Toronto Republic Of Yonge And Eglinton Condos | ?m | 27s | Tridel | Burka

I don't really care much for the design.

Wouldn't it feel a bit weird living in the middle of a highschool (the grounds anyways)?
 
An improvement for Tridel but, as mentioned, the real test will be in the details. What's with the playing field, are residents expected to play football? If I were an occupant I'd rather have a park with some interesting landscaping.
 
bog: The project includes a reconstruction of North Toronto C.I.; the podium is a high school. The field is part of that.
 
These buildings seem attractive enough to me from the renderings. They seem very much "of their time", and if Tridel's architects start mimicking their betters, well, we all benefit from that.
 
Faux Toronto Style: a KPMB/aA mirror-image roof treatment for the two towers; an obligatory glass lantern podium and dark Jack Diamond FSCPA brick with smallish windows for the school; asymmetrically placed banks of upper balconies; long Hariri Pontarini One City Hall balconies on the lower section.
 
The Republic

Meh, gotta say not to impressed. To me these resemble 1970's apartments with a bit more glass. Company's like Tridel, Monarch and Pemberton should be kept out of the city until they can come up with half decent proposals.
Click to expand...

The design isn't stunning, but it certainly isn't offensive and is an improvement over what already exists in the area. Plus it's an innovative mixed use project that will help to rebuild an old school in a state of disrepair.

Tridel has a bad reputation on urbantoronto for their designs - but they have an excellent reputation with the city, the province, their consumers and thier peers in the industry - so they won't nor shouldn't be kept out of the city an time soon. They are among the best developers and are industry leaders when it comes to conservation and energy efficiency as well as customer service and delivering a quality product.

The critiques of most condo projects on this forum seem to often be narrow minded with only one aspect of the development process discussed... that said I agree with most of the comments on the design of the project (although it is pretty good for Tridel - they have been getting better with that one aspect of project development the last couple of years).
 
Re: The Republic

I agree.

While not stunning, the design is certain pleasing and certainly not horrible or insulting. As well, Tridel is probably a bit better than most when it comes to the 'details' that everyone appears to be concerned about.

And if this project takes the right environmental steps, (as they seemed to have done with Element and Verve) it will be leaps ahead of almost all Context, Great Gulf, etc. projects thus far (in that regard).
 
Re: The Republic

Mike please don’t call me narrow minded, I’m far from that. Sorry for expecting a little more creativeness when we’re discussing a structure that will be around for some time. I stand by my remark from before and I could ad a bunch of other developers to the list. To me it seems that some developers get away with murder in this region while other smaller builders get more hassle from city and town halls. My style comment on this structure could be said about a plethora of other condos in the city as well. I find it interesting that they’re incorporating condo towers with a high school but I’m sorry I just see room for improvement. Accolade is the only building that comes to mind that I like by Tridel.

Since when is not offensive good enough on this forum to get the thumbs up? And since when does having an opinion make one narrow minded?
 
The Republic

Andrew,

I didn't intend to call you narrow minded and sorry if I offended you or that's how my comments came across. I agree that the design isn't thrilling - I was simply pointing out that there is a lot more to the development then the exterior design as depicted by the renderings. I think it unfortunate that entire projects are judged based solely on the exterior design (although I guess that is to be expected on this type of forum I guess)... there is a lot more to the process and the final product with many local and regional benifits.

Tridel does not excell in innovative architecture, but I do think they are slowly improving. I was just pointing out that there are many other aspects to this and other tridel developments that make them one of the better builders in Toronto.
 
Another rendering

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Location Map

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Quote from Tridel Website on NTCI
"The new NTCI will be a 5 storey, 160,000 sq. ft., 1200 pupil school featuring a triple gym, library and regulation-size football field with track. Paying homage to the school’s prestigious reputation for the arts, a 600-seat theatre facing Broadway Avenue will serve as a distinguished architectural focal point and a yet to be determined public art component will be incorporated. "

Quote from Tridel Website on Naturally Better program (which won the 2006 Green Toronto Award for Energy Conservation):

"Tridel leads the development industry in their commitment to building healthy, environmentally responsible and sustainable condominium lifestyles. So, it’s only natural that they would win the bid to develop the new NTCI EcoSchool. The mandate for EcoSchools within the TDSB is to design and operate facilities practicing energy conservation, waste minimization, school ground greening and ecological literacy.

In addition to the day-to-day Ecoschool practices, NTCI will also pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). The use of these materials and efforts will result in efficient waste management for decreased landfill contribution, healthier environments for students and staff and increased energy conservation, resulting in significant cost savings for the school and a proud commitment to our environmental future.

As part of Tridel’s "Naturally Better" initiative, the condominium residences will employ the same environmentally responsible efforts in pursuit of LEED certification. These efforts will create a high performance community offering a healthier living environment and significant energy conservation, resulting in reduced ongoing maintenance costs for residents. In recognition of their commitment to the environment, Tridel recently received the 2006 Green Toronto Award for Energy Conservation. For the complete presentation on ‘Naturally Better’ please visit www.naturallybetter.ca."
 
Is this going to replace that historic school building or am I thinking of a different school all together?
 
Yes, the old school building is wiped by this proposal. The field will be reoriented north-south, taking up the site on which the school building now sits.
 
Wholly forgettable, but so what? It's a step up for Tridel and not every building can (or should) be a unique masterpiece.

edit - and based on the thread title, I expected a notice that FoNTRA had declared independence, a micronation of NIMBYs...
 
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