Toronto Concord Canada House | 231.97m | 74s | Concord Adex | Arcadis

I'm saying we ought not to be complacent about our standards of what makes for a great building.

Nor am I comparing Toronto to the ROC - I love my country but I think we ought to always be aiming higher.

I am comparing Toronto's standards of arhitectural achievement and beauty to the great cities of the world - that's the level to aspire to.
 
Who's this we?

Our average tower design do stack up quite well to the great cities of the world despite sometimes very different market conditions. One thing is window wall needs to be banned.
 
"We" being you and I... and the citizens of Toronto. Who did you think I meant?

How our city fares when stacked up against others is a matter of opinion; I hope you could at least agree to that. On the other hand, this is an internet forum - dissension prevails. In the end, I'm content to keep my hand in the discussions. I'm not under any illusion we're ever going to solve any outstanding differences of opinion.
 
although I haven't posted here before I have been following this forum for a while... I notice that many here hate the glass facades but as someone who lives in the city, I find glass facades much brighter / less dreary, changes with the weather / more dynamic and allows for floor to ceiling glass in everyone's unit which is much better when you live in the condo (i find NY or Chicago very dark and one could say even depressing and it seems that even in NY the trend to all glass is starting). I do live in cityplace and am the one who brought up how uninspiring this design was in the initial presentation as well, but I have no issues with glass
 
The thing about too many glass buildings in one given area is how glass reflects yet more glass. I find that too much glass confers a kind of blankness or anonymity - an effect especially dreary when it's done on fairly staid, unremarkable buildings.

Also, isn't the building code changing up due to the general recognition that there are insulating/energy wastage problems associated with glass walls? Unless insulation techniques become substantially more robust, I'd expect many future buildings to incorporate less glass in their cladding, not more.

BTW, welcome to the forum KC1!
 
Lenser said:
Also, isn't the building code changing up due to the general recognition that there are insulating/energy wastage problems associated with glass walls? Unless insulation techniques become substantially more robust, I'd expect many future buildings to incorporate less glass in their cladding, not more.
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The building code did change, and this project reflects those changes.
 
Lenser said:
"We" being you and I... and the citizens of Toronto. Who did you think I meant?

How our city fares when stacked up against others is a matter of opinion; I hope you could at least agree to that. On the other hand, this is an internet forum - dissension prevails. In the end, I'm content to keep my hand in the discussions. I'm not under any illusion we're ever going to solve any outstanding differences of opinion.
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What are you ranting about? My opinion disagrees with yours. So what.

There is little anyone can do to elevate design unless you are a real estate investor. It's opinion based. There's never been a consensus on UT either that may make a developer ponder their own personal aesthetics. It all boils down to budget however, I can guarantee developers that consistently put up mediocre designed towers think they look good.

Transparent glass has low insulating value. Opague glass is just cladding. Glass towers aren't going anywhere.

Flip flopping all over the place. You did use as an example that Toronto should rate highly to the ROC.
 
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Not ranting. You are the one who seems upset. Not sure why you want to pick a fight, but whatever.

I never said glass towers are doomed. Again, I don't know why you're so irritated.
 
buildup said:
The relentless pot shots at CityPlace are tiresome. Can we all agree that if everything is 'the best' it merely resets the bar such that everything is again average. CityPlace was built from scratch over about 20 years. It's not luxury, and it's big. I find that many of the towers especially west of Spadina are good. There have been efforts to change design from tower to tower. Yes there is a lot of glass. The base of many of the buildings are well thought out. There are parks, etc.
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I dont think the shots are so much focused on CityPlace in particular. I think people are frustrated with Concord as a developer, as they have proven time and time again that they could not care less about the designs of their buildings. Their attitude has been so far to this point, just build the cheapest window-wall condo and repeat X # of times with little difference in design for each successive building. We have seen this with Park Place, and we're seeing it again with The Lake Shore.

Every time someone hears the name Concord, we know what exactly to expect even before a rendering comes out. It doesnt matter if the development is in CityPlace, Park Place, Lake Place or wherever else.
 
First time poster, long time lurker, and going on 3.5 years in Toronto now. Looking to buy this year and Block 22 is on my short list.

I'll second what KC1 mentioned about glass. I am fine with smaller spaces myself and like being indoors, but since I work from home it's going to result in some pretty bad cabin fever if the place doesn't feel airy and open enough - like it's connected to the outdoors. For some people who don't like being indoors I imagine it's even worse. As square footage has gotten smaller over the years to maximize profit, this only becomes more relevant.

That being said, the long term insulation performance is a big deal. One part of me laments the fact that this project is subject to the new rules on that because I don't imagine myself living here for 15+ years and have a selfish interest in maximizing that view. But on the other hand the environmentalist part of me all like "hush now baby don't cry you done good, and now you can outsmug the Yorkville crowd". I also happen to think that "glass reflecting more glass" isn't a bad look. My favourite time of day in the city is at twilight when the red horizon is reflected off that glass, or you nearly get hit by a car crossing the road because the sunset that is hidden by the building in front of you is reflected by a building behind you and then onto the building in front of you (..what?). You also get to experience both sunrise and sunset, whether you face east or west.

Seconding the obsidian suggestion as well. A giant black/gold tower of power would let me spend many quality hours fantasizing world domination from my perfectly drab yet functional shoebox. "Design" is for people who like shopping for furniture that can fit into 70 degree corners. ;)
 
They're working through OMB mediation right now. Towers have switched places and been evened out. The west tower has been increased to 69 storeys and 233.25m while the east tower has been shortened to 62 storeys and 214.40m.

Site Plan.jpg
 

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