Toronto Union Subway Station: Second Platform and Concourse Improvements | ?m | ?s | TTC | IBI Group

TheTigerMaster said:
Are the Bloor-Danforth washroom tiles a "sign of their times", or was it just the TTC trying to keep costs low? I'm willing to bet it's the latter.
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Compare to the other subway lines built in the mid-1960s. The original sections of the Orange and green lines in Montreal, and the yellow line. Each one was designed by a different architect, with very distinctive designs.

The BD line looks as though it was all designed by the same engineer, with the use of different colour tiles being a late afterthought.
 
Better than the Dundas Station re-tiling job.

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AlbertHWagstaff said:
I think the 1950s large vitrolite tiles were more interesting than the 1960s small tiles, but they all beat drab dirty concrete walls. All the stations should be taken as a sign of their times, even the early 1980s Yonge subway brown reno jobs. I used to dislike the excessive orange and brown 1970s Spadina stations, but that was the orange and brown decade so let it be. What should be done is to maintain them all in good condition as close to their original appearance where possible.
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The thing I like about Line 1 is that even though each station has a relatively unique designs, there are clear demarcations in the architectural styling for each extension of the line. It should be obvious to observant riders that the Yonge subway (King - Eglinton), Yonge north (Eglinton - Finch), University (St. Andrew to Museum), Spadina (Spadina to Warden), Downsview and now Union were designed/built by different people at different times.

Since all of Line 2 was deigned and built at one time, we don't get the same effect on that line. Instead we're left with a rather drab and monolithic design. It also doesn't help that west of Victoria Park, Line 2 is almost 100% buried. This gives passengers who are travelling longer distances few opportunities to experience natural light, which doesn't help with the mood of the riders. Ever notice how passengers tend to perk up when crossing the Prince Edward Viaduct?

Thankfully the TTC has gone out of their way to avoid the mistakes of Line 2 with TYSSE, by ensuring stations have prominent natural light at platform level and unique station designs.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Since all of Line 2 was deigned and built at one time, we don't get the same effect on that line. Instead we're left with a rather drab and monolithic design. It also doesn't help that west of Victoria Park, Line 2 is almost 100% buried. This gives passengers who are travelling longer distances few opportunities to experience natural light, which doesn't help with the mood of the riders. Ever notice how passengers tend to perk up when crossing the Prince Edward Viaduct?

Thankfully the TTC has gone out of their way to avoid the mistakes of Line 2 with TYSSE, by ensuring stations have prominent natural light at platform level and unique station designs.
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Well the reality is, that with all the NIMBY'ism going on in the city and a fear of "destroying neighborhoods" every single future subway extension will be underground and that's the reality of the situation. People in this city complain far too much about Boring Machines, so imagine if there was ever another overground portion added to the system. Asides from station boxes, I think the days of Cut and Cover are over.

What the TTC has done with Union is truely exceptional. The lighting and tiles make for a brighter and more open area, and the art (as good/bad as it may be) adds to the visual experience. If any future renovations occur to stations on the B-D line, they should follow the Union or Pape designs (with or without the art) and not the Dufferin design.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
The thing I like about Line 1 is that even though each station has a relatively unique designs, there are clear demarcations in the architectural styling for each extension of the line. It should be obvious to observant riders that the Yonge subway (King - Eglinton), Yonge north (Eglinton - Finch), University (St. Andrew to Museum), Spadina (Spadina to Warden), Downsview and now Union were designed/built by different people at different times.

Since all of Line 2 was deigned and built at one time, we don't get the same effect on that line. Instead we're left with a rather drab and monolithic design. It also doesn't help that west of Victoria Park, Line 2 is almost 100% buried. This gives passengers who are travelling longer distances few opportunities to experience natural light, which doesn't help with the mood of the riders. Ever notice how passengers tend to perk up when crossing the Prince Edward Viaduct?

Thankfully the TTC has gone out of their way to avoid the mistakes of Line 2 with TYSSE, by ensuring stations have prominent natural light at platform level and unique station designs.
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I'm glad you noticed that it does have an effect on people (maybe mostly because the views from the viaduct are phenomenal). But people like sights from a moving vehicle (whether car, train, plane, etc). Natural light is great too, which is one reason I was a bit PO'd that the TTC sealed off the skylights for the Rosedale Valley bridge a decade or so ago. Why not transparent materials!?!

This is why it's disappointing seeing so many anti-elevated, anti-at grade, pro-underground Nayshunals on these forums. Yes, tunnels are great and serve their purpose. But if you want a good experience as a subway rider, open air is the way to go.

You also made some good points about B/D's stations and the accounts from subway operators. Although I still like the stations, I could def see the utilitarian drabness becoming tiresome if riding long distances.
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Ever notice how passengers tend to perk up when crossing the Prince Edward Viaduct?
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Not only that, but it was a brilliant forethought to build structural provisions into that bridge back in Year 1918 for a future subway. A shining moment in Toronto's normally depressing transit planning drama.
 
mdrejhon said:
Not only that, but it was a brilliant forethought to build structural provisions into that bridge back in Year 1918 for a future subway. A shining moment in Toronto's normally depressing transit planning drama.
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Which of course I can't help but note was from almost a century ago. Depressing enough.

AoD
 
TheTigerMaster said:
Are the Bloor-Danforth washroom tiles a "sign of their times", or was it just the TTC trying to keep costs low? I'm willing to bet it's the latter.

I hope that in time the TTC will be able to renovate more of the stations Bloor-Danforth. It doesn't have to be anything expensive; even murals like at College or Victoria Park would get the job done. Anything that breaks up the monolithic washroom tiles is well welcome.
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The concept of art in the subway in Toronto was still a decade away when the B-D stations were designed; they were supposed to be functional and easy to keep clean, nothing more. Most of the same people who designed the B-D worked on the Yonge and University lines so a continuation of the same style should be no surprise. The subway platform was just where you waited a couple of minutes for a train, not a "place" in its own right that we think of today. For the Spadina line they went all out the other way, especially with having at-grade stations with opportunities for natural light and interesting station structures.
 
It's not just the tiles, the stations themselves are all just boring boxes. Old Mill is probably the only interesting station on line 2. What really perplexes me is why they made Keele, which is above ground, a concrete box like all the rest.
 
P23 said:
It's not just the tiles, the stations themselves are all just boring boxes. Old Mill is probably the only interesting station on line 2. What really perplexes me is why they made Keele, which is above ground, a concrete box like all the rest.
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That has perplexed me over the years as well. They punched some windows into Vic Park during the recent renos. I'd like to see some window treatment at Keele and Warden as well.

P23 said:
I'd wager Dundas would make the top 5 ugliest stations in the entire world. It's just wretched.
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I'd still vote for almost every single station in New York before Dundas.
 
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