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The panorama from Toronto's Harbour shows the growing development at the Distillery District in the larger context of the city. Various UrbanToronto Forum members have pointed their cameras in the direction of the Clear Spirit and Gooderham condo towers lately, the latest additions to an area otherwise populated by Victorian Industrial Architecture.
The zig-zag balconies are the distinguishing feature on Clear Spirit, designed by architectsAlliance for developers Cityscape and Dundee Realty. Created by alternating clear and fritted glass on every second floor, and with the glass types changing over at crimps in the building's undulating balcony slab edges, the pattern is best viewed on days with blue sky. The Gooderham, closing in on topping out, will feature a variration on the theme when its balconies are glazed.
When complete, the towers' wraparound terraces and balconies will gather light at different angles and reflect it out over the city, as illustrated in the architects' rendering below. The Gooderham will be connected to the revitalized East Bayfront and West Don Lands with its rolling green park lands, walkways and bike trails connecting to the waterfront.
While Clear Spirit's tower is a modern response to the area's growing housing needs, the building defers at street level to the intimate scale of the 19th century streetscape. Its tall slender columns meet the ground, enveloping the red brick podium that makes reference to the area's original industrial buildings which form the most architecturally rich heritage precinct in Toronto. Site work continues at the base of the building.
For project renderings and information on the developments discussed above, head over to the UrbanToronto dataBase pages, linked below. Associated Forum thread links will take you to the discussion and many more recent photo updates.
| Related Companies: | architects—Alliance, Dream Unlimited, Isotherm Engineering Ltd., Jablonsky, Ast and Partners, The Fence People, TUCKER HIRISE Construction |
