Toronto Aqualina at Bayside | 47.85m | 13s | Tridel | Arquitectonica

Unfortunately many Torontonians could never hope to afford something like that, or even make friends with someone who can afford that, which is why it is more important to judge these buildings by what they do for the public realm.
 
The redesign of the Winter Garden is quite disappointing. In this new version it's just an after-thought, which you can't even see. I can't believe Waterfront Toronto approved this. It's mean spirited and takes away a much needed indoor space from the public who use the park or just need a break from shopping. It could have served double duty and be used as a food court or restaurant patio, so it still could have generated some cash for the developer, yet be a great public amenity. That small, little walk through space, shown in the newer version, just destroys the whole concept of a winter garden. I hate to get set up and then have the redesign just let me down.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Unfortunately many Torontonians could never hope to afford something like that, or even make friends with someone who can afford that, which is why it is more important to judge these buildings by what they do for the public realm.
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Seriously? Well it is located right beside Sherbourne Common and the Waterfront (public) Promenade. There really is a ton for the public here, even if the average Torontonian can never afford to live in this one specific building. There are going to be retail shops along Bonnycastle Street AND another park (Aiken Place).

Waterfront Toronto has done a ton for the public realm along this stretch, as they have for other areas...not sure what more people want here.

It's not like massive gates are put up all around this complex and only for the elite (think Oakville waterfront).

Even George Brown College has an awesome public cafeteria and public rooftop terrace to enjoy the views. Don't take my word for it...check it out yourself :)

Even Torontovibe gets TWO water features here lol (at SB and SC)!

Do people want parkland all along the waterfront? Was a Winter Garden a make-or-break issue with thinking that this whole area is planned very well? That's not very realistic. If it wasn't for Waterfront Toronto's mandate to create new development lands to be sold off to private developers, none of this area and the West Don Lands would ever be developed. It would have sat here for ages. No private developer would be able to take on that risk or have pockets deep enough to go through all the rezoning and planning applications, fund brownfield remediation, create new flood protection landforms, new parks and promenades...the list goes on.

It's not perfect by any means...but certainly sad and vacant industrial lands and brownfield sites are nothing to be proud of either lol :p
 
Well, the thing is even if the Winter Garden is there, it will be at best a quasi-public space. That said, I do prefer that they break this project into two independent masses given its' length along Sherbourne Commons.

AoD
 
reactx said:
Well at least the future phases look more promising. I do like the plans for Aitken Place Park though and how it blends well with the promenade and other public space.
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Don't have your hopes up high. The rest of the other buildings might end up looking like this one too.

It's really a shame with the loss of the winter garden. But also the loss of colour too. The high curve of the winter garden and the red colour really made the building shine. Now it's just another rectangular and bland building.
 
RiverCity1 said:
Seriously? Well it is located right beside Sherbourne Common and the Waterfront (public) Promenade. There really is a ton for the public here, even if the average Torontonian can never afford to live in this one specific building. There are going to be retail shops along Bonnycastle Street AND another park (Aiken Place).

Waterfront Toronto has done a ton for the public realm along this stretch, as they have for other areas...not sure what more people want here.

It's not like massive gates are put up all around this complex and only for the elite (think Oakville waterfront).

Even George Brown College has an awesome public cafeteria and public rooftop terrace to enjoy the views. Don't take my word for it...check it out yourself :)

Even Torontovibe gets TWO water features here lol (at SB and SC)!

Do people want parkland all along the waterfront? Was a Winter Garden a make-or-break issue with thinking that this whole area is planned very well? That's not very realistic. If it wasn't for Waterfront Toronto's mandate to create new development lands to be sold off to private developers, none of this area and the West Don Lands would ever be developed. It would have sat here for ages. No private developer would be able to take on that risk or have pockets deep enough to go through all the rezoning and planning applications, fund brownfield remediation, create new flood protection landforms, new parks and promenades...the list goes on.

It's not perfect by any means...but certainly sad and vacant industrial lands and brownfield sites are nothing to be proud of either lol :p
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What does the "seriously?" mean? That you can't believe the a huge chunk of the local population couldn't afford a waterfront condo, or that you can't believe I'd bring that up as an important issue. Half of Toronto families make less than $65 000/year (after tax), and half of non-senior individuals make less than $27 000.

If there was going to be one neighbourhood in Toronto where we should dig our heals in to make sure that private developers contribute to the public realm, this would be it. Of course if this was Chicago, there wouldn't be any private development south of QQ, but that's another issue.

Anyway, my point stands. As members of the public, we should judge this building primarily by what it contributes to the public realm, not but what kind of amenities it offers to its residents.
 
Rivercity addressed all of those points, why don't you read his posting? The developers indirectly paid for all those parks, the public realm, when they purchased the land. The area is shaping up as one of the best public realms in the city - from scratch.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Well, the thing is even if the Winter Garden is there, it will be at best a quasi-public space. That said, I do prefer that they break this project into two independent masses given its' length along Sherbourne Commons.

AoD
Click to expand...


This rendering appears to be Bonnycastle Street looking west through the public passage toward Sherbourne Common.

Aqualina Mid-Block Connection.jpg

image from Tridel Website
 

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If the public walkway comes together as it shows in this render, then it could end up being a success. Here's to hoping it's not just banks and subway in those retail spaces.
 
It took a generation to understand that street retail is an important component of new developments. It will take another generation to understand that condominium development and interesting or unique retail are essentially mutually exclusive land uses.
 
Not true at all. Condos in Portland and Seattle (Capitol Hill, Belltown) feature great variety in retail uses and very dynamic streetscapes. It really comes down to initiatives by community/BIA groups to work with developers/landlords to coordinate more engaging retail experiences.
 
and they do in Toronto too (and more so, when you consider the sheer number of developments ... and not just downtown) ............ I can give many examples, but there's no point, as someone will bring this up again 5 min from now ...
 
I read that occupancy is 2016 for this?? How is that possible? are sales even going ok?
 
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