Toronto Dundas Square Gardens | 156.05m | 50s | Gupta | IBI Group
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skycandy
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someMidTowner
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
IBIvory
Jonathan Carruthers
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Torontonians could start to ask themselves what kind of experience at street level do they expect from their developers? What makes a city more livable more walkable? Heritage buildings and/or their facades are not only preserved for their reference to Toronto's past but also to preserve a fine grained experience at the pedestrian level. Should this not be a precedent for city planners to exert some kind of influence upon a more varied use of materials and textures that replicate that experience in new builds?
In any subdivision or old neighbourhood, it is expected that a household cuts the grass and makes aesthetic repairs not only for their sake but for the sake of the neighbours, visitors and the district they live in. A lawn, for example, though privately owned, is a visual transaction with those living near or merely walking by. Here we have a fifty story tower that from my point of view makes little effort in that transaction.
Tell me they could not afford to put some creativity into the design at street level for the sake of those who share this urban space. This is a 50 story tower with over a thousand units in it.
In any subdivision or old neighbourhood, it is expected that a household cuts the grass and makes aesthetic repairs not only for their sake but for the sake of the neighbours, visitors and the district they live in. A lawn, for example, though privately owned, is a visual transaction with those living near or merely walking by. Here we have a fifty story tower that from my point of view makes little effort in that transaction.
Tell me they could not afford to put some creativity into the design at street level for the sake of those who share this urban space. This is a 50 story tower with over a thousand units in it.
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Skeezix
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This is Toronto. Residents and planners clutch their pearls and fixate on height, yet don't pay nearly enough attention to the streetscape, how the building meets the street, ground floor design and animation, or how the ground floor could be tenanted. So we end up with underwhelming street level treatment, that despite the multiple units shown on site plan drawings all ends up being leased to Shoppers Drug Mart with all the windows covered with window film.
ETA: I shouldn't be so negative. I need to acknowledge that it could just as easily be a bank branch that occupies all the units and covers up all the windows. There is a real diversity of common ground floor uses. Banks. Shoppers Drug Mart. Shouldn't complain.
ETA: I shouldn't be so negative. I need to acknowledge that it could just as easily be a bank branch that occupies all the units and covers up all the windows. There is a real diversity of common ground floor uses. Banks. Shoppers Drug Mart. Shouldn't complain.
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Torontovibe
Senior Member
Don't forget the ubiquitous Tim Hortons/Starbucks!
whatever
Senior Member
In general I'd tend to agree that we could use a lot more attention to the streetscaping of all of these new towers, but in this particular case I think the criticism should be tempered a bit by the existing context. Pace was an enormous upgrade over the half-abandoned plaza that used to sit on the SW corner. Grid isn't even close to complete, and it, too, seems to be shaping up as a significant improvement. And similarly, this development is already meeting the street better than the Hilton did (recall, it had a large driveway / porte cochere facing Jarvis, and a nearly block-long deadzone facing Dundas (other than the odd storefront that would be temporarily occupied and then emptied).
Yes, things could be so much better. But Jarvis/Dundas is way ahead on this development cycle.
Yes, things could be so much better. But Jarvis/Dundas is way ahead on this development cycle.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Grid's street level is going to be rather poor - it only has a small token retail space on the corner. Pace and this project are actually providing quality retail spaces.
Skeezix
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For a corner undergoing tremendous change and an incredible increase in density, it's not all that mollifying to hear that the street treatment, while poor, is still way better than the old decrepit plaza and the craptastic Hilton Garden Inn. It would be nice if the transformation of this intersection had a better slogan than "it's not as crappy as it used to be".
I don't think the way the building meets the street is awful. But so often in Toronto, it's not done well and is treated like an afterthought.
I don't think the way the building meets the street is awful. But so often in Toronto, it's not done well and is treated like an afterthought.
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fiendishlibrarian
Active Member
RCMP HQ. Hence the Mounties Tavern down the street.
Automation Gallery
Superstar
Where is it now?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
ChesterCopperpot
Senior Member
Incorrect - the Grand Hotel & Suites was the RCMP HQ
adHominem
Senior Member
I can't see anything in that first photo except for the mismatched "d" on the FedEx truck.