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Bay Adelaide Centre


DEVELOPER
Brookfield Properties

ARCHITECT
WZMH Architects Inc.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Envision The Hough Group

GENERAL CONTRACTOR
EllisDon

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Bay Adelaide Centre is a 51 storey office building demonstrating design excellence and leadership in sustainable urban development. The tower is a pristine glass prism with a distinctive silhouette on the Toronto skyline. With LEED Gold certification in process, the development goes beyond energy efficiency and responsible resource use to demonstrate a commitment to social and historical sustainability, while addressing the historical urban context and making significant contributions to the public realm of Toronto’s financial core. The development features an urban plaza, a public art light installation and an underground connection to adjacent developments and public transit. The transparent façades provide a seamless continuity between sidewalk, plaza, and the ground floor lobby. Historical façades are integrated to sustain the history of the ‘Bay Street Canyon’ created by early 20th century skyscrapers in the financial core. The BAC raises the bar for new office standards by providing services, amenities, and security features well above standard. Photography: Tom Arban

Comments

The lobby looks fantastic from Bay Street. The biggest problem is the fact that on many days, you can barely see it because of the ultra reflective windows. I'm fine with minimalism, but it should have incorporated a design motif to make it more memorable, especially given its prominent location in the CBD.

The incorporated facade of the building which previously stood on the site looks tacked on and out of place.

Like all Canadian plazas: a vast, empty expanse of cheap, poured (soon to be cracked) concrete, rust-stained by the snow ploughs. Let us hope the homeless soon set up camp and add a bit of colour.

It's actually granite, not poured concrete. Not that this makes it less vacant, but try checking it out before commenting.

This is an elegant building. It's classy. The big empty concrete plaza is a little concerning, but the street facade looks great. The whole site reminds me of the Seagram Building in New York. The exact style is different (who could come even close to Mies for tower design?) but the overall feel is similar. Maybe a visit would change my mind, but that's my impression from the photos.

Meeting at architects office goes something like this.

" Ok everyone.. I have the drawings for the Bay Adelaide Center "

Client: " Great ! "

Architect: " Its going to be sexy.. a spiral shaped building.. with a glistening diamond like pattern with red lines along each corner from top to bottom a real landmark "

Client: " Ok but could we just make it square ? It will save us money "

You want sexy? Lose the spire, as Mies demonstrated down the street.

You are bang on!!

Boring square lowest denominator un-sexy skscrapers!

How many migrating birds does this thing kill every month?

I like the clean lines and the colour of the glass but again Toronto gets another plain boring rectangular skyscraper with an uninteresting roof line!

Why are all the roof lines of Toronto skyscrapers so lacking in imagination (except for the Brookfield Tower where the roof is stepped an you have the TD spire and sign...but even next store the sister towers were supposed to have striking needle-like towers on the top but they sadly never materialized and the roof treatment look like boring stumps!)

would have been better if it were taller

The Pug Awards gratefully acknowledges the support of our Platinum Sponsors for their commitment to enhancing Toronto's cityscape through the promotion of innovative architecture and design. Through their advocacy of the Pug Ed youth education program, our Members' have given our city and its students an opportunity to think critically about urban environments and sparked community engagement that will resonate for generations to come. Thank you.
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