Toronto Bay Adelaide Centre | 217.92m | 51s | Brookfield | KPMB

AlvinofDiaspar · May 5, 2016

In any case, please redirect the conversation back to BA2 - further Trump postings will be moved to the appropriate thread.

MoD

ADRM · May 5, 2016

AlvinofDiaspar said:
In any case, please redirect the conversation back to BA2 - further Trump postings will be moved to the appropriate thread.

MoD

Just to bring it back (though I know this will be controversial here, too)—the BA towers don't really do it for me. I'm generally all for a nice bit of clean, contemporary aesthetics (I don't necessarily need flashy wing dings on buildings to be happy), and I get the argument that there's a place for this sort of thing within a broader ecosystem of tall building design, but they lean more towards just boring and uninventive, to me. Not the worst towers to go up in recent years—far from it—but I would've appreciated something different with at least one of them.

steveve · May 5, 2016

ADRM said:
they lean more towards just boring and uninventive, to me. Not the worst towers to go up in recent years—far from it—but I would've appreciated something different with at least one of them.

There are a whole bunch of factors of these particular high-efficiency office blocks that contribute to their overal form and boxiness. Dictated by the sites proximity to the types of buildings surrounding them, the BAC must compete with those types of spaces and floor plans to be as versatile and flexible as possible to attract tenants. It also just so happens that the developers had a massive, clean-slate of a site to work on, which is rare in the financial district, allowing them to maximize floor plates with the traditional (tried and proven) box-layout. The developer, architects, and engineers aren't pressured to think outside the box (no pun intended) unlike that of say, EY tower which has a unique set of challenges on its site.
These are very attractive, high-quality, office buildings on their own, but don't contribute much architecturally to their surrounding area. Thankfully, you won't see these types of complexes on this scale outside of the financial district. Where they are now, they blend in just fine.

Fingers crossed for phase III.

ADRM · May 5, 2016

Very well said.

AndreaPalladio · May 5, 2016

I don't disagree with the points that either of you make. I prefer to see the BAC buildings as neutral, rather than boring. They don't much call attention to themselves. They reflect, and disappear into, their surroundings. Not everything needs to shout "Hey, look at me!".

AlvinofDiaspar · May 5, 2016

AndreaPalladio said:
I don't disagree with the points that either of you make. I prefer to see the BAC buildings as neutral, rather than boring. They don't much call attention to themselves. They reflect, and disappear into, their surroundings. Not everything needs to shout "Hey, look at me!".

Considering the current travails of KPMG, the last thing they want is attention.

AoD