khris
Senior Member
Why?
Toronto One Bloor East | 257.24m | 76s | Great Gulf | Hariri Pontarini
- Thread starter iSlutsky
- Start date
Tewder
Senior Member
It's interesting to me how some here can find the design boring and underwhelming while others can find it overwrought and populist. How to reconcile such vagaries of opinion?
Stepping back a bit and allowing for a little more context I think the new design works quite well. I mean, do we really need another box at Yonge and Bloor, no matter how tasteful and immaculately proportioned? This design allows for a little drama and a little presence, and will be a beacon that announces Yonge and Bloor from afar. With the ROM addition flanking one end and One Bloor flanking the other the views along Toronto's most tony shopping area will be greatly improved, and One Bloor's wavy canopy-like podium will add a bold design element to an important though otherwise uneventful intersection.
If the materials and execution are of high quality and if a little more height is added during construction this building will indeed be a landmark, as much as many here will squirm at the notion.
Stepping back a bit and allowing for a little more context I think the new design works quite well. I mean, do we really need another box at Yonge and Bloor, no matter how tasteful and immaculately proportioned? This design allows for a little drama and a little presence, and will be a beacon that announces Yonge and Bloor from afar. With the ROM addition flanking one end and One Bloor flanking the other the views along Toronto's most tony shopping area will be greatly improved, and One Bloor's wavy canopy-like podium will add a bold design element to an important though otherwise uneventful intersection.
If the materials and execution are of high quality and if a little more height is added during construction this building will indeed be a landmark, as much as many here will squirm at the notion.
The Condo Observer
Active Member
Agree with Tewder. Now that we have a full reveal, I am pretty impressed...having set myself up for abject disappointment after the first partial renders were revealed. The podium is very dynamic, as are the elevations. The balconies are a bit fussy for my taste, but I like the waving gesture of curtain wall revealed by the balconies. This, The Daniels Film Festival Building, One Bedford and the X twins and M5V are my favorites from designs to emerge over the past five years.
Ramako
Moderator
Speaking of populism, I find it interesting that most people I know who are not actively interested in architecture, or are only passively interested, are quite impressed with the design, if only because it's so "different." It's also interesting to note, that the vast majority of them have never heard of Chicago's Aqua or New York's Beekman Place.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Yes,architecture as easy-sell novelty shape. It ranks right down there with The Met and other curvy, swoopy towers. Is that the pitter-pat of hundreds of little lemming feet rushing towards a sales centre? I hope so.
Ramako
Moderator
Unless you're the Queen, there's nothing wrong with occasionally preferring a Big Mac over foie gras, and it would be just as pretentious or disingenuous as the foam gargoyles on One Park Tower to pretend otherwise.
SP!RE
°°°°°°
Calm before the storm.. haha... so true.
When do sales begin?
When do sales begin?
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
Is the appeal of gargoyles in Mississauga - or the demand for something "iconic" at Yonge and Bloor because the location is apparently terribly important - all that different though? Design is about manipulating shape, texture, colour etc. and it isn't unreasonable for those who want to live in a landmark novelty shape building to flock to this thing. Two cheers for HP, who seem to have caught that wave.
Traynor
Senior Member
I cleaned up my render a bit.
(Original courtesy urbandreamer)
(Original courtesy urbandreamer)
Tewder
Senior Member
I agree with you at heart but I'm not too sure just what makes a grey box 'fois gras' and any other shape fast food? If somebody can enlighten me on this fine, otherwise lets not allow ourselves to be too constrained by the dogmatic obsessions of others, even if we are merely amateur observers here. There is beauty in all shapes and good design can come in many different forms. Curves are graceful and dynamic, and they work well at this location. Such a shame to be so afraid of them... and this false notion that anything other than a tasteful grey aA box is unacceptable under any circumstances is simply a confining and stunting notion for design in this city. Toronto is not at risk of becoming Dubai. The elegant box still dominates. Accordingly, lets enjoy and celebrate a design that boldly and elegantly eschews such rigorous norms.
Ramako
Moderator
I agree that this tower is far from 'fast food.' I'm just making the point that just because one appreciates a certain brand of neo-modernist grey boxes, as I do, it doesn't mean you can't also appreciate something completely different.
Urban Shocker
Doyenne
What's so completely different about a box with bits stuck on it so it doesn't look like a box?
