Toronto Forma | 308m | 84s | Great Gulf | Gehry Partners

though I lament the loss of the historic blocks, there are hundreds of these warehouses in the city. there will only ever be 1 Gehry super tall in Toronto though. (ro rather, 3)
 
alklay said:
I would have never guessed that the theatre would disappear, considering the investment in it and the art (Stella's great works). Its a shame it cant be incorporated. We are losing more "entertainment" in this district to condos, once again.

But I am excited about the project. (although I think that its coming at the wrong time as the "boom" is probably over for a while).

And its no wonder Mirvish had no issues with the height of Theatre Park.
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I wonder if they'll incorporate a new theatre into all of this. The complex is quite large.

The Princess of Wales is nice, though I can't say I'd mind losing it for the right project.
 
I did some comparisons with the Festival Tower next door, and came up with this:

ViewfromtheSouthwest--height-1.jpg


This would give a total building height of about 266.5m. Due to perspective effects, the actual height would be somewhat greater, maybe 270m to 275m. If there are in fact 88 floors, this would result in a fairly typical (for Toronto) floor-to-ceiling height, perhaps a bit lower than average.
 
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I echo Mister F: this project had better be amazing. It has to define Toronto for this generation in order for us to blockbust a row of warehouses and the Princess of Wales theatre, one of the best and most street-sensitive examples of early 1990s architecture in Toronto.

This has to do for Toronto in, say, 2018 what the TD Centre did for Toronto in 1967: sacrifice a really great building (the old Dominion bank) to allow us to catapult into the next league of cities and civic architectural confidence. If it's the equivalent of trashing the Toronto Star building to build FCP, it won't be worth it.

Also, I find it funny that Gehry's Toronto buildings will both have involved demolishing a relatively young, good example of Post Modernism. The other being the demolition of Barton Myers AGO addition, which was excellent, but certainly not on the level of the Gehry that replaced it. It's also funny that Gehry's boyhood home would, too, be demolished and is located halfway between his two projects.
 
the night time rendering from the lake seems to show this one as taller than FCP, despite it being further from the camera than FCP. Maybe, just maybe, the tallest one might be our new tallest. (I would laugh if it was 299m)
 
That's a pleasant surprise for a Saturday. Losing some of the heritage buildings along the stretch is regrettable, but the replacement looks fine-grained enough in terms of usage at the street level compared to what's there right now. Mister F and Hipster is right - this better be superlative - but it has the potential to another watershed moment in Toronto's urban development. I do hope they can preserve at least the facade of some of the buildings (where it doesn't compromise the overall vision) and the works by Frank Stella.

AoD

PS: Just having read this bit from the Star makes me feel that much better:

And most of Stella's work from the doomed theatre will be saved and stored for possible future use. Stella will be in Toronto Monday to take part in the official announcement.
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http://www.thestar.com/entertainmen...-king-st-strip-into-culture-and-condo-complex

Come to think of it, perhaps Gehry should be hired to completely revamp the John Street axis, plus Grange Park AND David Pecaut Square? Barcelona has Park Güell by their native son; shouldn't Toronto have something similar?
 
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Someone on reddit claims to have insider knowledge of this project, and says that the historic façades will be preserved. The Toronto Star article said that Stella's works will be preserved.
 
bmiller said:
With the height restrictions in place, there will have to be some changes within the planning commission to allow this to happen. This is the type of development we have been waiting for. I hope it's for real.
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Height restrictions? Planning commission? Hmmm...

Anyway, I'm not a fan of mega developers that will result in the destruction of a vibrant city block. Since Councillor Adam Vaughan has been working with Mirvish, this will probably sail through the planning process and community council. Of course there will probably be the usual 10 percent height reductions as a gesture to any NIMBYs that may materialize calming too much traffic and/or views of the CN Tower will be blocked for tourists. Let's just hope the real estate market doesn't crash before the towers rise but before the existing buildings are cleared...

I'm more pleased about the precedent this sets in Toronto, if approved, than the actual buildings. For starters, that Tall Building Guidelines report that was stealthily trying to impose enforceable height restrictions for the downtown area will be finally be tossed in the trash, where in belongs. Maybe this development along with the ones going on in the distillery district will also put an end to the skyline cone obsession of the planning department.

Anyway, don't mind my rant above. I have my reasons. I'm just thankful to the OP, UrbanToronto, and those who captures screenshots before the video was pulled. Great work!!
 
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Why don't the insiders post here? You got to live under a rock not to know about this site!

Oh my god this project is huge! At this height l hope they build two towers with wider floorplates instead of three. The current proposal looks too skimpy on our skyline. It's less efficient with space too.
 
if you look at this picture

cQynz.jpg


the circled corner is ritz at 208m the buildings appear over 300m

thing is the buildings are in the wrong place-- the location is parallel north of ritz

from that vantage the buildings would appear more in this area

QJuI1.jpg
 
BTW - Gehry's models are always a bit difficult to interpret vis-a-vis the final looks of his projects.

innsertnamehere:

Someone on reddit claims to have insider knowledge of this project, and says that the historic façades will be preserved.
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I hope they draw a happy balance between preservation and not watering down Gehry's architectural vision - AGO suffered too much from the former IMO.

AoD
 
fedplanner:

I'm more pleased about the precedent this sets in Toronto, if approved, than the actual buildings. For starters, that Tall Building Guidelines report that was stealthily trying to impose enforceable height restrictions for the downtown area will be finally be tossed in the trash, where in belongs. Maybe this development along with the ones going on in the distillery district will also put an end to the skyline cone obsession of the planning department.
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FYI, the site in question is govered by the King-Spadina secondary plan, not the Tall Buildings Guidelines. Second, unless other developers want to hire Gehry or someone of his calibre AND provide community benefits to the level that this project suggests, I don't see why anyone should be given a free pass.

AoD
 
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