Toronto Clear Spirit | 131.36m | 40s | Cityscape | a—A

[syn]

Who isn't? Neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas have won any design awards that I'm aware of, while Evergreen, Wychwood and the Distillery have all been lauded as examples of design excellence by various professional bodies. Furthermore, neither Trump nor 1 St. Thomas are examples of adaptive use, nor were they mentioned by our new chief planner in her Q&A with the Post.

The Distillery regeneration was lauded before the towers were added. I'm not aware of any awards these new Distillery projects have won.

The windowless hulk of Rack House 'M' wasn't cited as anything historically important within the context of the site, wasn't built as part of the Victorian era complex that is being celebrated, and has made way for residential and retail uses that are far more attractive and vital.

So? It was part of the Distillery and has been since 1929. Toronto has torn down a lot of buildings that weren't cited as anything historically important (at least not important enough for preservation and reuse). Many of those decisions were poor ones.

It's too bad the structure was not creatively reused and adapted, instead of being torn down.

 

[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

^ Big +1

 

[vegeta_skyline]

The Distillery regeneration was lauded before the towers were added. I'm not aware of any awards these new Distillery projects have won.

Glad to see someones got their facts right.

 

[someMidTowner]

Some in-car shots from today:

 

[Urban Shocker]

The Distillery regeneration was lauded before the towers were added. I'm not aware of any awards these new Distillery projects have won.

Much has happened since the Distillery was opened to the public in 2003, and will no doubt continue to happen. The Young Centre opened in 2006 and won an OAA Award of Excellence in 2007; Shim-Sutcliffe won a Heritage Toronto award in 2005 for the Corkin gallery, and an RAIC award in 2010; ERA won awards in 2006 and 2007 from Heritage Toronto and Heritage Canada for their work at the Stone Distillery; aA won an award of excellence for the design of 31A Parliament Street from Canadian Architect in 2007, for instance.

 

[syn]

Much has happened since the Distillery was opened to the public in 2003, and will no doubt continue to happen. The Young Centre opened in 2006 and won an OAA Award of Excellence in 2007; Shim-Sutcliffe won a Heritage Toronto award in 2005 for the Corkin gallery, and an RAIC award in 2010; ERA won awards in 2006 and 2007 from Heritage Toronto and Heritage Canada for their work at the Stone Distillery; aA won an award of excellence for the design of 31A Parliament Street from Canadian Architect in 2007, for instance.

Yes, that's the point. These new Distillery condo projects have won no awards.

 

[Urban Shocker]

It was part of the Distillery and has been since 1929. Toronto has torn down a lot of buildings that weren't cited as anything historically important (at least not important enough for preservation and reuse). Many of those decisions were poor ones.

The windowless bulk of the hulking Rack House 'M' has been replaced with something much better though, so it clearly wasn't a poor decision.

 

[Urban Shocker]

It's too bad the structure was not creatively reused and adapted, instead of being torn down.

It's not bad at all, since the building wasn't of the same standard as historically important structures such as the Stone Distillery and therefore wasn't protected or listed. It has made way for a residential building that's reviving the disused former industrial site, and that's a far better use.

 

[Miscreant]

It'll be interesting to see what the second building will look like, the one directly to the n/e that's going up right now. Some on here are saying this one sticks out too much--I happen to disagree--but that'll either be exacerbated by a second building, that is, the buildings will look even more awkward; or it'll be improved, as the second building will provide some more context.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Yes, that's the point. These new Distillery condo projects have won no awards.

Neither have aA's Casa, MoZo, Regent Park, Spire, Radio City, 18 Yorkville, Tiptop Lofts, District Lofts, or 20 Niagara ... but they're all beautiful buildings that enhance their surroundings, and are part of the revival of their neighbourhoods. Taken as a whole - combining the new with the old - the Three Graces of the Distillery District work with the heritage buildings and are examples of the same sort of process.

 

[syn]

The windowless bulk of the hulking Rack House 'M' has been replaced with something much better though, so it clearly wasn't a poor decision.

It isn't better than actually coming up with a way to have kept what would now a near century old part of the Distillery intact.

How much of Toronto has been bulldozed for something 'better'?

 

[syn]

Neither have aA's Casa, MoZo, Regent Park, Spire, Radio City, 18 Yorkville, Tiptop Lofts, District Lofts, or 20 Niagara ... but they're all beautiful buildings that enhance their surroundings, and are part of the revival of their neighbourhoods. Taken as a whole - combining the new with the old - the Three Graces of the Distillery District work with the heritage buildings and are examples of the same sort of process.

Around and around we go.

You're the one who cited recognition and awards as reasons the new Distillery condos are worthwhile, while other buildings like 1 St. Thomas and Trump are not due to a lack of such awards. When it's pointed out the Distillery condos haven't won any awards either, it appears awards no longer matter.

Mysterious.

 

[urbandreamer]

Like Monarch's Brian Carr said, we all have opinions on what is good architecture. I rather like this tower, but I also liked 1 St Tommy although it's not on the same level as aA's work.

 

[Urban Shocker]

No it isn't.

How much of Toronto has been bulldozed for something 'better'?

Not enough of it, unfortunately - look around.

You're the one who cited recognition and awards as reasons the new Distillery condos are worthwhile, while other buildings like 1 St. Thomas and Trump are not due to a lack of such awards. When it's pointed out the Distillery condos haven't won any awards either, it appears awards no longer matter.

You're the one who introduced 1 St. Thomas and Trump - neither of which are examples of adaptive use, nor were mentioned by our new chief planner in her Q&A with the Post, nor have won any professional design awards - into the discussion. Keesmaat was speaking of the regeneration of three areas - the award-winning Distillery District, Evergreen, and Wychwood - which clearly employ different approaches - including highrise. She wasn't praising the use of point towers over mid-rise residential or vise versa but was speaking to the success of three unique regeneration districts. Alklay claimed that the Distillery condominiums are "nothing more than a testimony to developer profits" but they're examples of a wider process - aA's Radio City, for instance, where condos are combined with KPMB's National Ballet complex that includes heritage buildings; the Five condo development which incorporates elements of heritage architecture; the Massey Tower which restores a disused former bank building much as aA's Distillery District restores the important industrial buildings; TipTop Lofts; aA's Theatre Park next to the Royal Alex, etc.

 

[syn]

You're the one who introduced 1 St. Thomas and Trump - neither of which are examples of adaptive use, nor were mentioned by our new chief planner in her Q&A with the Post, nor have won any professional design awards - into the discussion. Keesmaat was speaking of the regeneration of three areas - the award-winning Distillery District, Evergreen, and Wychwood - which clearly employ different approaches - including highrise. She wasn't praising the use of point towers over mid-rise residential or vise versa but was speaking to the success of three unique regeneration districts. Alklay claimed that the Distillery condominiums are "nothing more than a testimony to developer profits" but they're examples of a wider process - aA's Radio City, for instance, where condos are combined with KPMB's National Ballet complex that includes heritage buildings; the Five condo development which incorporates elements of heritage architecture; the Massey Tower which restores a disused former bank building much as aA's Distillery District restores the important industrial buildings; TipTop Lofts; aA's Theatre Park next to the Royal Alex, etc.

I'm still waiting to see a list of all the awards the Distillery condo towers designed by Aa have won.

1 St. Thomas and Trump were both approved by the chief planner, design review board and city.

By your definition 1 St. Thomas could easily be described as a regeneration project. It transformed a block of disused Victorian homes into residences to many that add to the neighbourhood. It was designed by an award-winning architect. Should we pretend it won awards too?