Toronto Minto Westside | 68.88m | 20s | Minto Group | Wallman Architects

absolutely love this - it will be a great addition to the area...sharp contrast to cityplace across the tracks
 
Fantastic renders and an improvement over what was proposed before. The individual pieces look far more unified now and it commands attention in a good way.
 
gristle said:
There is to be retail along both Bathurst and Front.
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Gristle - I think you were one of the strong opponents of the earlier version of this building. What do you think of the new version?

It seems to be a much more sophisticated and exciting design, but does it do much to address the height/massing concerns of the neighbourhood?
 
its an improvement from the banality of the earlier renderings, thats for sure. Atleast now there is some texture and dynamic with the randomly placed windows and balconies. But I still get the feeling that it doesnt address the intersection in an appropriate way. The taller portion seems to loom over Bathurst St in a rather ungraceful way. My feeling is that there should be some setbacks / softening of the way this meets the street. I guess another part of the equation which is out of control of this project is the lack of a similalry scaled building on the west side of Bathurst. As I've said in another thread, the whole stretch of Front from Spadina to Bathurst needs a rethink and a redesign from a functionality point of view... Front St should be continued west of Bathurtst over to Tecumseth.
 
Front St should be continued west of Bathurtst over to Tecumseth
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I don't really see the value in having front street continued a block west. First of all, a major street should feed into another major street. Next, the south end of Tecumseth is the meat packing plant: possibly the single smelliest spot in all of Toronto. The final blow to Front street being extended only to Tecumseth (as opposed to further west...something i will get into) is NIMBYism. The same neighbourhood that doesnt want this freed-minto building would cry bloody murder at having a major downtown street feed onto tecumseth and then naturally north through their neighbourhood. If Front street were to somehow be extended, i think it would make sense for an eastbound/westbound bridge to be built that doesnt meet up with tecumseth at all, goes over the rail tracks and meets up with Ordnance St and becomes East Liberty St. It is never going to happen but to me it makes more sense than ending Front street at the old slaughterhouse.
 
Similar to the podium at Market Wharf condo, the windows here are coordinated randomness. It seems that the building is meeting more of the community's concerns in regards to tapering and height. A setback halfway up on the bathurst side would help it feel a bit less imposing. This would provide a nice bookend to Bathurst with B.Streets condo at Bloor.
 
Since the link to that website is currently unavailable, here's the other renderings that I was able to save earlier.

6a014e5faedbb5970c0162f.jpg


6a014e5faedbb5970c0162f.jpg


6a014e5faedbb5970c01676.jpg
 
bengaijin said:
Gristle - I think you were one of the strong opponents of the earlier version of this building. What do you think of the new version?

It seems to be a much more sophisticated and exciting design, but does it do much to address the height/massing concerns of the neighbourhood?
Click to expand...

Thank you for asking. In my opinion, this version is a big improvement - both in terms of design and in terms of some of the massing. I'd much prefer this to any of the prior designs. You can't see it in these images, but the east block of the building appears to have been lowered in height, and I am told by someone with more information, it no longer looms over Victoria Memorial Square as in the earlier version. The height has also apparently been dropped along Niagra, an additional plus.

I think the outstanding problem (based on what can be seen here) is along Bathurst. That is a really long run of continuous building. The concern is that it will come off like a massive wall that will go from 15 to 18 floors in height for the length of the block. If there was a way to break that up it up a little, or to articulate it so as to create an impression of more than one building - that might help.

The height is still excessive on Front and Bathurst, but this version is a big improvement. One can only hope that the retail along both those streets brings some vitality there.
 
I've got all of the renders, but I'll be nice to Minto.:)

What's interesting is how some of these latest mind-blowing proposals--like Context King West, Picasso and now this project--makes the all glass condominium look instantly dated. So c.2001-2010. Time to move on.:D

I'd be very afraid of this trend if I owned in Aura, City Place etc.
 
gristle said:
.

The concern is that it will come off like a massive wall that will go from 15 to 18 floors in height for the length of the block. If there was a way to break that up it up a little, or to articulate it so as to create an impression of more than one building - that might help.

The height is still excessive on Front and Bathurst,
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Hey, "You can't have your cake and eat it too"...nice change from the original Minto/Freed taller proposal, and the neighbourhood should be so lucky of what they are getting here...Cheers for yet another nice project.:cool:
 
urbandreamer said:
I've got all of the renders, but I'll be nice to Minto.:)

What's interesting is how some of these latest mind-blowing proposals--like Context King West, Picasso and now this project--makes the all glass condominium look instantly dated. So c.2001-2010. Time to move on.:D

I'd be very afraid of this trend if I owned in Aura, City Place etc.
Click to expand...

A couple of points:
1. These renderings I believe were released without the consent of Minto Freed.
2. Absolutely, glass condos are done.
 
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