Markham 68 Main Street Condominiums | 42.3m | 6s | Sierra | FBP Architects

This may be fake heritage, but it sure does create a more engaging pedestrian streetscape than most modern style buildings. All the fundamentals are there: vertical design emphasis, the building being broken up into visually smaller parts, recessed doors into shops, prominent display windows and sign bands. I wish those features were incorporated into more modern style architecture, instead of the usual featureless facades.
 
I agree, this looks good and I wish we could see something like this on Toronto's streets. I love the detail of the brickwork. The old style stores work so much better then the featureless (all glass) crap we get with new buildings.
 
This looks very Disney, but the best kind of Disney. It's like "Lion King" historicism instead of the usual umpteenth-straight-to-DVD-Cinderella-sequel we usually get.
 
This turned out much better than expected. Though not authentic, its has great character and scale.
I actually like the unpainted stucco cornices, it looks more weathered and less fake and sterile than painted:
MafaldaBoy said:
09 April 2014:
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I still think there needs to be one more brick colour to make the facade slightly more individulized.
 
Not normally a fan of historicism, but I'm happy to be pleasantly surprised by this. It looks good and the scale & detailing are great. Even the more 'modern' apartment block behind it, though not stylish, works – it just does its job and gets out of the way.

I don't think this would work on most of Toronto's streets, though I do wonder if the Beaches NIMBY Assoc -- err, Beaches Residents' Association -- would raise as much of a stink if something like this was proposed in their neck of the woods.
 
The Beaches would probably like the Main Street facades but not the 6s building. It's important to build projects like this one so that architects have the opportunity to develop and apply their knowledge of Toronto's vernacular. I like contemporary architecture, but our contemporary architecture could be improved by including more ideas from our vernacular seen in this project: narrow facades, polychromatic brickwork, bay windows and three-dimensional storefronts, for instance. Buildings can look contemporary and integrate these features in a contemporary manner.
 
To really appreciate how well this was done, compare it to the 1990s fakery on the Yonge Street facade of the Eaton Centre.
 
Ditto misterF, etc.

For some reason I'm really loving the bronze mullions on the back building. It would look utterly killer with charcoal brick.
 
it looks quite smart already in person. The photos, as great as they are, fail to capture what that brick really looks like. It just looks really, really good.
 
I like the size and style of the store fronts. These smaller stores make a street more interesting and appealing. The placement of the windows and variety of sizes, is quite nice, as is the different coloured brick. New condos going up need to use this variety of storefront designs but substitute modern materials appropriate for a modern building. There are so many great materials that could be used. There is no excuse for all-glass walls, in every new condo retail space. It's destroying the retail experience along Toronto's main streets.
 
Parkdalian said:
This looks very Disney, but the best kind of Disney. It's like "Lion King" historicism instead of the usual umpteenth-straight-to-DVD-Cinderella-sequel we usually get.
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Part of what gives it that Disney look is that it's an entire block constructed all at once, but made to look as if it was built as separate buildings. I wouldn't mind seeing more of this high quality historicism in smaller infills on Toronto's various heritage streets.
 
Well, I was wrong about Main Street's no-chain rule: there's a Subway and a Second Cup moving into the retail. I'm not sure when that rule changed, or if this building is somehow exempt, but I think it will be good for the area given that it will bring in more potential customers. I've also noticed a few new businesses moving into spaces north of here on the strip, so now that the road/sidewalk construction is almost over -- and this development is opening up -- I'm hopeful that Main Street will see better days ahead.
 
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