ptbotmpfn
Active Member
Very cool but seems a bit to wide and massive yes I’m not all about hieght. Not always.
Toronto Union Centre | 298m | 54s | Westbank | Bjarke Ingels Group
ericmacm
Active Member
Wow, talk about an improvement. I was initially against this development because it would just completely block out 160 Front with a boring tower of similar height, but now I would say that this is a much better design than before.
Since it's a Bjarke Ingels design too, I doubt we will see any severe cheapening in the future either.
Since it's a Bjarke Ingels design too, I doubt we will see any severe cheapening in the future either.
UrbanFervour
Active Member
Looks like BIG is out-Torontoing Toronto.
Just pack a bunch of extruded glass rectangles together into a hulking mass and there u have it.
This design is a giant, skyline-crowning, missed opportunity.
Just pack a bunch of extruded glass rectangles together into a hulking mass and there u have it.
This design is a giant, skyline-crowning, missed opportunity.
ADRM
Senior Member
Couple neat details in this graf in the article:
BIG partner Thomas Christoffersen puts it even more straightforwardly: “Our idea,” he says, “was to do the most utilitarian building possible, creating the biggest floor plates we can.” The office levels will be big and wide open, with exposed concrete ceilings that rise up in the centre of the building: lofts in the sky. All the elevators are pushed to the northern edge of the building. From the street, pedestrians will be able to see the cars sliding up and down, a bit of vertical ballet on the skyline. The elevators might even have terrariums on their top and bottom, glass boxes of greenery on the move.
And in these:
But what’s more interesting is what happens at the bottom and the top. The tower will sit on top of an eight-storey internet hub at 151 Front St. West, and behind it above Station Street, a narrow thoroughfare that is privately owned by Allied. The data-centre floors will grow; below them will be a 1,000-person event venue and retail space, and the street – still open – will run right through the base.
And that street, by Toronto landscape architects Public Work, will have greenery overhead and underfoot. “We’re going to do a street that feels like a shoreline,” says Public Work’s Marc Ryan. The designers are exploring the idea of a “water street,” with a surface of grates rather than asphalt and planting beneath reflecting this spot’s history as the original lakefront of the city – and absorbing much of the rainfall that gathers here to feed the plants. Terraces and a wall will be heavily planted.
BIG partner Thomas Christoffersen puts it even more straightforwardly: “Our idea,” he says, “was to do the most utilitarian building possible, creating the biggest floor plates we can.” The office levels will be big and wide open, with exposed concrete ceilings that rise up in the centre of the building: lofts in the sky. All the elevators are pushed to the northern edge of the building. From the street, pedestrians will be able to see the cars sliding up and down, a bit of vertical ballet on the skyline. The elevators might even have terrariums on their top and bottom, glass boxes of greenery on the move.
And in these:
But what’s more interesting is what happens at the bottom and the top. The tower will sit on top of an eight-storey internet hub at 151 Front St. West, and behind it above Station Street, a narrow thoroughfare that is privately owned by Allied. The data-centre floors will grow; below them will be a 1,000-person event venue and retail space, and the street – still open – will run right through the base.
And that street, by Toronto landscape architects Public Work, will have greenery overhead and underfoot. “We’re going to do a street that feels like a shoreline,” says Public Work’s Marc Ryan. The designers are exploring the idea of a “water street,” with a surface of grates rather than asphalt and planting beneath reflecting this spot’s history as the original lakefront of the city – and absorbing much of the rainfall that gathers here to feed the plants. Terraces and a wall will be heavily planted.
TonyV
Senior Member
This thing has become really rather ugly. Please, slim it a lot, raise its height a lot, and please add a more inventive finish. Good heavens, some urban manners, please. And yes, gang, it's a skyline-wrecker.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Not super impressed at this point (the stepping at the top is really weak relative to the bulk and overall height), but have to wait for more info to really judge.
Ain't that obvious? Now extend that to the office towers of late - that seems to be everyone's idea. ?
AoD
Ain't that obvious? Now extend that to the office towers of late - that seems to be everyone's idea. ?
AoD
Here's a little more definition for you:
42
42
ADRM
Senior Member
I suggest you take the time to read the article, as every one of the points you've raised here is covered and explained by the proponents.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Definitely need more aggressive stepping - 2, 3 floors further up and down would make a big difference.
AoD
AoD
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TonyV
Senior Member
I've read the article. Yup, in Toronto, $ overrule what the public gets to see.
Northern Light
Superstar
The view from the north is a bit more promising than the others; bringing the greenery onto the building at differing levels along with a more visible skeleton give it more visual interest.
That said.....I find the shell of the building just a tad drab............I'm not settled on an obvious fix.......but whether one used a different material, different colour, or contrasting colours, it definitely needs something something.
The view from the south shows a more interesting articulation of the terracing on the roof line.....
That genuinely looks good, but is all but invisible from the west. They need to expose that concept to other view corridors.
That said.....I find the shell of the building just a tad drab............I'm not settled on an obvious fix.......but whether one used a different material, different colour, or contrasting colours, it definitely needs something something.
The view from the south shows a more interesting articulation of the terracing on the roof line.....
That genuinely looks good, but is all but invisible from the west. They need to expose that concept to other view corridors.
ADRM
Senior Member
Well, you complained about large floorplates, but that's what the type of tenants who are interested in a commitment of this scale are interested in. Is that about money? Yes, of course; this is an office tower.
And you're criticizing a project for lacking "urban manners", whilst an inventive public realm plan is described in the article (and copied and pasted into this forum one post above your original comment).
UrbanFervour
Active Member
A firm that is world-famous for making dynamic, interesting, sculptural buildings (see Vancouver proposal) is proposing "the most utilitarian building possible" on a giant scale in downtown Toronto.
Is it really time we all just accept that our city is THE place where the worlds best architects are hired to design oversized utilitarian spec towers with no dynamism, no interest, no sculpture, no style, no spirit....
This is bad.
ADRM
Senior Member
- Architects do as their clients instruct.
- You don't have to look to a Vancouver proposal for what you claim this city lacks, as this same firm and this same developer are doing exactly what you're looking for, literally a kilometre away from this site.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
I find the general lack of "texture" in the facade rather disappointing. It does get some bonus points for doing interesting things with the elevators (but not unique either, per the Well), and there is the hint of a diagrid based structural system.
AoD