Ramako
Moderator
God damn it Lanterra... god damn it.
Toronto TeaHouse 501 Yonge Condominiums | 170.98m | 52s | Lanterra | a—A
- Thread starter VoiceofReality
- Start date
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
The tower heights and this obscene parking podium are going to create a disaster on Yonge Street with their scale, just as I feared.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
This is a backwards move on Lanterra's part. Five storeys of above ground parking should not be permitted here. I think I'll be writing Lanterra and my local councillor.
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Automation Gallery
Superstar
Well if 4 floors was allowed here i cant see how you can just go out and write to your councillor regarding a 5 storey podium of parking of which you havent even seen a rendering...i say lets wait and see the plans before jumping the gun.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
Yeah, I'm being cranky. But - I think five floors of parking is overdoing it. There's something perverse about pushing to build parking over a subway line. Do we really want more parking lots on our main street?
I'd rather see eights or sixteens with no parking go here, rather than this. If they're not going to do something that respects and beautifies the street, then they shouldn't be doing it at all.
Here's what five storeys of parking above a double-height base masses up as, using the Yonge-Wellesley stop as a basis:
There's no guarantee it's going to be lovely. It could easily end up looking like the ones fronting Harbourfront.
I'd rather see eights or sixteens with no parking go here, rather than this. If they're not going to do something that respects and beautifies the street, then they shouldn't be doing it at all.
Here's what five storeys of parking above a double-height base masses up as, using the Yonge-Wellesley stop as a basis:
There's no guarantee it's going to be lovely. It could easily end up looking like the ones fronting Harbourfront.
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Automation Gallery
Superstar
Wow..that is one dull parking podium you picked to compare..
there have been some snazzy looking retail/parking podiums built recently in a lot of other world cities.
there have been some snazzy looking retail/parking podiums built recently in a lot of other world cities.
TonyV
Senior Member
So again, I go away for a week and all hell breaks loose !!!
This "massing" diagram suggests all of the worst possibilities of this development (especially the podium) and only one of the best possibilities (the slenderness of the towers).
I hope the architects start to think just a tad crazy with respect to this site. Is there a law that says the buildings have to be square? Why not round, a nod to Vaseline Tower further along Alexander Street? How about buildings that are even more slender? How about balconies with an external pattern that spirals its way up? How about a decent setback along Yonge with ample room for trees, trees, trees, and some other enhancements of the urban environment? aA can do this if any architects can.
This "massing" diagram suggests all of the worst possibilities of this development (especially the podium) and only one of the best possibilities (the slenderness of the towers).
I hope the architects start to think just a tad crazy with respect to this site. Is there a law that says the buildings have to be square? Why not round, a nod to Vaseline Tower further along Alexander Street? How about buildings that are even more slender? How about balconies with an external pattern that spirals its way up? How about a decent setback along Yonge with ample room for trees, trees, trees, and some other enhancements of the urban environment? aA can do this if any architects can.
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Traynor
Senior Member
^Funny you should say that. I just said I have a feeling they might be round towers over at SSP. Architects are historically derivative and often steal... I mean honour, surrounding buildings in their projects and I was thinking of 50 Alexander (Vaseline Towers) when looking at this area.
caltrane74
Senior Member
They should cover the podium in LED lights
AlbertC
Superstar
My interpretation of the future Yonge/College area skyline.
CanadianNational
Senior Member
Here's some new parking garages from around the 'net.
The first three are my faves - Tthe Santa Monica Civic Centre's new LEED certified one, one by Herzog and DeMeuron, and the third one is a sleek number that, I hate to say it, wouldn't look all bad on Yonge. Not that I'm reversing my position. *cough*
The good:
The uncertain and perhaps unlovely:
And the ugly.
The first three are my faves - Tthe Santa Monica Civic Centre's new LEED certified one, one by Herzog and DeMeuron, and the third one is a sleek number that, I hate to say it, wouldn't look all bad on Yonge. Not that I'm reversing my position. *cough*
The good:
The uncertain and perhaps unlovely:
And the ugly.
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Ramako
Moderator
Perhaps they can cover the parking levels facing Yonge with ad space or screens.
Traynor
Senior Member
Here is the coolest and best solution for above ground parking on Yonge Street. We should build two round towers above these and turn it into a tourist attraction>
The Autostadt:
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHdFZNLtjA Watch the whole thing... Tourists get to ride on the lifting device!!!!
Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt
(Image found here: http://lingnsl.blogspot.com/2010/08/engineering-design-1st-assigment.html )
(Image found here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/110/autostadt600600ip8.jpg/ )
PLUS - It's environmentally friendly.All electric. No wasted emissions from all those cars aimlessly wandering around looking for a spot.
The Autostadt:
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efHdFZNLtjA Watch the whole thing... Tourists get to ride on the lifting device!!!!
Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt
(Image found here: http://lingnsl.blogspot.com/2010/08/engineering-design-1st-assigment.html )
(Image found here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/110/autostadt600600ip8.jpg/ )
PLUS - It's environmentally friendly.All electric. No wasted emissions from all those cars aimlessly wandering around looking for a spot.
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Traynor
Senior Member
To be fair... This is just a rendering and doesn't exist. It was a proposed tower for the bottom of Preston Street in Ottawa. I don't think they are building it. It's about a 3 minute walk from my house, so I suppose I could go over and see what they are planning.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Autostadt is cool, but completely impractical for the site we're talking about. Remember, they're building a condo building first, and a parking garage second - not the other way around.
Autostadt is also quintessentially German. Germans will spend tons of money to travel to the plant in which their car is being built and watch it roll off the assembly line. When you go to Autostadt, you're essentially identifying your car (kind of like a father finding his newborn baby in the maternity ward) and watching it travel down some elevator to await you. It's basically car buying as a quasi-religious experience, and, for better or for worse, Germans have this weird fixation with elevating things to bizarre rituals.
Anyway, the average Toronto driver is not going to stand for two minutes and watch his Chevy Equinox descend down a glass tube; we'll be lucky if the garage looks even remotely like the good stuff in the US that Canadian National posted.
Autostadt is also quintessentially German. Germans will spend tons of money to travel to the plant in which their car is being built and watch it roll off the assembly line. When you go to Autostadt, you're essentially identifying your car (kind of like a father finding his newborn baby in the maternity ward) and watching it travel down some elevator to await you. It's basically car buying as a quasi-religious experience, and, for better or for worse, Germans have this weird fixation with elevating things to bizarre rituals.
Anyway, the average Toronto driver is not going to stand for two minutes and watch his Chevy Equinox descend down a glass tube; we'll be lucky if the garage looks even remotely like the good stuff in the US that Canadian National posted.