Toronto Toronto Coach Terminal Redevelopment | ?m | 41s | Kilmer + Tricon | Studio Gang + a—A

If anything, it would distract from the monolithic backside of City Hall.
 
They could do an exceptionally tall tower on the lot on the West side of Elizabeth as a trade off and leave the coach terminal at a lower height. The idea is to avoid big buildings popping up in view corridors like the wedge of sky behind city hall. City hall is a piece of art/sculpture and it will be diminished if the contemplative "white space" around it is taken away.
 
UrbanFervour said:
They could do an exceptionally tall tower on the lot on the West side of Elizabeth as a trade off and leave the coach terminal at a lower height. The idea is to avoid big buildings popping up in view corridors like the wedge of sky behind city hall. City hall is a piece of art/sculpture and it will be diminished if the contemplative "white space" around it is taken away.
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Not sure if that tradeoff will work - esp. considering the west tower is even shorter. It may not stick out in the middle of the sky - but it will be poking out from the back of the tower. If you have to build, one should aim for a scale similar to One City Hall - maybe a bit taller given it's further north.

AoD
 
Honestly in an ideal world i'd suggest that the city keep this as the site of a secondary bus terminal in the downtown core to act as a relief for the Union Bus Terminal. There's no way 10, even 15 years down the road that the new terminal will be able to handle the load from both all of the GO Bus routes, Greyhound, and Coach Canada. We're going to run into the same issue like we are with the Union train station (ie: looking for potential secondary "Union" station sites).

Then again we dont live in a forward thinking city anymore when it comes to planning, we just look to make the quickest buck of something and call it a day.
 
Any future redevelopment of the Coach Terminal lands will most likely include 600 Bay St as well, which is the building at the NW corner of Bay & Dundas. I had an old job in that building before. And that was one of the continuous rumours and topics of discussions which was passed along by the building maintenence and operators.
 
Most of the GO bus routes will be eliminated in the coming years however due to the GO RER program. We are already seeing reductions today, and with both Barrie and Stouffville set to get off peak train service by year end, it'll likely be much lower by the time the terminal even opens than it is today.

Its the whole reason the interregional services can move in the first place. GO bus services will be very low come 2025, essentially only Milton and Richmond Hill off peak services, unless they introduce some other new services.
 
The NPS view corridor has survived nicely despite some of the worst intent. I shudder to think of the Toronto that would exist if some among you had your way. No problem with supertalls at Yonge/Gerrard, Yonge/College, Yonge/Bloor - but not immediately north of the curved towers of City Hall.

Some people get rather tumescent over skyscrapers. I in turn fantasize that Yonge will be made into a people friendly street with plantings, lighting, widened sidewalks and calmed traffic. Be careful that Yonge doesn't become alienating to pedestrians with attention only to buildings while ignoring the public space and amenities.
 
TonyV said:
The NPS view corridor has survived nicely despite some of the worst intent. I shudder to think of the Toronto that would exist if some among you had your way. No problem with supertalls at Yonge/Gerrard, Yonge/College, Yonge/Bloor - but not immediately north of the curved towers of City Hall.

Some people get rather tumescent over skyscrapers. I in turn fantasize that Yonge will be made into a people friendly street with plantings, lighting, widened sidewalks and calmed traffic. Be careful that Yonge doesn't become alienating to pedestrians with attention only to buildings while ignoring the public space and amenities.
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99% of posters would want the same or similar for Yonge. Wanting good height and good pedestrian realm are not mutually exclusive. From what I observe here almost all the posters that advocate for height need a good design (including public realm) to go with it for them to be accepting of the tower. Hence, most on here dislike Aura.
 
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am29 said:
99% of this would want the same or similar to Yonge. Wanting good height and good pedestrian realm are not mutually exclusive. From what I observe here almost all the posters that advocate for height need a good design (including public realm) to go with it for them to be accepting of the tower. Hence, most on here dislike Aura.
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Exactly. It shouldn't have to be one or the other. Nobody likes hideous design, especially it is monumental in size, like Aura. But I don't think other buildings being in the vicinity of City Hall necessarily diminishes it - especially if it's up at Elizabeth/Edward.

City Hall is surrounded by large buildings, being as it is located at the commercial heart of a commercial city, and is a stone's throw from 4 subway stations. Obviously don't stick something up some ugly beast that'll destroy its profile, but also don't get so precious with it that we avoid building anything tall around it. It's not the dome of St. Paul's!
 
Automation Gallery said:
Id be more worried of the impact of the new 100m courthouse design next door than buildings that are 2-3 blocks away
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The courthouse is being designed with views from City Hall in mind; I'm not sure how far south or how far west you'll have to be to see the courthouse rising behind the West Tower. Certainly if you're at the west end of Nathan Phillips Square, there will be no hiding the courthouse, so here's hoping we either get the best of WZMH there, or a reasonably good Piano.

Beyond the courthouse and 700 Bay (mentioned earlier), the height of 480 and 481 University were also capped where they were so that you wouldn't see them looming over the West Tower. There's no way that anything being built behind City Hall will be allowed to intrude into the view from particular spots in Nathan Phillips Square.

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A good site for a new hospital complex perhaps?

Or more of the same: 2x50 storey condo/luxury rental towers, 70 storey condo/hotel tower , 80 storey office tower?
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