Important TOcore Issues to be considered for Proposed Developments
25 Metre Tower Separation:
This is City of Toronto Policy that applies to all structures that are 7 storeys or more. It is a minimum distance between towers. This metric has been in place for a long time, probably more than 2 decades as a guideline and now it is part of TOcore policy. In general, the BCCA should push hard for this standard minimum tower separation in all developments. If the opportunity arises, a greater than 25 metre tower separation is desirable.
Sun Shadow Studies:
The City does NOT always do its own sun/shadow study for an application, and it is not clear exactly what initiates a separate city sun shadow study. The specific TOcore policies are critical to the protection of sunshine in our parks and public realm.
Greening, Public Realm and Parkland Dedication:
The downtown is not likely to have future opportunities to procure more new parkland. Despite that, the population will continue to rise within our community and more parkland will be needed.
Creating Green Space Where None Exists:
Public Realm becomes more important in this instance. The primary goals are:
As a less hopeful plan, tree trenches may be an option ONLY if the details are well described in the landscaping plan. Too often garbage from the construction is thrown into the bottom of the tree trench. This makes the specification of soil quantity (depth/width) and quality to be very specific and extremely important.
Privately Owned Public Space (POPS):
When hope is completely lost for any green space on a site, consider a POPS that uses part of the ground level area beneath the second floor and open to the public sidewalk. Often the ground level of a building is extra tall and this gives an opportunity to have a large area (one third to one half of the footprint) made available for everyone, both community residents and unit owners to share a ground level green space. This would not be intended for retail use. It would serve solely for use as a public green space/POPS. It would be similar to the private outdoor amenity spaces created for the building owners, usually on higher levels and inaccessible to the general public.
Built Form, Massing:
Built form is the actual shape of the box that constitutes the development structure. That includes podium, tower(s), setbacks, stepbacks. It must be complementary to the neighbouring architectural elements in both size and design. It must meet the criteria that allow the shorings, staging, deliveries, hoarding, crane movements, and all of the necessary parts of the construction phase to have sufficient space to happen. If the site is so over-built that this construction phase cannot happen in an orderly manner for the community, there should be some adjustments to the plans.
Transportation:
The developer is required to have a transportation report prepared for the application. This report is often fairly difficult to read because it can be technical and also full of numbers. Transportation drawings are less complicated to understand than the architectural drawings. These drawings outline the development ground level and underground levels. These levels are very important to the smooth movement and functioning within the building, including elevators, the services of garbage pickup, move-ins, mail and parcel delivery, etc.
Given the BCCA experience with existing buildings, including our own buildings, and others within our membership, as well as experience with previous transportation plans, valuable suggestions can be made to benefit both the development and the neighbourhood. This allows the functionality of the building to be maximized.
Pick-up and Drop-off Areas:
This is part of the transportation plans for a development. In the ever densifying downtown, pick-up and drop off of people or deliveries should NOT be placed in the public realm. If we are to lose width on our streets, we should support ONLY greening and landscaping. Pick-up and drop-offs need to be internal to the building.
Wind Study:
All development applications require a preliminary wind study to be part of the application submission. During the Site Planning Phase, a final wind study is required. These final wind studies are available on-line. Special attention should be made for wind on all of our new parks and also on the public realm where it has been “greened”.
Consider the wind issues of Polo I with patio furniture being blown off a balcony at U Condos and smashing through a window above the 20th floor of Polo I across the street. The BCCA should be requesting wind study points at levels above the ground level. Possibly, intersections such as Bay/Wellesley should be part of each and every wind study for our area.
Transition:
Transition between areas and buildings of differing scales is an important principle of the Official Plan. Transition means that buildings adopt some of the characteristics of both the existing and planned context without necessarily replicating the form or design precisely. Transition allows for buildings of disparate heights, scale, type and use to have adjacencies yet still be perceived harmoniously from street level and contribute to the overall context and quality of the streetscape. Transition in scale minimizes the impact of large-scale developments on surrounding areas, including adjacent and nearby low- and mid-rise buildings and heritage properties, and maintains access to light, views and privacy. Methods for creating transition between buildings, and between buildings and the public realm, include angular planes, stepping height limits, location and orientation of the building, the use of setbacks and step-backs of building mass, as well as separation distances.
Downtown includes many built form scales and types, with singles, semis, townhouses, walk-up and mid-rise apartments, mixed-use mid-rise buildings and tall buildings. In some areas there is a consistent pattern and scale, determined by historic lot patterns and building type, while in other areas, there is a mix of building types and scale, even within a single block. Each of these areas has its own distinct character, which will be respected by ensuring that the massing of development responds to surrounding areas, including adjacent and nearby buildings and areas. Many tall buildings have been constructed Downtown over the last several decades, and with the increasing numbers of tall buildings, there is a greater need to ensure that these buildings provide transition to each other and to other scales and forms of development.
