Toronto 401 Bay Street | 143.86m | 33s | Cadillac Fairview | WZMH

[interchange42]

Not sure if these have been posted yet! While walking by the base of the tower this morning, I noticed renderings of the re-clad.

That's pretty much a desecration. If we cannot stop this, we will do our best to heap embarrassment upon those involved. Somebody needs to regret this.

42

 

[am29]

Wow this building looks so beautiful from Nathan Phillips it really brings contrast to ask the other financial district buildings. The rendering for the reclad looks disgusting. I think the UrbanToronto community has to group together and so this madness!

 

[Gido]

The gutting and blighting of this type of building stock, modernist, brutalist call it what you will has no preservation champions?
Stollery's, Hues, those brick huts at 1-5 Yorkville is a call to arms.
Sad state in this city at the moment.

 

[christiesplits]

Wow, I'm no fan of brutalism in general, but it's sad to see it getting the shaft so much lately...

My sentiment as well. I think a fair compromise would be a redesign at street level, but re-cladding the entire tower is too much.

 

[ptbotrmpfn]

recladding is fine, but that top part confuses. me what are they thinking there not unifiorm at all. just looks messy.. .and does not compliment its original design.

 

[christiesplits]

Pam McConnell is the local councillor. She can be reached at councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca

 

[khris]

Oh man. This is just awful. It is going to look so cheap and "modern". I understand the glass probably needs replacing, but to make this so tacky looking is just wrong!

 

[modernizt]

This is an assault on architecture. What on earth are they thinking?!

 

[Light]

The building in its current form is rather classy and is a nice architectural artifact from its time period. I think it'd make sense to replace the windows with more energy efficient ones but designed in the same scheme and colour tone. But to retrofit with the currently fashionable floor-to-ceiling "curtain glass", and change their colour to blue from light brown (at least that's what it looks like to me in the rendering) just seems...wrong. Why not retain its original aesthetics? Celebrating diversity also includes across generations. No one would ever think to "repaint" or "redraw" an artwork in a museum just b/c it is not a product of "current" thinking, so why would we deface our own architectural heritage like this?

 

[Marcanadian]

Well I know Heritage Preservation Services has been making an effort lately to list and designate buildings from the 50's and 60's. This could be a prime candidate. Maybe it's worth letting them know about this if the Toronto East York Community Preservation Panel isn't already aware.

 

[maestro]

Destroy a building's architectural integrity for maybe an additional half floor of office space? Must be stopped!

 

[UrbanFervour]

That reclad looks absolutely awful.

 

[Automation Gallery]

That reclad looks absolutely awful.

Awful or not the re-clad is probably needed to make this 50 yr old bldg more energy efficient,
..i doubt they want to spend 20-30 million bucks just for kicks

 

[adma]

Well I know Heritage Preservation Services has been making an effort lately to list and designate buildings from the 50's and 60's. This could be a prime candidate. Maybe it's worth letting them know about this if the Toronto East York Community Preservation Panel isn't already aware.

And above all, given the *contextual* circumstance--a critical cornerstone part of the whole City Hall/NPS ensemble...

 

[FMCS]

Obliterating Toronto's 50-70's architectural history is a disgrace and quite frankly a crime....leave these buildings alone already! There is so much crap down there why go after all these unique structures....shameful.