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Yonge-Dundas Square/Sankofa Square (Brown + Storey Architects)

Exterior restoration work being done on the former Hard Rock Cafe building:

Aug 20, 2020

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Such a sad waste of potential. This worked so much better as a HardRock cafe with the radio station on the corner. Shoppers Drugmarts are fine but I wish they hadn't taken such a prominent street level spot. I would've preferred if they were on the top 2 floors with an escalator leading to a door on Yonge. Street level should've been a restaurant with a patio facing the square.
 
I think Shoppers considers this location to be a flagship, so it's unlikely they'll ever let it go. From what I remember the ground floor is entirely cosmetics / skincare while the upper floors are your usual shoppers drug mart fare.
 
I think Shoppers considers this location to be a flagship, so it's unlikely they'll ever let it go. From what I remember the ground floor is entirely cosmetics / skincare while the upper floors are your usual shoppers drug mart fare.
To get to the pharmacy you have to walk down a set of emergency exit stores in the back corner of the store. It's not very flagshipish.
 
IMO the small street on the south side of the square should be eliminated from Yonge Street to the mid-block laneway, and the remainder turned into a woonerf. The south side of the square should as such be opened up and made more porous, as the current design essentially turns its back to the street.

There's no need for through traffic, or completely segregated traffic here, and the street has prevented the square from engaging with its southern neighbours. Imagine if the southern side of the square had provisions for large patios that could spill out into this space?
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I also sort of wish that the eastern half of the Dundas frontage had a shallow stair instead of a retaining wall, just to keep it open to the street.
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Im sure the wall section was done , rather than steps, to prevent people from walking straight out and onto busy Dundas street?
 
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You're so much better off going to the Rexall at Atrium on Bay or at Richmond and Yonge. Everything you need on one floor.

Now that Canada Post deliveries are contactless, and they'll come straight to our apartment door, we don't even have to go down to the Canada Post dungeon anymore - the only reason we returned to that dysfunctional shop.
 
IMO the small street on the south side of the square should be eliminated from Yonge Street to the mid-block laneway, and the remainder turned into a woonerf. The south side of the square should as such be opened up and made more porous, as the current design essentially turns its back to the street.

There's no need for through traffic, or completely segregated traffic here, and the street has prevented the square from engaging with its southern neighbours. Imagine if the southern side of the square had provisions for large patios that could spill out into this space?
View attachment 264936

I also sort of wish that the eastern half of the Dundas frontage had a shallow stair instead of a retaining wall, just to keep it open to the street.
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https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/9703-PIC_Nov_Boards_v15.3_low-res.pdf

Check out option number 3 on page 16. Its the only option that does this so let them know how you feel at the next public consultation.
 
Im sure the wall section was done , rather than steps, to prevent people from walking straight out and onto busy Dundas street?

Perhaps but are we really going to start child or idiot proofing things? If there are people who walk into the road without looking where they're going this isn't going to save them. if they're that out of it they'll just walk into some other road, off a cliff, or get hit by a train.
 
Im sure the wall section was done , rather than steps, to prevent people from walking straight out and onto busy Dundas street?
I think it was done that way to stop folks from falling into the sidewalk itself.
 
^^ It is exciting news that they appear to be cleaning up the building next to Burger King. It is a building I've always thought had a lot of potential and just needed some TLC!

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Source: Google Streetview
 

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