My one thing with this building isn't so much that I wish they were taller (although that would have been nice too, so their incredible texture in our city isn't blocked as much by future development), but that the diamonds went up another section and the crown resolved in a different way.
It feels a little odd how it resolves at the top and the edges of the upper diamonds become less defined with the glass angling in for the top crown section making it reflect in the same way as the top of the diamonds — if that makes sense. I feel like if there was one more diamond on top to finish and that went into the crown it would work a lot better.
But I imagine it's very hard to predict how these lighting reflection effects worked out, so I can't really blame them. They've done a truly wonderful job on this cladding.
The way the diamonds pop lower down in the building is, if anything, stupendously better than any rendering could have ever predicted. Their starkness in the skyline is staggering, almost like they're CGI sometimes haha. They look sharper than basically anything else. It feels like they have opened up a new way of cladding buildings and using light to create shape that I very much hope is used elsewhere in the city in different ways as well!
And perhaps the strangely resolved tops will start to look more deliberate when complimented by phase two as a twin — four hourglasses going across the top. And their placement near the rail corridor, the Gardiner, and Union Station should keep them visible from some view corridors at least pretty much indefinitely.
The only reason I wish so much for that last diamond on top (and for perhaps somewhat better night lighting as my only other major issue) is because these buildings are otherwise truly a triumph.
Toronto by Marcanadian, on Flickr
Toronto by Marcanadian, on Flickr
Toronto by Marcanadian, on Flickr
