I was in that parking lot the other day shooting a timelapse. What is the deal with that massive concrete wall on the north side of the ICE site? also im guessing the parking lot is where the future office component is supposed to go?
How many people remember when the old railway embankment's tunnel extended down York Street to almost the Gardiner back in the early 1990s? This was after the old rail yards and fill was removed. Cars had to use the lengthy, dank, and now largely redundant concrete underpass, which cut out AM radio, until it was cleared in (I believe) 1994.
My sentiments almost exactly (I'd add that Telus is an awful building and should also have been much taller). The novelty value of seeing it all get built at once will wear off soon, so I hope the streetscape we're left with is attractive and lively. It'll likely be bustling on a warm evening once all these sites are developed and street life creeps south.
What about Telus is awful? That building astounds me... the design, the attention to detail. Why would they have built it taller if the market did not so demand at the time?
What about Telus is awful? That building astounds me... the design, the attention to detail. Why would they have built it taller if the market did not so demand at the time?
I agree that it was designed and attention was paid to details, but this is true of every building, especially every office building.
It's not so much that "the Telus building" should have been taller as "the building on that site" should have been taller - and by taller I mean more square footage/jobs, not necessarily height for the skyline's sake. But your comment about the market at the time leads back to my comment (and years of previous comments by other people) about how getting stuff built quickly in this area has always seemed more important than stopping to consider what stuff we're building...it was throw down some relaxed zoning, hit 'cheetah speed,' and hope for the best. Hopefully Ice will be a highlight, though with Infinity being a lowlight next door, how can Ice not be?
Since no one has posted a picture of this building on here for about ten minutes, I figured an update was due.
See the fragile charms of a tranquil visit to Harbourfront wiped away in mere minutes! Nothing says "Thou Shalt Not Pass" quite like the Gardiner-Lakeshore-York intersection. Unless, of course, it's Gardiner-Lakeshore-Yonge.
But be soothed! Soon this shall be a modern wonderland where once only trilobites romped.
Looks like some tourists are escaping.
Yes, it looks like it's the shucked-off chrysalis of The Singularity and about as cozy as The Forbin Project. But it'll have all the comforts of home. Of course for humans.