Mike in TO
Senior Member
I hope they do increase the height....magically or otherwise
I don't understand why they stopped the height at 65 floors when they can sell 80-90 floors within a couple of months. Bazis were able to do it why not GG!!
Hopefully I can help answer this re-occurring question of height.
It is mostly related to managing risk, the current financing/lending environment and evolving equity requirements. A perfect storm involving these elements led to the failure of the Bazis project and are likely strongly influencing the GG project. The "sky" as mentioned in a previous post is certainly not the limit.
Major financial institutions have all posed limits on their exposure to residential markets. So no matter how good a project looks on paper and no mater how quickly or how many units the developer can sell there are still many risks on the development, construction and financial sides. Typically banks and other lenders are now limiting their exposure to any single project to about $50m - so larger projects require syndicated loans from multiple institutions which can be very complex and these issues have led to some projects currently on the market not getting financing and some other projects (some high profile ones discussed at length at UT) experiencing long delays in obtaining complex loans.
Secondly, the LTV (Loan to Value) ratios have changed since prior to the financial meltdown 18 months ago and developers are required to put up more equity, which puts greater limits on their exposure (i.e. the number of projects and the size of projects they can be involved in).
Profit margins have also been squeezed the last 2 years which is also complicating financing for many projects due to perceived increased risks for lenders and typically less equity being available for developers. Lastly there are a number of other changes in the financial relationships between development proponents and lending institutions including limits to counting purchaser deposits towards equity, self-liquidating loans based on higher pre-sales, increased purchaser deposit ratios and higher over-all pre-sale volume tests.
Hopefully that answers the ongoing questions about height. The sky is not the limit no matter how deep one thinks the market for any building is. There are financial limitations imposed on developers by risk-adverse and prudent financial partners.... Which isn't really a bad thing when one compares the Canadian banking system and real estate markets to those south of the border that had very loose relationships, regulations and fewer self-imposed rules.
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Report from the One Bloor media launch
Okay: lots of photos. To see larger versions, please visit my Flickr set, and play the slideshow, or click on the ALL SIZES button above the individual pics.
First, the overall model from various angles.
Here's something to look for, even though you will not see it: the building behind the balconies is not a rectangle. Each side of the building is angled two ways, with one angle running parallel to the street it fronts, while another portion angles out gently towards the street. The angling brings the building out toward the corner points of the balconies. If one were to pull those corner points out further, the building would look like a pinwheel from above... have I described that clearly?
from the west:
from the northwest:
from the north:
from the northeast:
from the east:
and from the southeast:
Next, a look at the roofline, and a good time to talk about materials. The building will be clad in curtainwall, with the balconies edged with fritted glass, presumably producing an effect not entirely unlike KPMB's Festival Tower. Above the 65th floor the sculptural articulation of the balconies below will continue to the roof with the fritted glass, alternating with the clear glass of the curtainwall: this building will end up with a lantern style mechanical room up top.
from the northeast:
from the northwest:
from the southwest:
from the southeast:
Now for the podium and street level details of the model.
from the northeast, across Bloor Street:
from the north, as if from 2 Bloor East:
from the northwest, as if from 2 Bloor West:
looking down Yonge Street: (with a large indent at the corner with Bloor: could this be the Apple store's entrance some day?)
the Yonge Street facade: retail on floors 1 and 2, residential terraces on 3, 4, 5, and 6.
the podium from the southwest: vehicular access will be from a slightly widened Hayden Street.
spa level on the 7th floor from the southwest: the podium roof will hold 4 feet of soil for the trees and plants to grow in
spa level from the south: indoor and outdoor pools, a view to the spa atrium
spa level from the east: the swim-in/swin-out pool
level 6: lower spa level, plus residences in the south end of the podium
level 7: outdoor spa level
Finally, the design team assembles by the model:
David Gerofsky, President and COO of developer Great Gulf, Anna Simone of interior design firm Cecconi Simone Inc., Janet Rosenberg of landscape architect Janet Rosenberg + Associates, David Pontarini of architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects.
Further details regarding the design:
Commercial space will be approximately 100,000 square feet, with 35,000 sq ft of that at street level, 45,000 sq ft of that on the level above, and 25,000 sq ft on the concourse (read: basement) level. A pedestrian mall connection will run through the ground floor commercial space from Yonge Street straight into the TTC connection in the Xerox building. One Bloor will not connect under Bloor Street to the Hudson's Bay Centre.
Ways to highlight the building's curves with light are night are being considered: LEDs may be used to trace the curves.
