Plant Architects won the day for me - with elements that were playful, mature, helpful, well-integrated and that seemed to have a sort of natural 'common sense' to them regarding the makeup of the square. I'm not sure about the Dundas-Square-style jet fountains where the Peace Garden would have been, for one, and I wish there'd been more thought regarding the western edge of the Square that abuts Osgoode Hall, but aside from that, I think it came out wonderfully. I love the integrated double storey restaurant/facilities pavilion that hooks into the elevated walkway near Queen Street, the prominent bicycle storage pavilion, the permanent landscaped stage.
I shocked by the allsorts stinkbomb that Zeidler Partnership delivered - especially because the firm has had such a keen eye for what has been urbanistically complimentary to Toronto in the past. After having built some real city icons, I thought they would rise to the occasion here - but sadly, no. A gridded acreage of concrete planters.....ugh. The only good point about this plan, I thought, was the restoration of the reflecting pool to something close to Revell's original vision.
Baird Sampson Neuart came in a close second for me after Partners. There's lots I love about this scheme (I for one, love the new walkway extension to the West, the streamlined plaza functions buildings, the expanded reflecting pool), but for me its' much-touted environmental features not only came off as a bit faddish, oddly, but they were not aesthetically helpful, and did not advance the square's programme any. The elevated walkways as cisterns? Erm.....
The last one, from Rogers Marvel, for me also fell with a thud. The massive encroachment on the square by this high-tech hobbit hole, would be a drab landscaped muddiness in winter, and would entail tearing down part of the existing walkway as well. I love the idea of an urban room for people overlooking the square, but I could see it all too quickly falling victim to partitioning and being sold off piecemeal to all the usual suspects - Starbucks, Tim Horton's, etc. A hot drink's perfect when you're ice-skating, right?
I also worry that despite the massive reconfigurations it would make to the West side of the square, there was no permanent stage included. having to put a stage up in addition to this new construction would seriously constrict the square in my opinion.
So there's my two cents worth....