Toronto The Yorkville Condominiums | 104.54m | 31s | Lifetime | Wallman Architects

This looks like it could be fantastic. I was having serious doubts about Wallman after that Tridel disaster on Front Street. But this bodes well for his upcoming non-Tridel buildings.
 
I was expecting something more bronze and less brown. Nevertheless, it has a sculptural quality that I agree is very promising.
 
Pretty disappointed with this one. Like adHominem, I was hoping for bronze as well - something a bit more "vibrant". And like maestro mentioned, the fascination with dark spandrel continues.
 
The colour and quality of this, looks nothing like the rendering. I also thought it would have more of a bronze/metallic finish. What's up with the grey spandrel? Sheesh!
 
I think the bronze/metallic look from the rendering is actually just light from the inside of the units illuminating the fins, making them look metallic. I can't recall seeing a rendering of these fins in the daylight.
 
The red fins look great! A classic modernist look, and a tasteful way to use a bit of colour.
 
SP!RE said:
The red fins look great! A classic modernist look, and a tasteful way to use a bit of colour.
Click to expand...

They look almost brown to me. Not that I mind. I like earth tones on buildings.

I'm not so worried about the spandrel here. The fins will make a strong enough visual statement to overcome them. Let's just hope that there is minimal use of spandrel on those portions of the tower not covered by fins, particularly at the southeast corner.
 
Exactly. Spandrel glass is not an inherently bad thing, in fact it's very useful as an architectural tool. In school, I use it on my own designs to achieve a positive effect on what would otherwise be blank walls.

The fins indeed should overcome it. What bothers me is when spandrel is used in a way that isn't incorporated into the facade honestly. But it looks like this building takes it into account, especially the way it is positioned between fins.

I'm really excited about this one, including its overall proportions and the townhouses.

I do wish the red was a bit more saturated or vibrant.
 
If you're going to design or build a glass building than design it so the interior works with the exterior. I appreciate the difficulty of the task but, still see windows of spandrel as the lazy, easy route.
 
Residential buildings have different arrangements on different floors though. The fins create vertical continuity that makes the spandrel less noticeable or distracting, and especially once curtains, etc., are up, it should look sleeker and more honest than an alternative "all glazed" approach.

I agree though, that it can be a very lazy approach, I just don't think it is in this case... although I'm probably judging too early. 300 Front, Aura, Emerald Park, Crystal Blu, and the Berczy strike me as example of lazy spandrel use to try to create a fully-glazed facade when it simple isn't feasible or climate-appropriate.
 
Last edited:
I feel like for a project of its size (and potentially interesting design), this development gets forgotten a lot around here.

Could anyone in the area catch some shots of this project this the next time they are out doing updates?
 
TheKingEast said:
No super tall, no care.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about that. There are lots of shorter projects than this that are getting much more attention. I think it's mostly because it's kind of out of the way. People have to seek it out to take photos of it and without photo updates, threads tend to languish.
 
4 March 2014: Guess who owes me a dozen NimbyBits?
nPrMrgf.jpg

0fArGjr.jpg

kuerl7w.jpg

dpWYHE0.jpg

ZUmcsER.jpg

Basically, it's a clay-coloured version of X minus the colourful spandrel:
GZIuElb.jpg


"It's kind of out of the way." Incorrect. It's 97 seconds from the Bay Subway entrance.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top