Toronto Seventy5 Portland | ?m | 11s | Freed | Core Architects

interchange42 said:
Were any others of you there?

42
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I was there as well.

Also concur with comments regarding the quality of the finish on 75 Portland. The closest analogy that comes to mind is the stages of plaster work, with the appearance of the concrete being comparable to the mud plaster level, with the fine plaster and then the paint still to be applied. I thought a surface finishof some sort would be applied to the concrete prior to the painting being done. If the final look is going to be comparable to what has been completed to date, it has to be a major disappointment.

AHK
 
One has to wonder how Philippe Starck will feel having his name attached to what is suddenly shaping up to be a frighteningly poorly finished buidling. I would have thought he would have had some assurances in his contract as to the finished quality of the exterior that his name would be on.
 
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Meh, still looks pretty good to the public. I can see why residents are very unhappy though.

PS. the accumulation of different interpretation of the name "Philippe Starck" in this thread is driving me nuts. That includes the title ;)
 
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Red Mars said:
I was present as well.

75 Portland got slagged for its questionable concrete workmanship.

RM
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Something that is really misunderstood in construction is quality of concrete finishing. The structural concrete design at 75 Portland in terms of quality looks very decent, perhaps even better than average. So, if you want an architectural finish for an entire building exterior, this is where the contractor must be asked to spend sometimes double the cost in forming and finishing to achieve this finish. There are special forms and adjusted concrete admixtures to use and it slows everything down in scheduling.

So, if Charles spec'd it right and made his client fully aware of just how much a pain in the ass it is for concrete subs to do this type of finish throughout a building exterior, then he is off the hook, but somehow I suspect that even Core may have underestimated how hard it is to get a condo sub-contractor to achieve this sort of high end concrete finish. Don't know who is right or wrong in this case.
 
interchange42, I'm also sorry that we (along with SpadinaBus) didn't get to meet up. It was a very interesting meeting.

Regarding the role of the architect and the building finishes, you are correct, the architect ultimately has no control over what materials the developer chooses. He clearly appeared to be disappointed with the outcome of 75 Portland.

As SpadinaBus noted above, it takes special care to achieve a high-quality concrete finish - something that was not achieved in this project. That being said, there is far less staining on 75 Portland than in, say, 10 Morrison. The lobby in the latter building illustrates what happens when materials are changed part way through.

Considering just how much concrete is exposed on 75 Portland, one could have hoped for more attention to how it would end up looking. A clean, blotch-free and seamless concrete finish would have looked impressive. My fear is that the paint job will inevitably get dirty and never be washed.
 
gristle said:
Considering just how much concrete is exposed on 75 Portland, one could have hoped for more attention to how it would end up looking. A clean, blotch-free and seamless concrete finish would have looked impressive. My fear is that the paint job will inevitably get dirty and never be washed.
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It's definitely a concern, but I wouldn't underestimate the condo board in a relatively expensive building like this.
 
Interestingly, one of the comments made by both Charles Gane and others at that meeting was that condo corporations don't do a good job when it comes to having building exteriors cleaned.
 
I suppose it depends on the architectural merit of the building and sheer chance that a large enough portion of the residents care about such things to make a difference. And the ratio of owners to renters. I've been fortunate in my experience, but I have seen buildings where the owners simply don't care (lanterns on the Cityplace buildings not being activated and terrible common areas in High Park). Could also have a lot to do with the average income of the owners. People with higher incomes are less sensitive to changes in condo fees and Are therefore more likely to approve aesthetic upkeep measures.
 
5 June 2010: A couple of cute condo gals were enjoying their balcony today, lucky brats.

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Eh, I would of liked an eye-melting colour like Purple or Orange. If they wanted it white couldn't they of used a white-coloured concrete?
 
Does anyone realize the paint used is epoxy paint, it's made for concrete painting and for heat and cold resistance, weather resistance and prolongs wear and tear. It's the paint used on concrete in a garage, therefore, the fear of this being a problem to maintain was already taken into consideration.
 
I really wanted the 6th floor NW corner unit (2-sty loft), with the really cool floating ribbon of concrete holding the balcony, unfortunately the worst concrete formwork could be seen from this unit (looked like the formwork slipped an inch or two half way up).

I must admit I don't mind the white paint (though I'm sure it's not pretty seen up close), I like the natrual concrete finish of the original design. I am surprised there wasn't any prep work to the concrete and there will be issues down the road with cleaning and wear/weathering.
 
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