Toronto Manulife Centre Podium and Streetscape Renewal | 9.75m | 2s | Manulife Real Estate | MdeAS Architects

differential said:
Huge improvement.
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A lateral movement at best. The original street level wasn't exactly inviting, nor the best of the brutalist movement (compared to the 3rd floor+), but this is no better either. They couldn't even be arsed to use a slight brown tint to the glass that might make it stand out less against the aged concrete. So it all looks like it's just been pasted on as though someone said "give me more footage to lease and make it glass" with zero direction.

That said, interior renovations (so far) have been an improvement, but at the cost of a shitty exterior, I don't know if it's worth it.
 
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LUVIT! said:
That’s the design issue here. What is being built has nothing to do with the original ‘language’ of the structure.
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The degradation of the original complex has been going on for a long time, and it reminds me of what has been happening at the Eaton Centre. The replacement of the features appearing in this picture (which has been posted before) with Bretton's, followed by Indigo, added more than 60,000 rentable square feet - much more than the changes that are happening now.

manulife-2.jpg
 
Bayer said:
In their latest update, Manulife indicates that work on the Bloor entrance lobby will end in mid-December, so I wouldn't expect Eataly to open before then.
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AFAIK, Eataly will have its own street-facing entrance, so they could very well be open and running long before completion of the main entrance (see: BMO, Birks...).
 
zang said:
A lateral movement at best. The original street level wasn't exactly inviting, nor the best of the brutalist movement (compared to the 3rd floor+), but this is no better either. They couldn't even be arsed to use a slight brown tint to the glass that might make it stand out less against the aged concrete. So it all looks like it's just been pasted on as though someone said "give me more footage to lease and make it glass" with zero direction.

That said, interior renovations (so far) have been an improvement, but at the cost of a shitty exterior, I don't know if it's worth it.
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I can agree that it's a lateral improvement. I grew up in this area and the manulife podium has never been a thing of beauty and this redesign could have been done better but at least it's slightly cleaner and more modern.
 
This seems to be one of those buildings that will be a progression rather than getting it right the first time around. A ton of work has been done although the facade, I agree, a disappointment. I suspect in 10-15 years pressure will build to upgrade the exterior to something more fitting for the Mink Mile. Currently, it says 'Square One' more than it does 'Mink Mile'.

Surprisingly, Holt Renfrew isn't getting a facade that says 'fashion' either. It's also getting a facade more fitting for a suburban shopping mall. The Mink Mile probably won't fully look the part for another 30 years when this new Manulife podium gets re-done and the Holt Renfrew refresh gets re-done. It would be nice if they didn't need 2-4 tries before they got it right but that's how things seem to be done in Toronto.

Just in case people can't remember what luxe looks like have a look at Prada or LVMH facades around the world. Or perhaps even the Hallidie Building in San Francisco. Now contrast that to this Manulife podium and what Holt Renfrew will look like. Doesn't look acceptable any more, does it?
 
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Bayer said:
The degradation of the original complex has been going on for a long time, and it reminds me of what has been happening at the Eaton Centre. The replacement of the features appearing in this picture (which has been posted before) with Bretton's, followed by Indigo, added more than 60,000 rentable square feet - much more than the changes that are happening now.
Click to expand...

Marks and Spencer was also in that former plaza area at one point during the late 1980s- early 1990s.
 
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