I'm with Project End on this. At least some of us want to go get our frozen food fresh every day, and don't need gigantic freezers. Plus, how big a microwave do you need?
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I'm with Project End on this. At least some of us want to go get our frozen food fresh every day, and don't need gigantic freezers. Plus, how big a microwave do you need?
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p5connex
Active Member
Is it me, or are there only 3 people who actually realize that the way we are presently living is unsustainable? Life-styles have to change and initially and in this case, that will mean smaller more energy efficient appliances - not to mention doing without or at least with a lot less.
Bloody wine coolers, and fridges in every room.. ...grumble..g'damn lifestyles...
Bloody wine coolers, and fridges in every room.. ...grumble..g'damn lifestyles...
The Condo Observer
Active Member
We are straying way off the point here. The issue is that the smallest unit in U is 350K without parking and locker. The larger units (around 900 sq ft) are 600K without parking and locker. The largest units are 700 and over.
They are not allowing customization. The plans are sub-standard, the appliances are minute, the finishes are average.
Where is the value? Its the embodiment of the late-bloom condo mentality that developers adopted.
Looking forward to the return of the consumer to the driver's seat! (Its almost here, guys!) Our money is valuable, and we need to be treated as such.
They are not allowing customization. The plans are sub-standard, the appliances are minute, the finishes are average.
Where is the value? Its the embodiment of the late-bloom condo mentality that developers adopted.
Looking forward to the return of the consumer to the driver's seat! (Its almost here, guys!) Our money is valuable, and we need to be treated as such.
The Condo Observer
Active Member
...that should be "late boom"
marcus_a_j
Senior Member
I thought the issue in this thread was the architecture (to Clewes or not to Clewes), location, types of accessory uses (retail, small office, etc.) on site, townhouses (yea or nay), preservation of the wall and status of construction?
I agree with p5 re: smaller appliances. Also, this is Canada, 8 months of the year you can keep your wine on the balcony and it will stay cool for you!!
cdr108
Senior Member
I agree with p5connex, given the fact that it's also located in the dt core, accessible to food stores, restaurants, etc - who needs a large refrigerator, etc. especially in the smaller units of < 700 sqft.
Smaller energy efficient appliances will be the norm within 10 years.
But I concur with The Condo Observer that the plans are sub-standard, the finishes are average.
Really poor use of space - when you have ~900 SF 2bd room unit that has 9'6" x 10'0" bedroom and 12'2" x 15'6" LR/DR !?!?
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grey
Senior Member
The fridge that came with my condo is 1.5x bigger than it needs to be. I cook a lot and my fridge is always half empty. I agree with p5connex that smaller, more efficient appliances are the future. These condos are not destined for families with 5 children.
DarnDirtyApe
Active Member
True, but with these prices you'd think there'd at least be enough room for a standard-sized fridge.
H
Hydrogen
Guest
Let's be clear here, the developer is supplying small appliances, which are not automatically energy-efficient appliances.
Your lifestyle is not everyone else's lifestyle.
Your lifestyle is not everyone else's lifestyle.
cdr108
Senior Member
True, small may not necessarily equal energy-efficient; however, here is the info from U condos features and finishes:
Energy Star™-rated refrigerator, dishwasher and front loading washer
EXCEPTIONAL APPLIANCE PACKAGE
• Refrigerator Miele 24” bottom-mount freezer fully integrated
• Cook Top Fulgor 30” 4 burner touch control cook top – black finish
• Built-in-oven Fulgor 30” self clean convection built-in-oven – stainless steel finish
• Dishwasher Blomberg 24” fully integrated built-in
• Range Hood Built-in motor
• Microwave 0.8 cuft microwave - stainless steel finish
• Washer Blomberg 24” compact front load washer stackable
• Dryer Blomberg 24” front load dry stackable
EXECUTIVE SUITES UNPRECEDENTED STANDARD FEATURES & FINISHES
(SUITES 01, 02 & 04 ONLY)*
PRINCIPAL LIVING AREA FEATURES
• Floor to ceiling height of approximately 10’ in principal rooms excluding mechanical bulkheads
EXCEPTIONAL APPLIANCE PACKAGE
• Refrigerator Miele 30” Mastercool integrated fridge/freezer
• Cook-Top Miele 30” touch control ceran glass cook-top
• Built-in-oven Miele 30” self clean built-in-oven – stainless
• Dishwasher Miele 24” integrated dishwasher with cutlery tray
• Range Hood Miele slide out hood fan
• Microwave Miele built-in-microwave
• Washer Miele 5.5 kg front loading washer stackable
• Dryer Miele 5.5 kg front loading electric dryer
DarnDirtyApe said:
I guess the European appliances are supposed to make up for the high prices.
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The Condo Observer
Active Member
No, in this thread we are discussing the Projects wholistically. I think the dissection of these developers' offerings is healthy for the industry....
