Toronto 45 The Esplanade | 130.85m | 39s | Republic | Arcadis

Ward8 said:
As much as we need to intensify in Toronto, it really irks me when we destroy a reasonably large building and replace it with such abysmal urbanism. If we're going to demolish a relatively attractive 8? story building, the street shouldn't be worse off at the end of it. These types of designs are really toxic to street life. This needs a rethink.
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Yeah, leaving aside what gets built in its place, there are way too many projects that propose to tear down perfectly good buildings, even up to a 19 storey office building, rather than building on emptier lots or just improving/renovating what is already there.
 
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The colonnade would be great if there was a bit more sidewalk space in front of it, and then the space under it was used for Parisian restaurant style seating, tables facing the sidewalk.
The street frontage on this proposal does not go with the character of the street at all. The new condo across the street from this chose red brick and an industrial black steel look that goes great. This will definitely be getting a redesign, looks like its suited for Bloor n Jarvis, yuck.
 
CJ6 said:
The colonnade would be great if there was a bit more sidewalk space in front of it, and then the space under it was used for Parisian restaurant style seating, tables facing the sidewalk.
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Exactly my thinking with the whole thing.
 
You can have great colonnades without patios, though a patio is a benefit anywhere. My last trip before this pandemic was to Rome, and we had an apartment a block away from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, which is surrounded by very nice colonnades. There are a handful of small patios, but it is mostly a joy to walk in because it's sheltered from the elements, is bright and airy, and has a variety of retail and restaurant uses.

Sadly, the park in the middle of the square was under construction and off limits for our entire time there. Also, there are way too many cars cluttering public squares in Rome.

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CJ6 said:
The colonnade would be great if there was a bit more sidewalk space in front of it, and then the space under it was used for Parisian restaurant style seating, tables facing the sidewalk.
The street frontage on this proposal does not go with the character of the street at all. The new condo across the street from this chose red brick and an industrial black steel look that goes great. This will definitely be getting a redesign, looks like its suited for Bloor n Jarvis, yuck.
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Amare said:
Exactly my thinking with the whole thing.
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I'd argue the opposite is true.
evandyk said:
You can have great colonnades without patios, though a patio is a benefit anywhere. My last trip before this pandemic was to Rome, and we had an apartment a block away from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, which is surrounded by very nice colonnades. There are a handful of small patios, but it is mostly a joy to walk in because it's sheltered from the elements, is bright and airy, and has a variety of retail and restaurant uses.

Sadly, the park in the middle of the square was under construction and off limits for our entire time there. Also, there are way too many cars cluttering public squares in Rome.

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If you look at these and other Italian examples, the colonnade usually goes right out to the Right of Way and is much wider and more pleasant as a result. In Toronto, these spaces would be far more successful if we committed to them and if the City allowed folks to build over the sidewalk. Otherwise we just get nonsense like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.663...4!1sWhlcDqLJ9mvhhVmu-9478A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
 
And I don't mean to push Rome as the paradigm for a walkable city. We had many moments where we cursed loudly while trying to navigate the toddler's stroller around the streets. But the colonnades on that particular piazza were always pleasant and navigable.
 
evandyk said:
And I don't mean to push Rome as the paradigm for a walkable city. We had many moments where we cursed loudly while trying to navigate the toddler's stroller around the streets. But the colonnades on that particular piazza were always pleasant and navigable.
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Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Rome, Bologna, (and on and on through other Italian cities) all have colonnades worth taking lessons from. They are typically tall enough to not be dark, have appropriate lighting anyway, pay attention to architectural detail, are lined with shops/caffes/restaurants etc so that they are lively…

We are getting one at the United BLDG at University and Dundas. It'll widen the sidewalk. It'll be tall enough, it'll be lined with windows on one side and I hope quality materials on the pillars on the other. While I don't expect Italian Renaissance architecture at the United BLDG, hopefully the finishing on it will show attention to detail. If they get it right there, it could lead to other good colonnades in Toronto if we're lucky.

Here's hoping we get a complete re-think here. Republic have some rather impressive designs in among the half dozen proposals they submitted to the City in the last while, but this is not one of them.

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This is bad if this goes through!!! At least keep the front end of the facade and put the towers behind it . We don't even have that many antique style buildings in the core that have detail like this !
 
cd concept said:
This is bad if this goes through!!! At least keep the front end of the facade and put the towers behind it . We don't even have that many antique style buildings in the core that have detail like this !
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You want to keep the facade of a EIFS-clad building from the 1980s? You can be as big a fan of that colonnade and the Novotel as much as you want but there is no world where retaining the facade of that building makes any sense whatsoever.
 
.dwg said:
You want to keep the facade of a EIFS-clad building from the 1980s? You can be as big a fan of that colonnade and the Novotel as much as you want but there is no world where retaining the facade of that building makes any sense whatsoever.
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Why?
 
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