Toronto One Bloor East | 257.24m | 76s | Great Gulf | Hariri Pontarini

maestro said:
An Aqua in Toronto would have glass panel balconies which would likely make it more appealing from afar.
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HUH????

Magnify that picture I posted and look closely (look at the edges of Aqua)... Aqua HAS glass covered balconies and it didn't help it very much.
 
Okay then. I saw this building last summer and remember the balcony railings made up of metal spindles. The condo floors were finished yet though. Perhaps they have glass.
 
Nope. They're black metal - no glass. And all the better for it I might add.

And with regard to Traynor's post, I think Aqua looks perfectly fine from all angles. My biggest problem with the building is that we would never commit to anything like that here. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong though.
 
Traynor: I think it's hilarious that the pictures come from hfboards. I didn't think anyone else here frequents that site.
 
My apologies to maestro. I searched for better pictures of Aqua and realize the balconies only appear transparent form a distance because they are metal spindles, that allow light to pass through. This however would not be the same if they were transparent because of glass as maestro originally pointed out. The waves would be more apparent from a distance ii indeed they were glass.

However my opinion of Aqua still stands. I would not like to see something like Aqua at Number One Bloor. From a distance it is a grey box, that looks bombed out (I even did a Photoshop render of this for another thread to illustrate my point).

4047367356_151985fda4_o.jpg

(Courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua,_Chicago and my bad Photoshop skills)
 
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My biggest problem with the building is that we would never commit to anything like that here.
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I don't think Toronto is beneath the level of Aqua's architecture or Chicago's recent boom for that matter. L Tower and Absolute, for example, come to mind. However, Toronto's zoning is certainly does not encourage building 800 foot rental towers as long as we continue to allow 40 storey towers at Kennedy & 401 or North York Centre to exist.
 
Traynor said:
My apologies to maestro. I searched for better pictures of Aqua and realize the balconies only appear transparent form a distance because they are metal spindles, that allow light to pass through. This however would not be the same if they were transparent because of glass as maestro originally pointed out. The waves would be more apparent from a distance ii indeed they were glass.
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Actually, no. The uniform visual effect you hope for would be compromised because much of the "balcony" is inaccessible, the railings aren't continuous with the form, and they cut in rather arbitrarily and don't align with window sections:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rlhZCdZl2is/SmgZwQdFIWI/AAAAAAAALUg/aJ644AFRjRE/s1600-h/IMG_2803.JPG
 
Spoonman said:
Based on what I could tell and what Al described, the "curvy" aspect of the building consists of seemingly randomly undulating balconies that are somewhat reminiscent of the new Aqua condo in Chicago, or Clear Spirits in the distillery district
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We may be focusing on Aqua too much, at the expense of Clear Spirit, which also apparently resembles Number One Bloor (Clear Spirit on the left):

DSCN2916.jpg


The undulations on Clear Spirit are much more sedate than those on Aqua. If Number One Bloor's balcony undulations are about midway between Aqua and Clear Spirit, I think it would look great.
 
Urban Shocker said:
Actually, no. The uniform visual effect you hope for would be compromised because much of the "balcony" is inaccessible, the railings aren't continuous with the form, and they cut in rather arbitrarily and don't align with window sections:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rlhZCdZl2is/SmgZwQdFIWI/AAAAAAAALUg/aJ644AFRjRE/s1600-h/IMG_2803.JPG
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Yes I realize this as well... But with the fictional Toronto version maestro was proposing, I assmued he wanted the glass to be undulating like the profile of the conctrete.
 
He probably did, but in the real world who would bother extending a balcony around inaccessible dead space just for effect?
 
He probably did, but in the real world who would bother extending a balcony around inaccessible dead space just for effect? /quote]

The dead space obviously doesn't have to remain inaccesible ... pied a terre anyone? .. however, I wasn't considering the costs of using an exorbinant amount of curved glass. Likely to break any building's budget.
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With this building the dead space often narrows to a mere sliver, so what would be the point of continuous balconies - glass-fronted or not? Who, or what, would squeeze into these tiny spaces?
 
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