VMC Future 3D Model/Rendering

[sche]

Hi everyone, I've been working on a 3D model of VMC on and off for a couple of months now. I think I've finally got all of the active development applications, under-construction buildings, and already constructed ones now. Most of the buildings still need some extra work in terms of adding more detail, so I'll keep updating this thread as I improve the model. Also, if you see any buildings missing or have any other feedback, I'd love to know.

Grey = built, green = under construction, and blue = proposed.

A view from above:

A view from the northwest:

From the southeast:

Looking west along Hwy 7:

Side view from the south:

 

[afransen]

Toronto feels like it might be the only city in North America building tower clusters in the suburbs like this.

I am still on the fence as to whether this is going to work or if they will just become vertical sprawl like CityPlace.

 

[steveve]

Nicely done @sche ! Love the colours you’ve chosen. Are you working in SketchUp?

 

[Undead]

Great work! I think the Vaughan Colossus movie theatre and associated plaza in the south west quadrant are also being redeveloped.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

I believe Grand Festival Condos has begun construction. Last time I was in the area they had excavators on site and boarding being put up.

 

[sche]

Toronto feels like it might be the only city in North America building tower clusters in the suburbs like this.

I am still on the fence as to whether this is going to work or if they will just become vertical sprawl like CityPlace.

For sure. The only example I can think of is Tysons Corner in Virginia, though that's definitely a smaller scale than VMC or MCC.

Nicely done @sche ! Love the colours you’ve chosen. Are you working in SketchUp?

Thanks! Colours are inspired by what you used to have haha. I'm working in Fusion 360 and rendering in Blender, which is definitely not ideal for architecture stuff but it works and I'm familiar with it. Definitely thinking about learning SketchUp though.

 

[sche]

Great work! I think the Vaughan Colossus movie theatre and associated plaza in the south west quadrant are also being redeveloped.

View attachment 315662

Yup, I'm aware of those plans. Quadreal has also released renders of towers covering pretty much all of the land they own (bounded by 400, 407, Jane and 7) and I think I've seen similar renders from Smartcentres for all of their land. Only problem is they're still very high level early stage plans, so no plans have been submitted to the city yet and I can't use them to make renders. I'll definitely make some renders when plans are available though!

I believe Grand Festival Condos has begun construction. Last time I was in the area they had excavators on site and boarding being put up.

Thanks for the info! UT and SSP still list Festival as pre-construction and I don't live in the area so I didn't know. I'll make sure to update it next time.

 

[sche]

So I finally got around to updating my 3d model.
Changes made since last time:
- Festival Condos begun construction
- Icona Condos seems dead so it's been removed, although something is definitely going to be built on that site at some point

There's one proposal (185 Doughton) that I haven't got around to but I'll add it soon.

Looking west along Highway 7:

Overview looking from the south:

From the southeast:

 

[sche]

OK, I decided to add all the extra towers in those conceptual renderings/long term visions from RioCan, QuadReal, and SmartCentres, and I also added a couple of proposals that are stale/in limbo, and threw in some nicer graphics in the style of @steveve's amazing work.

Only one angle for now, I'll try do a few more soon.

 

[sche]

New angle today! An aerial view from the south. (no updates to any buildings)

 

[sche]

View from the north highlighting Transit City 1-3 (cross post from Transit City thread)

 

[Irishmonk]

It really is astonishing how many towers can be crammed into what appears to be--at least on googlemaps--pretty small sectors of land.
The empty expanse around the 407 station could comfortably accomodate 30 or 40 towers alone. (And on that note, does anyone know if there are plans to develope that space, or is it off limits for ML "reasons".)

 

[ericmacm]

It really is astonishing how many towers can be crammed into what appears to be--at least on googlemaps--pretty small sectors of land.
The empty expanse around the 407 station could comfortably accomodate 30 or 40 towers alone. (And on that note, does anyone know if there are plans to develope that space, or is it off limits for ML "reasons".)

That whole piece of land, including the HWY 407 station, is a singular parcel. I have no doubt that Metrolinx will try to split it up and develop it at some point.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

It really is astonishing how many towers can be crammed into what appears to be--at least on googlemaps--pretty small sectors of land.
The empty expanse around the 407 station could comfortably accomodate 30 or 40 towers alone. (And on that note, does anyone know if there are plans to develope that space, or is it off limits for ML "reasons".)

That whole piece of land, including the HWY 407 station, is a singular parcel. I have no doubt that Metrolinx will try to split it up and develop it at some point.

The main problem with the Hwy-407 lands is that development would result in what is essentially a giant cul-de-sac. Not great for traffic or emergency services.

There is also a hydro corridor taking up significant portion of the lands and TRCA will also want a chunk around the stream (not bad, there should be a public park/natural area anyway if we are talking high density).

So I don't think what comes in the Hwy-407 lands will be as dense as what we are seeing around VMC or might be in conceptual planning around Pioneer Village station. If you ask me though, we should be more ambitious as a region and bury the hydro corridor and provide a road connection to Adesso Drive across the rail corridor, and fully unlock the lands for development.

 

[sche]

The main problem with the Hwy-407 lands is that development would result in what is essentially a giant cul-de-sac. Not great for traffic or emergency services.

There is also a hydro corridor taking up significant portion of the lands and TRCA will also want a chunk around the stream (not bad, there should be a public park/natural area anyway if we are talking high density).

So I don't think what comes in the Hwy-407 lands will be as dense as what we are seeing around VMC or might be in conceptual planning around Pioneer Village station. If you ask me though, we should be more ambitious as a region and bury the hydro corridor and provide a road connection to Adesso Drive across the rail corridor, and fully unlock the lands for development.

More connections across the CN rail corridor, the 407, and 404 should are definitely needed, there's just so many barriers in this area.

I know there's plans for a connection between Colossus Dr and Interchange Way but it would be really nice to see a connection across the 407 west of Jane (maybe a pedestrian/cycling bridge), to better tie the southern parts of VMC with Hwy 407 subway station.