Toronto Ontario Line: Queen-Spadina Station | ?m | 1s | Metrolinx | HDR

[UtakataNoAnnex]

We are paying for what is by some accounts the second most expensive subway in the history of humankind and getting bare-bone stations that look like the Ottawa LRT. Crazy.

Don’t even get me started with east harbour.

Sydney metro’s city and southwest or Grand Paris Express should be the bar to reach here. Give us grand and cavernous cathedrals of mass transportation if we are paying this much.

Building subways is expensive though...where complex excavation, structural soundness, logistics, materiality and liability all have to be considered. Particularly where deep tubing under our city's oldest areas and crossing where a subway system already exists. So making it all fanciful for the visual appeal will likely drive up any costs of this further...

...I'm not trying to justify any of the cheapening here. And maybe there is way to do all this at a better costs with more wowie aesthetics that our purported spending adverse government have not considered...but with all things considering, I'm not sure we can aspire for greatness here under our given climate, for right or wrong.

 

[daptive]

We are paying for what is by some accounts the second most expensive subway in the history of humankind and getting bare-bone stations that look like the Ottawa LRT. Crazy.

Don’t even get me started with east harbour.

Sydney metro’s city and southwest or Grand Paris Express should be the bar to reach here. Give us grand and cavernous cathedrals of mass transportation if we are paying this much.

Coincidentally I was just watching videos on the new Sydney Metro and was struck by how beautiful their stations and platforms are. There are some similarities to Ontario Line but their system looks truly world class.

This video does thorough walkthroughs of the new stations opening in August.

Additional pics on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/7NQ0YaW4ue

 

[kotsy]

Coincidentally I was just watching videos on the new Sydney Metro and was struck by how beautiful their stations and platforms are. There are some similarities to Ontario Line but their system looks truly world class.

This video does thorough walkthroughs of the new stations opening in August.

Thanks for ruining the OL stations for me

 

[taal]

Is it really the second most expensive subway build out?? Why, I find that hard to believe?

 

[AHK]

July 9: A lot of activity on the south side of Queen Street, some, but not too much, on the north side today.

South side of Queen Street:

North side of Queen Street:

 

[Frankietls]

South Entrance

 

[christiesplits]

The station exteriors are still fairly muted, but they're an improvement over the cold and institutional look of the Crosstown stations.

 

[Frankietls]

North entrance

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Looks like the south entrance will be clad in terracotta.

AoD

 

[Frankietls]

Some close up details

 

[kotsy]

Love the ALRV cameo

 

[Northern Light]

In respect of the renders above, I think the wall finishes look a bit dull; but I like the ceiling/lighting treatment which seems warm and reasonably classy vs the standard TTC finish with the matte grey panels.

A bit more creativity with the wall finishes would add as little as 1% to the station budget and less than 0.4% of project budget.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I am pretty ok with it - especially considering how much of TTC's new subway art program proved to be mediocre, uninspiring to downright failures. I'd rather see it on better finishes.

AoD

 

[Northern Light]

I am pretty ok with it - especially considering how much of TTC's new subway art program proved to be mediocre, uninspiring to downright failures. I'd rather see it on better finishes.

AoD

My preference is essentially the same; I think in Toronto you don't get any greater affection for subway stations that those of the original Spadina line, which to my way of thinking remind me of Montreal's Metro of similar vintage.

There, for the most part, you don't have freestanding art, you have the station itself as art, or at least the art is integrated as with the large mosaic at Dupont.....or the will-it-ever-be restored Arc de Ciel at Yorkdale.

In this context, I'm not thinking about anything lavish or free-standing art, I'm thinking can we sub out one dull blank white wall for something better, and more interesting?

Alternatively just a better quality of finish, with a bit of warm colour to it? A glazed brick perhaps?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

My preference is essentially the same; I think in Toronto you don't get any greater affection for subway stations that those of the original Spadina line, which to my way of thinking remind me of Montreal's Metro of similar vintage.

There, for the most part, you don't have freestanding art, you have the station itself as art, or at least the art is integrated as with the large mosaic at Dupont.....or the will-it-ever-be restored Arc de Ciel at Yorkdale.

In this context, I'm not thinking about anything lavish or free-standing art, I'm thinking can we sub out one dull blank white wall for something better, and more interesting?

Alternatively just a better quality of finish, with a bit warm colour to it? A glazed brick perhaps?

I think Arc en Ciel - success notwithstanding - offered a case study of why we need to be very careful with public art, given how neglected it was for decades (and still hasn't been restored, despite of multiple promises).

AoD