In fairness, everyone I know in the industry right now is experiencing a staff shortage, especially with the recent rush to submit before IZ.
It seems there just aren't enough designers and architects for post-COVID Toronto. So if anyone was thinking of a career change...!
The white pilasters that run up the balconies look terrible - tons of joint lines, the way they meet the soffit looks unfinished, and they don't add anything to the building. They couldn't even make a real motif out of them - the spacing between them seems like it's almost regular, but it's not...
Absolutely love the podium and especially the ground level here. The stairs to the terraces atop the podium provide a rhythm similar to a modern dormer, the brick and grid of windows is tidy and gives the streetwall a well proportioned rhythm and the ground level eschews a wall of curtain-wall...
I have a strong suspicion whatever they proposed would be shouted down until the proposal was just a detached house for one family, and even then I imagine the neighbourhood would find a reason to fight it off. What proposal do you imagine is feasible here, worth the time and money, and is even...
On the contrary, the office building has lovely proportions and with some TLC would be a great example of a tidy mid-century office building that could offer a very desirable type of employment space at this location. I'd hate to see it go. The tower on the other hand is what it is, I guess.
I'm usually an IBI critic but I think this is a pretty handsome tower (if done in precast and not cheap aluminum). Looks simple and clean - would love the glazing to be recessed from the (hopefully-)precast more, but that's a problem with all condo tower designs.
They didn't even try to fit the neighbourhood. Part of the reason why a building like Market Wharf feels like it's still part of the urban fabric of the St. Lawrence neighbourhood is the use of brick. Would it really have been such a huge financial sacrifice for Pemberton to try here? It's such...