what we were promised - where are the big windows?

 

[junior43]

Could be a trick of the camera then. But this is what we were promised - where are the big windows?

Those aren't windows, those are the rusted metal 'doors' opened vertically. You're getting exactly what was pictured still. You can even see the 'doors' above those windows.

Edit: - I sort of see what you're getting at from the construction photos, but there's not enough of them to convincingly say we're not getting the windows. The first photo does show a fairly large opening for a window/door.

 

[DSC]

From the latest FOFY Newsletter:

Construction of the new Visitor Centre is moving along, with recent work on all mechanical systems, framing, and the roof membrane finished and the building fully enclosed. Interior work, including drywall and door installation, is underway and the building is scheduled for occupancy in late June/early July. Although subject to change, the current plan is to open the building in September with a series of events and inaugural exhibitions and installations related to the Great War. Several of the permanent exhibits will be installed in early 2015. While a major phase of the landscape master plan will be implemented in 2014, most of the work will be undertaken later in the year when the Visitor Centre is complete and the major event season has concluded.

 

[DSC]

More signs of progress:

Request for Proposal Call number: 9118-14-7074
Commodity: Professional Services, Consulting Services
Description: Professional Museum Exhibit Planning
Professional Museum Exhibit Planning, Design and Implementation Services for the Blue Barracks at Fort York National Historic Site
Issue date: April 15, 2014 Closing date: May 5, 2014
at 12:00 Noon
Notes: Viewing Copy
9118-14-7074 Viewing Copy.pdf (7104 Kbytes) - Posted on 04/14/2014 01:08:00 PM