Toronto The Berczy | 41.76m | 13s | Concert | Arcadis

urbandreamer said:
"Sexy?" You gotta be kidding me! It's a plain jane Toronto condo. Now River City or Freed's Thompson Residences? Yeah, I'd date those girls.:)
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Thompson residences? you gotta be kidding me? a condo full of tiny bachelors, more than half of the project are units under 500 sq ft, all the units are the same, same layouts, the exterior could be nice but the the project as a whole is horrible. all of the same, like prior freed projects, same exposed concrete ceilings, same finishes.at least Concert is trying to do something different in downtown, large units with decent size, huge balconies and terraces, a lot of different layouts, smooth ceilings. I wish we could find more projects like the Berczy in Toronto
 
Tewder said:
A charcoal bbq grill is the public art contribution?

Just another illustration why the funds directed towards public 'art' would be better directed towards improvements to the public realm like streetscaping, plantings, pavings etc.
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Yes, I wonder what it is? It looks like a spherical astrolabe. And it is set on a contour map of descending terrain that might represent the land south of Front Street - built with layering similar to Anish Kapoor's mountain sculpture north of the Convention Centre. Something about wayfinding, maybe? I'm intrigued. I tell ya, the city's just becoming one huge art gallery these days.

A pause to remember Tim Jocelyn and his New Dimensions Astrolabe, for Expo'86:

http://www.ccca.ca/artists/image.ht...pg&cright=Tim+Jocelyn&mkey=20646&link_id=1905
 
architecture

I live in the neighbourhood and love this part of Toronto above all else. The Berczy is a great site and bringing more residents to the area is indeed a good thing but I have to say that this building is a huge missed opportunity. Words like banal and pastiche come to mind but at its core it's just so "blah". This architecture totally sums up most condos in Toronto and unfortunately represents a design aesthetic that seems to be very popular in this city.
 
In an area of heritage buildings that I believe this building has respected, it's difficult to see how it's unoriginal without any mention of other ideas or solutions.

I think the design of this building certainly meets it's goals. It seems to fit in with the footprint of the neighbourhood, adds to the street level, attempts to reduce shadowing of the nearby park, and thus far the word is that it will be of good quality.

What is this "huge missed opportunity"? We hear this often in Toronto and I'd argue that it is true. But I don't see how this design is possibly a complete miss.
 
I agree with UrbanVigor, I do not see how this building is "a miss". I really like the detail in the design, the linear elements on the balcony glass and the top glass portion fits in nicely without taking over the area. Also, the brick work in the renders looks great. In my eyes it really comes down to the materials and building details when it's built and Concert has stated they are not holding back on the building quality, inside and out. I still cannot believe the standards included for the units.

I don't think Concert can afford to drop the ball on this one, it's their first condo in Toronto and they want to make a mark for themselves moving forward in this marketplace.

I heard this will be their flagship development as they own other land sites and are egger to develop an excellent reputation in Toronto before moving forward.
 
Tewder said:
Just another illustration why the funds directed towards public 'art' would be better directed towards improvements to the public realm like streetscaping, plantings, pavings etc.
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Agreed. They should be planting trees all the way up Church Street. The Village north of here is looking really dusty these days. Large, leafy trees would benefit the entire street.
 
I just really hope they keep some of the character or at least .. at least the mature street trees on Church south of Front
 
It's a beautiful building...I think whoever purchased here made a smart move. I am partial to red brick and black trim though :)
 
It's really the perfect design for a building that needs to fit into a heritage neighbourhood without looking faux.
 
Ed007Toronto said:
BerczyModel-May27,10(8).jpg
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kind of looks like an egg cup for a dinosaur egg...
it seems a funny place to put it too, in a nook. or is that an entrance? if it is, it looks like it is destined to always kind of be 'in the way'.
 
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I bet it was a "spare part" just to put there to give an idea of what might be in it's place.

As for being 'in the way', I think it's better than just continuous building all along the sidewalk. This makes the building less imposing for pedestrians and opens things up a bit.
 
UrbanVigor said:
In an area of heritage buildings that I believe this building has respected, it's difficult to see how it's unoriginal without any mention of other ideas or solutions.

I think the design of this building certainly meets it's goals. It seems to fit in with the footprint of the neighbourhood, adds to the street level, attempts to reduce shadowing of the nearby park, and thus far the word is that it will be of good quality.

What is this "huge missed opportunity"? We hear this often in Toronto and I'd argue that it is true. But I don't see how this design is possibly a complete miss.
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I think its a missed opportunity in the sense that it is mediocre architecture. Mediocrity tends to rule in Toronto and I think the Berczy is a good example of that. It's not a bad building but I don't think its anywhere near a good building. Especially when compared to other mid rise condos in the neighbourhood like Mozo or Market Square.
 
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