Toronto One Front | 170.86m | 49s | Larco | a—A

tstormers said:
Your second point is one I like to agree with being a tall building enthusiast!
I also think that Toronto will not get a building taller than 400m in my lifetime and I am only 33. From what I have gathered in watching proposals for the city, it just isn't part of the cities character and a lot of people in the city dislike the manhattenization of Toronto. As such this is only my opinion.
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A culture is the hardest and slowest thing to change but it does happen. The generation growing up in this boom will very likely have significantly different comfort levels with height, density, and scale than any generation that came before it. When they hit their 40s the culture will see a shift.

As unfathomable as a 400m, 500m, or 600m building in Toronto seems to us today, I'd be more surprised if it didn't happen in the next 50 years.
 
My understanding is that a 30-to-50-storey tower usually finds itself in the sweet spot for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. There are losses of efficiency/cost-effectiveness with a supertall tower, so even if the developer could get the necessary planning approvals, it might prove to simply not be worth it.
 
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At this point, im just waiting for the day we have condos proposed on top of Queen's Park, Old City Hall, the AGO, and maybe even the Ontario Science Centre. It seems as though nothing is safe these days in Toronto, no matter how culturally/historically significant a building is.
 
isaidso said:
True. I just find it appalling that we have developers in this city who would contemplate a proposal like this. 'Barbarians at the gate' never rung so true.
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That's what everyone said about the pyramids at the Louvre, too.

Things change, and I for one am excited about the building being brought back into better and higher use. Setting aside the tower, for a minute, what's contemplated here is both a maintenance and an improvement of the most important aspects of the building.
 
Amare said:
At this point, im just waiting for the day we have condos proposed on top of Queen's Park, Old City Hall, the AGO, and maybe even the Ontario Science Centre. It seems as though nothing is safe these days in Toronto, no matter how culturally/historically significant a building is.
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A number of recent developments and current proposals have extensive discussions about protecting the QP view corridor in their planning docs, we're getting a restored Old City Hall and a museum dedicated literally solely to the city, the AGO has a world class addition by the most famous contemporary architect alive and a wonderful new park in behind, and the Science Centre could definitely use a facelift.

Things actually aren't so dire (setting aside the atrocious state of our politics, for just a moment).
 
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ADRM said:
Things actually aren't so dire (setting aside the atrocious state of our politics, for just a moment).
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I know you're right, but it just seems as though they are with the way things have been going with all these proposals. Between this one and the proposal the old Bank of Canada building on University Ave, I'm just at a loss of words for these ill-conceived proposals.

If they actually blended in well with what already exists I wouldn't be so against them, but all we've been seeing so far are just thoughtless proposals to plop towers on top of historical buildings without blending them smoothly into the existing structure. It's a step up from the classic facendectomy we always see here in Toronto, but we can do much better than this.
 
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On one hand it's probably my favorite building in Toronto. On the other, the footprint of the original building is so massive that adding towers to it likely isn't going to harm the impact the building has at street level, as long as everything is maintained. The towers will basically be up and out of the way.

Go forth, I say. Though I do wish there was some kind of symmetry with the design... That's what really bugs me. If towers we're at the opposite ends of the structure, it might be a bit more appealing visually.
 
DopeyFish said:
On one hand it's probably my favorite building in Toronto. On the other, the footprint of the original building is so massive that adding towers to it likely isn't going to harm the impact the building has at street level, as long as everything is maintained. The towers will basically be up and out of the way.

Go forth, I say. Though I do wish there was some kind of symmetry with the design... That's what really bugs me. If towers we're at the opposite ends of the structure, it might be a bit more appealing visually.
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That MAY be true but they cannot put a tower directly over the Long Room (it runs along Yonge Street) as it is really the only decent part of the interior of the building and it is specifically listed. The building is a warren of spaces inside with no proper lobby etc etc it as it was the customs house for many decades and goods came in the back from the rail line, were stored and then inspected and then left once duty was paid. It was sort of a combination office/warehouse with one nice room (Long Room) where the public went to pay!
 
It's the only building in the whole city like this. This needs to be kept in its entirety and modernized while respecting as much of the architectural integrity of the interior as possible.
 
Amare said:
I know you're right, but it just seems as though they are with the way things have been going with all these proposals. Between this one and the proposal the old Bank of Canada building on University Ave, I'm just at a loss of words for these ill-conceived proposals.

If they actually blended in well with what already exists I wouldn't be so against them, but all we've been seeing so far are just thoughtless proposals to plop towers on top of historical buildings without blending them smoothly into the existing structure. It's a step up from the classic facendectomy we always see here in Toronto, but we can do much better than this.
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I don't want something modern to "blend well". The pyramid at the Louvre does not blend well, but manages to insert modernity into the setting, to only without detracting from it, but creating a brilliant marriage of old and new. That's what I'd hope for here.

Blending with the old is a cheat: there is no honesty or integrity in making today's building's look like they weren't built today, and doing so would dilute and diminish the architectural value of the actual heritage building.
DopeyFish said:
On one hand it's probably my favorite building in Toronto. On the other, the footprint of the original building is so massive that adding towers to it likely isn't going to harm the impact the building has at street level, as long as everything is maintained. The towers will basically be up and out of the way.

Go forth, I say. Though I do wish there was some kind of symmetry with the design... That's what really bugs me. If towers we're at the opposite ends of the structure, it might be a bit more appealing visually.
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It would be nice to have something more balanced (I'd rather not go as far as symmetry—that's often awful), but there's no space for a tower at the west end of the site owing to separation distance to CIBC Square North.
isaidso said:
It's the only building in the whole city like this. This needs to be kept in its entirety and modernized while respecting as much of the architectural integrity of the interior as possible.
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The Long Room as it currently exists is the only major space worth saving in the building (and has to be saved). The plan here is not thoughtless.
DSC said:
That MAY be true but they cannot put a tower directly over the Long Room (it runs along Yonge Street) as it is really the only decent part of the interior of the building and it is specifically listed. The building is a warren of spaces inside with no proper lobby etc etc it as it was the customs house for many decades and goods came in the back from the rail line, were stored and then inspected and then left once duty was paid. It was sort of a combination office/warehouse with one nice room (Long Room) where the public went to pay!
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Now there's a thoughtful answer!

This is a complex site that will be redeveloped. Those who will only accept it if nothing happens are going to be disappointed. Here's hoping for an elegant end result.

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I can't imagine the corner units on the more eastern tower will be all that practical...
 
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