Toronto One Bedford | ?m | 32s | Lanterra | KPMB

It does not even come close to the architectural richness or retail 'one-upmanship' of 5th Avenue.
 
In an age defined locally by unequivocal, no-nonsense Clewesian point towers, the simple grande horizontale of Corus, the sleek Lightbox slab, and even Bay Adelaide's minimalist, wan ghost tower(s), there's an over-nuanced quality to this development ( including the sad little facadectomy ) that seems rather out-of-step - though it's a reasonable match for the hotel next door. The Vu condo compound and London on the Esplanade adopt a similar dithery, overdesigned, petit bourgeois look, with varying degrees of success. I can see why it's done - the Hudson at King and Spadina works against expectations for a bold slab of a building at an intersection - but it doesn't thrill me like hunky Casa or Madame X or Spire or the Muranii dudes do.
 
Casa soars and shines in its location, and so does Murano, Spire and even BAC from certain angles but if any of them were relocated to City Place or the Bremner/York area they'd be lost and wasted. Context and contrast are their friends and this makes the world of difference to minimalist glass boxes.
 
Urban Shocker said:
In an age defined locally by unequivocal, no-nonsense Clewesian point towers, the simple grande horizontale of Corus, the sleek Lightbox slab, and even Bay Adelaide's minimalist, wan ghost tower(s), there's an over-nuanced quality to this development ( including the sad little facadectomy ) that seems rather out-of-step - though it's a reasonable match for the hotel next door. The Vu condo compound and London on the Esplanade adopt a similar dithery, overdesigned, petit bourgeois look, with varying degrees of success. I can see why it's done - the Hudson at King and Spadina works against expectations for a bold slab of a building at an intersection - but it doesn't thrill me like hunky Casa or Madame X or Spire or the Muranii dudes do.
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Diversity is good. I prefer Clewes but thank God another one of his modernist boxes isn't here. It just wouldn't be the right place.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Why are there spandrel panels in the podium?

'Fifth Ave,' yeah right.
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I would assume they're there because the architect did not spend enough time in resolving the unit plan and the window schedule during design development, and was seduced by the CAD image of the elevation on the computer monitor into believing that the mullion rhythm would be stronger than the change in materials from spandrel to clear glass.

I think it's fair to say that the more spandrels on a typical elevation, the more thoughtless the designer (or indifferent the developer). Please note that the success of "X" is largely due to the absence of spandrels on the typical floors.
 
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ProjectEnd said:
/\ Good answer, and a very plausible one. I'll do ya one better though.

Spandrels are cheap. Windows are (more) expensive.
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Not necessarily. Remember there has to be a finished wall behind the spandrel involving steel studs, drywall, painting, etc.
 
Oct 03

IMG_oct-03-09-0240.jpg
 
Oct. 10th

From Avenue Road & Bloor

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

 
Therion said:
Excavation began at the end of July 2007. Seems like a long time to get to this phase.
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It toooook them alooooong time to get it to ground level for some odd reason, but since then, it has been moving nicely.
 
One Bedford taking shape - pic by Jasonzed at SSC...

20091017014.jpg
 
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