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

[Lyphe]

I feel like this project is over-maligned and perhaps many posters have never actually seen it in person. It may not be iconic by any measure, but it's also not a bad looking or out of place building either. Fits very nicely and looks good in person imo.

 

[buildup]

I feel like this project is over-maligned and perhaps many posters have never actually seen it in person. It may not be iconic by any measure, but it's also not a bad looking or out of place building either. Fits very nicely and looks good in person imo.

Yes, there's a whole category so banal they don't get mentioned. Those that aspire to be more or occupy important places get subjected to much higher standards. I think this building is pretty good.

 

[skycandy]

Nice attention to details...painter painting underside of balconies in lower left. Plus heating coils underneath inside areas with balconies beneath them.

Give them a few years...

...and they should look like this....

 

[condovo]

That c.2005 window wall is inexcusable. And, yes, as I said in my last post, I've seen it in person and in full sun. It's horrendous.

 

[ksun]

I'm not sure. But the point remains--this is what shows up on the developing waterfront of Canada's premier city.

SAD!

The waterfront of Canada's premier city is a long lost cause. Whatever condos happen east of Yonge st is not going to change that. We will not have wonderful parks and landmarks. We will have some good buildings and some really ugly and offensive ones. And definitely nothing world class inviting people from elsewhere to come to see. The fate is sealed.

Stop expecting more.

 

[old boy]

I saw it in person for the first time recently. My initial reaction was, well this isn't quite as bad as I'd expected. With Monde going up across the street to the north , this new eastern panorama seems a little more balanced and presentable. Faint praise is better than none at all for a project that passes only because of its rather fortunate context.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Actually that was a significant stretch of waterfront, a virtual blank slate to do something quite wonderful within easy walking distance of the core. But yes it's not that bad and a definite step up.

 

[ADRM]

The waterfront of Canada's premier city is a long lost cause. Whatever condos happen east of Yonge st is not going to change that. We will not have wonderful parks and landmarks. We will have some good buildings and some really ugly and offensive ones. And definitely nothing world class inviting people from elsewhere to come to see. The fate is sealed.

Stop expecting more.

Nah, this is BS. Our waterfront is thoroughly excellent and attracts tens of thousands of tourists every summer, even though the architecture is mostly shitty (and may continue to be in and around East Bayfront).

The wave decks, all of the promenades, Sherbourne Common, HtO Park, the Music Garden, Sugar Beach -- all great, and we're talking only about the central waterfront there; the MGT extends westward through some gorgeous areas, past the island airport and the marina and along to what should be an amazing new park just east of Ontario Place. Follow that trail past some great beaches and out to Humber Bay Shores and you're sitting pretty.

Back to the central waterfront, there are more wave decks and promenades in various stages of planning, along with the Bathurst Quay neighbourhood plan. Aitken Place Park will come online in the next couple of years. We're getting a northward extension of Sugar Beach next to City of the Arts. We're getting some more green space beside the new Pier 27 tower. We'll likely get another new park to replace the surface lot just east of Maple Leaf Quay.

And we've got all of that already or soon to come before we've even mentioned the 3C development or the Portlands redevelopment.

So, yeah, we're in very good shape and the Toronto bashing is not only misplaced, but really quite ignorant. I wish as much as the next person that we had better architecture along the waterfront, but middling architecture does not and cannot negate all the fantastic stuff we're so lucky to have.

 

[Edward Skira]

I always wonder how people forget the Islands when they talk about the waterfront. How many cities have something as amazing as them?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I always wonder how people forget the Islands when they talk about the waterfront. How many cities have something as amazing as them?

True, though the potential of the Islands are far from being realized - poor, dated landscaping, attractions, etc. Not saying that it should be Singapore's Sentosa, but as it stands now the place is quaint.

AoD

 

[67Cup]

Hmmm. I think I prefer "quaint", at least compared to the photos I've seen of Sendosa. I think the calm of the Islands is a gift.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Hmmm. I think I prefer "quaint", at least compared to the photos I've seen of Sendosa. I think the calm of the Islands is a gift.