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Just because a new condo includes a dishwasher, a microwave, and a washer and dryer dosn't mean you have to use them if you want to wash your dishes by hand, do your laundry by hand, and hang your clothes up to dry and not cook anything. You can be as sensibly frugal in your tastes, and as thrifty with your use of electricity, as you want. Large, brand new, unused fridges and stoves can be sold - and replaced by smaller models if you want; most people customize their living spaces to some degree. Personally, I'd be lost without a freezer compartment big enough to hold all my President's Choice favourites ( Salmon Wellington! Chicken Kiev! Meatloaf! Bread Pud! Sticky Toffee Pud! Pineapple Upside Down Cake! ), and enough shelves for my home-made jam cache ... but I've never seen the need for a wine fridge - despite some hot summers none of my Minervois has ever turned to vinegar under the kitchen countertops.
barrytron3030
Active Member
despite christopher hume and toronto in general, is anyone getting tired of peter clewes's glass boxes?
most of them are indeed elegant, and overall i enjoy architectsAlliance, but it seems like clewes takes a cookie cutter approach. he is certainly the undisputed condo design king of this city but i need some change!
the glass balconies, exposed concrete balconies, and colourful slabs are not my favourite design traits.
architects i know often call aA a "production company" because they churn out alot of repetitive, profit-enducing works.
most of them are indeed elegant, and overall i enjoy architectsAlliance, but it seems like clewes takes a cookie cutter approach. he is certainly the undisputed condo design king of this city but i need some change!
the glass balconies, exposed concrete balconies, and colourful slabs are not my favourite design traits.
architects i know often call aA a "production company" because they churn out alot of repetitive, profit-enducing works.
Solaris
Senior Member
I will agree in that ..... towers 2+3 in Distillery (Clear Spirits+Gooderham) really caught my attention being one of the first buildings with warped shaped balconies, then there was Market Wharf condos which was intriguing ... but by the time U condos came, my appeal for Clews was lost as it became more 'repetitive' as barrytron3030 suggested ... IMO of course 
Branding aA a production company is typical architectural community sour grapes and thinly disguised jealousy. You'll nearly never hear of people in rival architectural firms praising each other as it is a terribly competitive profession. If anything it's companies like Page + Steele, Graziani + Corazza, Quadrangle, Kirkor, Burka, (and there are lots of others) who have had the occasional winner (especially Quadrangle) but who also just churn out the same old tired PoMo schlock at the drop of a hat whenever their client wants doodads and pippypoos. Nobody goes to aA for doodads and pippypoos because they just won't get them from aA.
The aA twist is that they are staying true to their modernist roots while starting to experiment with the options still provided by sleek geometries. I'm a bit surprised, for instance, that aA are being criticized for designing their third complex now (U) with angled balconies, even though not a single one of the angled projects has gone up into the air yet. Each of those projects has a different angle on the angles nevertheless, (and Burano is a fourth project where the whole bujilding is angled), so it is my hope that all of these projects will go ahead - we'll only get to really evaluate them for both their individual and contextual merits within the city once they exist - everything until then is speculation.
And no, of course there won't be unanimity on how each project looks once they are up, but a popular consensus will likely coalesce. Murano, while free of diagonals other than one podium feature, is proving to be the ultimate expression of aA's boxy modernist design aesthetic. As it has generally been receiving rave reviews as it rises just down Bay from U, to me that still bodes well for their newer projects as they start to experiment with the style a bit.
Meanwhile there will always be those looking for more "traditional" designs as embodied by projects such as The Regency and New York Towers or any number of PoMo-tweaked commie blocks that litter the city now, but I ask what's a small handful of cutting edge angled glass and steel towers in a city this large when compared to that?
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The aA twist is that they are staying true to their modernist roots while starting to experiment with the options still provided by sleek geometries. I'm a bit surprised, for instance, that aA are being criticized for designing their third complex now (U) with angled balconies, even though not a single one of the angled projects has gone up into the air yet. Each of those projects has a different angle on the angles nevertheless, (and Burano is a fourth project where the whole bujilding is angled), so it is my hope that all of these projects will go ahead - we'll only get to really evaluate them for both their individual and contextual merits within the city once they exist - everything until then is speculation.
And no, of course there won't be unanimity on how each project looks once they are up, but a popular consensus will likely coalesce. Murano, while free of diagonals other than one podium feature, is proving to be the ultimate expression of aA's boxy modernist design aesthetic. As it has generally been receiving rave reviews as it rises just down Bay from U, to me that still bodes well for their newer projects as they start to experiment with the style a bit.
Meanwhile there will always be those looking for more "traditional" designs as embodied by projects such as The Regency and New York Towers or any number of PoMo-tweaked commie blocks that litter the city now, but I ask what's a small handful of cutting edge angled glass and steel towers in a city this large when compared to that?
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