Roundabout
Senior Member
Fence has been put up around townhouses on Davisville. Demolition soon?
Toronto Balliol Park | 99m | 30s | Collecdev-Markee | Diamond Schmitt
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4grand
Active Member
Man! That is hideous! A giant box with protruding balconies, some of which are glass while others are stucco? Christ!
Someone please tell me that the giant cream exterior is brick and not stucco/precast... please.
I live 10 minutes from here. I was at the farmer's market yesterday across the street.
Someone please tell me that the giant cream exterior is brick and not stucco/precast... please.
I live 10 minutes from here. I was at the farmer's market yesterday across the street.
someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The rendering shows what is likely precast. I don't see how anyone could get brick from that image. Stucco is unlikely too.
modernizt
Senior Member
Before you get so worked up, I suggest you get a handle on the definition of stucco.
Also, let me assure you that DSAI (and other high-calibre firms in Toronto) do not use stucco in their work.
Without being absolutely clear, the renderings show a mottled tone which suggests brick. It's possible that won't be the final decision though.
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ProjectEnd
Superstar
I too see yellow brick (which could be precast), possibly with white mortar.
4grand
Active Member
Hey, you're right, I should stop saying stucco, that is my mistake. I just have trouble differentiating stucco and precast concrete, although I know they are completely different, their whitewash effects makes me cringe. They're stuccoing a nice, old, red brick house just at Davisville and Bayview, closer to me, and it's a tragedy..
Anyhow, I think it may be brick, honestly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's precast.
Also, is it just me, or are protruding balconies, for the most part, hideous and indicative of cheap, simple architecture? At least work them into the structural design a bit more...
4grand
Active Member
If you look at the renderings that are more zoomed in, there is a dichromatic pattern all along the cream exterior, which may suggest brickwork.
Hideous? That's a value judgement which some people will agree with you on, and others won't. I don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with protruding balconies, I just want the overall look of balconies whether protruding or integrated to indicate some intelligent design. In this case, the design scatters balconies across the façades. It's not the first time it has been done, but it's not dime a dozen either. Diamond Schmitt know how to create pleasing designs through good proportions and quality materials. Ultimately it's up to the developer to sign off on the budget items, so we'll see whether this all comes together nicely, but based on the renderings for Balliol Park, I'm not worried.
In regards to 'cheap', I believe you're mostly using that to mean lazy, but I want to address the other connotation. These are rental buildings. Only landmark luxury developments are going to be able to spend limitlessly. This city is straining under high land costs, and to keep suites affordable for the average person, developers and architects have to find ways to economize. Sometimes we end up with some pretty ugly buildings out of the efforts of keeping costs down, but I don't see that happening in this case; at least there are no warning flags raised yet.
All of that is not to say that you're not entitled to your opinion of protruding balconies.
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4grand
Active Member
Fair enough. I just find that a giant box, with protruding balconies, is something a 5-year old could design - Box, balconies, Done!
And I think there are extremes of economic concerns. I understand that buildings which are meant to have cheap rent are not going to be made of gold, but I just find that developers are squeezing every last cent out of projects and seem to care little for lasting aesthetic appeal.
Davisville is already ruined by those 50s/60s era, filthy-white brick, monolithic towers. They just completely dominate everything around them.
Call me old fashioned, but red-brick, with simple, yet tasteful architectural elements, is always a good plan for basic, yet aesthetically pleasing architecture.
Conrad Black
Senior Member
I for one love those 50's and 60's white brick buildings. They stand the test of time.
"My kid could do that." Really? That ridiculous old trope? Post some designs by kids that that should be built, or stop insulting the intelligence of UT readers.
So would you contemptuously call a building faced in limestone or marble "filthy white stone"? Those materials get dirty too, and those buildings eventually beg for a cleaning, just like white brick.
This has less to do with squeezing pennies than it does with your aesthetic sensibilities. You equate Modernism with cheapness and Victorian or PoMo flourishes with taste. You may be able to objectively prove that a minimalist building can be built less expensively than one festooned with frills, but you cannot objectively prove the inferiority of the expression. So I will take you up on your invite to call you old fashioned, you are.
Agreed. The best of them are uncluttered, handsome, well proportioned, reflect the optimism of their time, and wear their age with humble dignity.
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Roundabout
Senior Member
Roundabout
Senior Member
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
It's amazing how different the buildings with the black glass look from the ones with the old wooden panels.
As for this project - it will be precast.
As for those balconies which you thought were stucco - they are actually perforated aluminum panels.
As for this project - it will be precast.
As for those balconies which you thought were stucco - they are actually perforated aluminum panels.