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


I think these balconies are stunning. The undulating effect will carry the eye up the entire building and across each balcony layer. Add sun glint and other atmospheric effects and it should be a winner. Those curves are what make it stand out from the likes of Casa2, Exhibit, etc (and those are terrific too).
 
I like the look of them too, although my wife and her sister dislike the look of the balcony glass - my sister-in-law called it "plasticky."
I think the net effect, when they're all installed, will be very impressive.
 
I have to agree with your family members that some of the panels look 'plasticky', almost acrylic like plexiglass. Not trying to be negative, just my thoughts. Don't beat me lol. But I agree with your last line, "I think the net effect, when they're all installed, will be very impressive".
 
No, it wasn't the curved glass I was thinking of (I actually haven't seen it in person - only in pics), but it's the north side of the building that I see when I walk along Bloor (like tonight) and thought that parts look very plastic. I've thought this ever since they started putting up the panels.
 
The effect of the balcony glass, with its reflective properties, is more metallic than I had expected. It looks even more gorgeous than I imagined it would. Hariri Pontarini are very skilled at selecting their materials carefully and beautifully.
 
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Is there any word on when the balcony glass will be installed on the whole building? The podium glass seems to have been half installed a long time ago but not much since then.
 
so, thinking back to when all we had was renders to guess about what the balcony glass would look like... it appeared that it would be the same colour as the main glass (gray - blue). at the time I commented that I thought it would look better if the balcony glass was a different or even contrasting shade than the rest of the building. of course I got skewered at the time but now it appears that the designers and builders were on the same page with me (or I with them). I admit that I probably could not have envisioned exactly what they chose here but I'm glad the end result is not going to be a monochrome.
 
so, thinking back to when all we had was renders to guess about what the balcony glass would look like... it appeared that it would be the same colour as the main glass (gray - blue). at the time I commented that I thought it would look better if the balcony glass was a different or even contrasting shade than the rest of the building. of course I got skewered at the time but now it appears that the designers and builders were on the same page with me (or I with them). I admit that I probably could not have envisioned exactly what they chose here but I'm glad the end result is not going to be a monochrome.
You can say that again! I agree with your sentiments. The balconies are looking good. I just wish the curves wrapped around the corners of the podium and the building to continue the supple lines.

Will the art piece be installed after the building is complete, or sometime before?
 
so, thinking back to when all we had was renders to guess about what the balcony glass would look like... it appeared that it would be the same colour as the main glass (gray - blue). at the time I commented that I thought it would look better if the balcony glass was a different or even contrasting shade than the rest of the building. of course I got skewered at the time but now it appears that the designers and builders were on the same page with me (or I with them). I admit that I probably could not have envisioned exactly what they chose here but I'm glad the end result is not going to be a monochrome.

I agree with you as well. When balconies are implemented to add visual interest to a building but use the similar glass, the effect is lost. A good local example to 1BE is Conservatory's Milan. While it's a rather pedestrian building, I think if they had used a slightly lighter or darker shade of balcony glass, it might improve the overall look of the building. It wouldn't put it anywhere near the same category as, say 18 Yorkville a block away, but might take it up a (small) notch.
 

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