Northern Light
Superstar
Solution: Plant (Dwarf variety) Hawthorn in 1/2 the planters and thorned-roses in the rest. People will not get close enough to use them as ashtrays.
Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR
Solution: Plant (Dwarf variety) Hawthorn in 1/2 the planters and thorned-roses in the rest. People will not get close enough to use them as ashtrays.
Natika33
Active Member
Love it! The more thorns the better
nightstreak
Active Member
I would have preferred if the bollards were further apart. What kind of 75cm wide car are they imagining invading the plaza?
Also, square footed bollards in this more period appropriate design would have fit Union Station better than the bare metal which will get dinged, postered and dirty in no time.
APTA-2048
Senior Member
Why doesn’t VIA have automated departure announcements at Union Station anymore? Was just thinking about it on Saturday after seeing an employee moving around the concourse yelling that the train was ready to board. I can’t remember when they stopped. But I’m thinking about my trip on The Maple Leaf in 2016, and I don’t think automated announcements were made then either.
nightstreak
Active Member
The Shouting Method ™ has been employed there for at least a decade. The Via Concourse is one of the few total failures of this reno. People who don’t know, don’t believe me that what they’re looking at is the finished renovation of that concourse.
Milaisacat
Active Member
Wait, what? I thought it went untouched during the Bay and York Concourse rebuilds because it is the responsibility of VIA and they're perennially broke.
DSCToronto
Superstar
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The VIA concourse was renovated - look back in this thread. Many of us think it should have had MUCH more renovation but they DID repair the floor and pillars and install better (but unsatisfactory) new lights and ceiling panels.
Yup, it actually was renovated several years ago now, early on in the process...
FGMDA (now known as EVOQ Architecture) got an extra inch or two of headroom out of the relatively low space available, and installed the shallowest lighting fixtures they could so as to not take away from that little bit of extra height. Otherwise, they were charged with keeping the heritage fixtures as much as possible down there, same approach that was applied to the Bush shed above by others.
LED lighting has significantly advanced in the half dozen years since. I expect less harsh lighting could be sourced now... but would there be any cash to upgrade it again? I doubt it...
42
UtakataNoAnnex
Superstar
The problem with heritage builds are folks asking, “They renovated this?” after the fact… >.<
nightstreak
Active Member
Before
After
This had little to do with money and all to do with incompetence. The same exact light fixtures, oriented along the long sides of the ceiling lengthwise and pointing sideways rather than repeating across and pointing down would've avoided harsh direct light and instead illuminated the ceiling for bounce light instead.
Bonus: a thin cover to make it recessed lighting and low powered pot lights in place of the where the lights attach now and in the soffit between the pillars.
A cheap fix that can be accomplished in a day? Literally turn the existing lights towards the ceiling.
To complete the look, carpet in the concourse would eliminate the terrible acoustics which would permit a public address system.
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WB62
Senior Member
Warmer lighting would nice too, look at the brand new TD Lounge in the VIA concourse, it has much nicer warmer toned LED lights and the difference is super noticeable. I’ll take a photo sometime tomorrow
nightstreak
Active Member
The bollards on Bay Street got a matching set of BOLLARD STEEL™ XXL condoms
Now let’s get these on the western and eastern edges of the plaza and cart away these damned “welcome barriers” that are on the verge of gaining heritage status.
Now let’s get these on the western and eastern edges of the plaza and cart away these damned “welcome barriers” that are on the verge of gaining heritage status.
WB62
Senior Member
Here’s the difference in lighting between the new TD lounge and the rest of the concourse.
If the whole concourse was furnished and renovated like the TD alcove was, I don’t think I would have any problems with this space.
Both photos completely unedited to keep the comparison fair
If the whole concourse was furnished and renovated like the TD alcove was, I don’t think I would have any problems with this space.
Both photos completely unedited to keep the comparison fair
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nightstreak
Active Member
Perfect. There’s that recessed lighting I asked for. You can see that it’s just as bright as the blinding lights in the main space but they’re covered so they provide proper diffuse lighting off the ceiling.
I don’t have a lot of confidence that Via is going to fix this but perhaps some of us should file an AODA complaint against Via given the splitting headaches these cause. While functionality and beautiful design fall far down the totem pole, government agencies do understand liability. See the stupid jersey barriers outside for how that motivates them.
Student99
Active Member
The TD space is alright, but I'm just not able to shake a gross / dirty feeling I get whenever I am in the VIA area. Judging by the emptiness in the photo, other people still avoid it too. None of the seating in this new area has USB outlets, and there are no regular electrical outlets on the walls. I also wouldn't trust stepping away from my belongings here even for a second. The washrooms in the larger VIA space, although they were renovated, are really gross- they smell nasty; very little fresh airflow, like most of the washrooms in the building. I've also seen drug paraphenalia laying around in there, and the homeless love to hang out in VIA with shopping carts full of belongings. No one ever asks them to leave.