Suites are grouped in 4 sections:
The Podium: these suites do not appear to be on sale in the intial phase.
Silver: floors 8 through 38: 12 units per floor
Gold: floors 39 through 59: 10 units per floor
Platinum: floors 60 through 65: 6 units per floor
Those distinctions also have to do with level of finishing and features.
Sales are open first, and as of now, to buyers who purchased in the former Bazis project on this site. There is no firm date as yet to when the units will be on sale to the general public.
And now the question you've all been waiting for: the developer was asked at the launch if the building might increase in height before all is said and done. The answer: yes, it might, if the demand is there.
So for all of you screaming for 80 stories at Bloor and Yonge: if you want that, go out and buy a unit here. If you don't buy a unit here, don't whine incessantly about there only being 65 floors in the plan for this tower.
Questions?
42
Okay: lots of photos. To see larger versions, please visit my Flickr set, and play the slideshow, or click on the ALL SIZES button above the individual pics.
First, the overall model from various angles.
Here's something to look for, even though you will not see it: the building behind the balconies is not a rectangle. Each side of the building is angled two ways, with one angle running parallel to the street it fronts, while another portion angles out gently towards the street. The angling brings the building out toward the corner points of the balconies. If one were to pull those corner points out further, the building would look like a pinwheel from above... have I described that clearly?
from the west:
from the northwest:
from the north:
from the northeast:
from the east:
and from the southeast:
Next, a look at the roofline, and a good time to talk about materials. The building will be clad in curtainwall, with the balconies edged with fritted glass, presumably producing an effect not entirely unlike KPMB's Festival Tower. Above the 65th floor the sculptural articulation of the balconies below will continue to the roof with the fritted glass, alternating with the clear glass of the curtainwall: this building will end up with a lantern style mechanical room up top.
from the northeast:
from the northwest:
from the southwest:
from the southeast:
Now for the podium and street level details of the model.
from the northeast, across Bloor Street:
from the north, as if from 2 Bloor East:
from the northwest, as if from 2 Bloor West:
looking down Yonge Street: (with a large indent at the corner with Bloor: could this be the Apple store's entrance some day?)
the Yonge Street facade: retail on floors 1 and 2, residential terraces on 3, 4, 5, and 6.
the podium from the southwest: vehicular access will be from a slightly widened Hayden Street.
spa level on the 7th floor from the southwest: the podium roof will hold 4 feet of soil for the trees and plants to grow in
spa level from the south: indoor and outdoor pools, a view to the spa atrium
spa level from the east: the swim-in/swin-out pool
level 6: lower spa level, plus residences in the south end of the podium
level 7: outdoor spa level
Finally, the design team assembles by the model:
David Gerofsky, President and COO of developer Great Gulf, Anna Simone of interior design firm Cecconi Simone Inc., Janet Rosenberg of landscape architect Janet Rosenberg + Associates, David Pontarini of architectural firm Hariri Pontarini Architects.
Further details regarding the design:
Commercial space will be approximately 100,000 square feet, with 35,000 sq ft of that at street level, 45,000 sq ft of that on the level above, and 25,000 sq ft on the concourse (read: basement) level. A pedestrian mall connection will run through the ground floor commercial space from Yonge Street straight into the TTC connection in the Xerox building. One Bloor will not connect under Bloor Street to the Hudson's Bay Centre.
Ways to highlight the building's curves with light are night are being considered: LEDs may be used to trace the curves.
Suites are grouped in 4 sections:
The Podium: these suites do not appear to be on sale in the intial phase.
Silver: floors 8 through 38: 12 units per floor
Gold: floors 39 through 59: 10 units per floor
Platinum: floors 60 through 65: 6 units per floor
Those distinctions also have to do with level of finishing and features.
Sales are open first, and as of now, to buyers who purchased in the former Bazis project on this site. There is no firm date as yet to when the units will be on sale to the general public.
And now the question you've all been waiting for: the developer was asked at the launch if the building might increase in height before all is said and done. The answer: yes, it might, if the demand is there.
So for all of you screaming for 80 stories at Bloor and Yonge: if you want that, go out and buy a unit here. If you don't buy a unit here, don't whine incessantly about there only being 65 floors in the plan for this tower.
Questions?
42
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TheProfessor
Active Member
Very informative, thanks. On Global news at 6:00pm they did a piece on the project and announced that pricing ranges from $380,000's to $1,500,000's. They made no mention of suite sizes.