Oh don't get me wrong, I think Sentosa is excessive (to put it mildly) - but there is nothing wrong with demanding higher quality landscaping and more intense usage of at least some of the space on the Islands. As it stands out, it isn't reaching its full potential for a variety of reasons (access, uses, etc)

AoD

 

[jje1000]

Nah, this is BS. Our waterfront is thoroughly excellent and attracts tens of thousands of tourists every summer, even though the architecture is mostly shitty (and may continue to be in and around East Bayfront).

The wave decks, all of the promenades, Sherbourne Common, HtO Park, the Music Garden, Sugar Beach -- all great, and we're talking only about the central waterfront there; the MGT extends westward through some gorgeous areas, past the island airport and the marina and along to what should be an amazing new park just east of Ontario Place. Follow that trail past some great beaches and out to Humber Bay Shores and you're sitting pretty.

Back to the central waterfront, there are more wave decks and promenades in various stages of planning, along with the Bathurst Quay neighbourhood plan. Aitken Place Park will come online in the next couple of years. We're getting a northward extension of Sugar Beach next to City of the Arts. We're getting some more green space beside the new Pier 27 tower. We'll likely get another new park to replace the surface lot just east of Maple Leaf Quay.

And we've got all of that already or soon to come before we've even mentioned the 3C development or the Portlands redevelopment.

So, yeah, we're in very good shape and the Toronto bashing is not only misplaced, but really quite ignorant. I wish as much as the next person that we had better architecture along the waterfront, but middling architecture does not and cannot negate all the fantastic stuff we're so lucky to have.

Regardless of architecture, I think the East Bayfront is going to be fantastic from an public space point of view.

The issue lies more with the Central Waterfront. Until we deal with the ground levels of a few key buildings along Queens Quay, and until the remainder of the public realm (especially the Waterfront Trail from the Ferry Terminal east to Bathurst Quay) gets consolidated and redone- it'll always look piecemeal and shabby.

I also look greatly to the day when the Harbourfront Centre gets redeveloped. That building is seriously undersuited and underwhelming for its prominent location.

 

[ksun]

Nah, this is BS. Our waterfront is thoroughly excellent and attracts tens of thousands of tourists every summer, even though the architecture is mostly shitty (and may continue to be in and around East Bayfront).

The wave decks, all of the promenades, Sherbourne Common, HtO Park, the Music Garden, Sugar Beach -- all great, and we're talking only about the central waterfront there; the MGT extends westward through some gorgeous areas, past the island airport and the marina and along to what should be an amazing new park just east of Ontario Place. Follow that trail past some great beaches and out to Humber Bay Shores and you're sitting pretty.

Back to the central waterfront, there are more wave decks and promenades in various stages of planning, along with the Bathurst Quay neighbourhood plan. Aitken Place Park will come online in the next couple of years. We're getting a northward extension of Sugar Beach next to City of the Arts. We're getting some more green space beside the new Pier 27 tower. We'll likely get another new park to replace the surface lot just east of Maple Leaf Quay.

And we've got all of that already or soon to come before we've even mentioned the 3C development or the Portlands redevelopment.

So, yeah, we're in very good shape and the Toronto bashing is not only misplaced, but really quite ignorant. I wish as much as the next person that we had better architecture along the waterfront, but middling architecture does not and cannot negate all the fantastic stuff we're so lucky to have.

I call this sugar coating and typical low Toronto standard. I see the gradual improvement and I like many of them. But overall, central waterfront is a massive failure. One would have to have lived in Toronto his entire life not to realize that.

As to the East Bay, it will be more residential with some promenades and stuff. Pleasant at the best, but will never be great to attract people from elsewhere to see.

 

[Bogtrotter]

The islands are perhaps Toronto's most unique feature, but I agree the amenities are looking pretty tired. Just upgrading the fountain and botanical areas would help a lot, and maybe a few large sculptures in the parkland for visual interest. I'd love to see the Guildwood relics moved there.