Building Design Competition

koops65 · #1 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 10:25 AM**

Time for the submissions to the Building Design Competition!

Submissions must be entered by midnight tonight...

Happy 420 all!

koops65 · #2 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 11:14 AM**

Dragon Towers - 26 Maitland St. Toronto

3 Towers of Super Luxury:

Tower A - 50 floors, 260 metres, 44 units, 6 storey podium (office)

Tower B - 40 floors, 210 metres, 36 units, 4 storey podium (retail)

Tower C - 30 floors, 160 metres, 28 units, 2 storey podium (lobby)

Dragon statue - 46 metres

Fountain - 30 metres

Tower separation - 25 metres (average)

Tower floor plates - 715 Sq. metres (average)

Videos don't seem to be working lately but I'll post one anyway:

• Video Link

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Good luck to my fellow competitors!

Maldive · #3 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 4:54 PM**

Very cool towers Koops.

Think these belong in Hollywood/L.A. - redolent of messy stacks/rolls of 70mm film ;-)

ericmacm · #4 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 9:12 PM**

Sapphire Plaza - 26 Maitland St. Toronto

Office Tower - 236m, 57 floors, 67,136 sqm office space
Residential Tower I - 150m, 45 floors, 286 residential units
Residential Tower II - 172m, 54 floors 360 residential units

Towers are connected by a large 29m, 7 floor podium of mixed-use office and retail, with a large amenity space on floor 8, complete with a pool and hot tub. The podium has a small rooftop amenity space on floor 3 on the eastern side of the tower. The office tower also has four separate rooftop green spaces. Towers are separated with approximately 30-35m in between. The residential towers have enclosed rooftop amenity spaces.

Nouvellecosse · #5 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 10:18 PM**

I'm curious as to how the dragon name and imagery relates to the first submission.

koops65 · #6 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 11:03 PM**

There is no relationship, it's just a gimmick.

Nouvellecosse · #7 Posted **Apr 20, 2020, 11:18 PM**

I was afraid of that...

TorontoDrew · #8 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 5:50 AM**

Sorry I missed the deadline I forgot it was yesterday. Also the heights are just quick estimates. Also a shout out to Delung who gave me the Toronto core cad file years ago.

North Tower
85 Floors 310m

South Tower
69 floors 270m

Still not complete. I only spent about a full day in total on it.

26 Maitland

render_02 by Andrew Moore, on Flickr

render_01 by Andrew Moore, on Flickr

Without the exoskeleton.

render_04 by Andrew Moore, on Flickr

render_03 by Andrew Moore, on Flickr

Nouvellecosse · #9 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 3:04 PM**

^ And they're both residential? It's interesting that there doesn't seem to be any balconies on them unless they're somehow integrated into the larger circles. Also, would be interesting to see an interior rendering of one of the units to better understand the internal affect of the haphazard-looking window layout. Obviously it's one thing to have that type of striking exterior texture on a purely sculptural structure, but it's a whole different thing to integrate it into functional architecture.

Also, are all the circles windows? Just wondering since they don't seem to line up with individual levels

Nouvellecosse · #10 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 3:13 PM**

One thing I'm wondering with all three is where the parking (if any) is located? Since the site is directly above the subway I assume an underground structure isn't feasible. Yet it doesn't seem like there's parking in the podiums? These are pretty big projects for parking to be totally excluded.

FrankieFlowerpot · #11 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 3:32 PM**

If it's on the parking lot adjacent to 20-26 then no - they couldn't go down. The current proposal for 26 Maitland has 2 levels of UG parking.

Nouvellecosse · #12 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 3:58 PM**

I love how Eric didn't even vote for himself.

TorontoDrew · #13 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 4:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I love how Eric didn't even vote for himself.

I only did because I thought they both did that lol.

ericmacm · #14 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 6:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I love how Eric didn't even vote for himself.

I'd rather not vote for myself.

I thought about it initially but I was worried that my vote would have been the only vote for my design, lol.

koops65 · #15 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 8:59 PM**

You have to remember that parts of these proposals are pure fantasy and would never get very far into a real approvals process. The are all too tall for the site for one thing,(shadowing on nearby parks) and as was pointed out, they lack parking of any kind too. I think if/when there is a next time, we need to be much more careful about the surrounding context.

TorontoDrew · #16 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 10:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

^ And they're both residential? It's interesting that there doesn't seem to be any balconies on them unless they're somehow integrated into the larger circles.

Also, are all the circles windows? Just wondering since they don't seem to line up with individual levels

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render_03 by Andrew Moore, on Flickr[/IMG]

Nouvellecosse · #17 Posted **Apr 22, 2020, 10:41 PM**

I have to go with the first proposal because if i imagine it without the distracting dragon stuff it does the best job at blending an interesting aesthetic with a plausible architectural proposal. I'm not against having a "gimmick" in the sense of something that gratuitously brands a development but it needs to be something that complements the proposal rather than clashes with it. It's interesting how each floor seems to be one single residential unit (obviously very high end) and all seem to have outdoor recreational space on the roof of the unit below created by the offset of the floor plates. I also appreciate the LED strips along the balcony railings and the crown lighting which would add some glitz to the area. The form itself is a simple concept but still effective. The idea of residential buildings with circular floor plates isn't new with Marina city being among the early examples, but it isn't exactly prolific nonetheless.

With the second proposal, it's clearly the most practical and likely to be built (other than the lack of demand for such a large office tower at that location) but I find the concept a bit basic compared to the others. That, and i'm not a fan of the late 80s/early 90s blue glass aesthetic that this reminds me of.

With the third design, its appearance is the most striking which is partly because of the very effective use of colours in the renderings with the buildings combining the white with the grey of the background they're set against. If the rendering was set against a full coloured cityscape it definitely wouldn't have the same effect. Overall, in the same way the second proposal goes a bit too far with the practical, the third doesn't quite go far enough. These structures make for the most beautiful "art" (a 10 or 15m version would make for an amazing modern monument in a public space used to a similar effect as an obelisk or victory column) architecture by its very nature is an intersection between the artistic and the functional.

Anyway, congratulations Koops and great work everyone! I hope you all keep exploring your artistic and creative sides.

** Edit ** I didn't see the last image until after i already voted and wrote the previous explanation. The extra detail does definitely improve the proposal as previously it was really suffering from the TLI (too little information) effect.