This is City of Toronto Policy that applies to all structures that are 7 storeys or more. It is a minimum distance between towers. This metric has been in place for a long time, probably more than 2 decades as a guideline and now it is part of TOcore policy. In general, the BCCA should push hard for this standard minimum tower separation in all developments. If the opportunity arises, a greater than 25 metre tower separation is desirable.
Sun Shadow Studies:
The City does NOT always do its own sun/shadow study for an application, and it is not clear exactly what initiates a separate city sun shadow study. The specific TOcore policies are critical to the protection of sunshine in our parks and public realm.
Greening, Public Realm and Parkland Dedication:
The downtown is not likely to have future opportunities to procure more new parkland. Despite that, the population will continue to rise within our community and more parkland will be needed.
Creating Green Space Where None Exists:
Public Realm becomes more important in this instance. The primary goals are:
- Bigger setbacks from the lot line of a property to make it possible to have trees planted along the public domain and the lot line.
- The trees should be planted using Silva Cell/Soil Cell or bioswale technology.
- All tree lines should be planted on top of soil and not over an underground garage.
As a less hopeful plan, tree trenches may be an option ONLY if the details are well described in the landscaping plan. Too often garbage from the construction is thrown into the bottom of the tree trench. This makes the specification of soil quantity (depth/width) and quality to be very specific and extremely important.
Privately Owned Public Space (POPS):
When hope is completely lost for any green space on a site, consider a POPS that uses part of the ground level area beneath the second floor and open to the public sidewalk. Often the ground level of a building is extra tall and this gives an opportunity to have a large area (one third to one half of the footprint) made available for everyone, both community residents and unit owners to share a ground level green space. This would not be intended for retail use. It would serve solely for use as a public green space/POPS. It would be similar to the private outdoor amenity spaces created for the building owners, usually on higher levels and inaccessible to the general public.
Built Form, Massing:
Built form is the actual shape of the box that constitutes the development structure. That includes podium, tower(s), setbacks, stepbacks. It must be complementary to the neighbouring architectural elements in both size and design. It must meet the criteria that allow the shorings, staging, deliveries, hoarding, crane movements, and all of the necessary parts of the construction phase to have sufficient space to happen. If the site is so over-built that this construction phase cannot happen in an orderly manner for the community, there should be some adjustments to the plans.
Transportation:
The developer is required to have a transportation report prepared for the application. This report is often fairly difficult to read because it can be technical and also full of numbers. Transportation drawings are less complicated to understand than the architectural drawings. These drawings outline the development ground level and underground levels. These levels are very important to the smooth movement and functioning within the building, including elevators, the services of garbage pickup, move-ins, mail and parcel delivery, etc.
Given the BCCA experience with existing buildings, including our own buildings, and others within our membership, as well as experience with previous transportation plans, valuable suggestions can be made to benefit both the development and the neighbourhood. This allows the functionality of the building to be maximized.
Pick-up and Drop-off Areas:
This is part of the transportation plans for a development. In the ever densifying downtown, pick-up and drop off of people or deliveries should NOT be placed in the public realm. If we are to lose width on our streets, we should support ONLY greening and landscaping. Pick-up and drop-offs need to be internal to the building.
Wind Study:
All development applications require a preliminary wind study to be part of the application submission. During the Site Planning Phase, a final wind study is required. These final wind studies are available on-line. Special attention should be made for wind on all of our new parks and also on the public realm where it has been “greened”.
Consider the wind issues of Polo I with patio furniture being blown off a balcony at U Condos and smashing through a window above the 20th floor of Polo I across the street. The BCCA should be requesting wind study points at levels above the ground level. Possibly, intersections such as Bay/Wellesley should be part of each and every wind study for our area.
Transition:
Transition between areas and buildings of differing scales is an important principle of the Official Plan. Transition means that buildings adopt some of the characteristics of both the existing and planned context without necessarily replicating the form or design precisely. Transition allows for buildings of disparate heights, scale, type and use to have adjacencies yet still be perceived harmoniously from street level and contribute to the overall context and quality of the streetscape. Transition in scale minimizes the impact of large-scale developments on surrounding areas, including adjacent and nearby low- and mid-rise buildings and heritage properties, and maintains access to light, views and privacy. Methods for creating transition between buildings, and between buildings and the public realm, include angular planes, stepping height limits, location and orientation of the building, the use of setbacks and step-backs of building mass, as well as separation distances.
Downtown includes many built form scales and types, with singles, semis, townhouses, walk-up and mid-rise apartments, mixed-use mid-rise buildings and tall buildings. In some areas there is a consistent pattern and scale, determined by historic lot patterns and building type, while in other areas, there is a mix of building types and scale, even within a single block. Each of these areas has its own distinct character, which will be respected by ensuring that the massing of development responds to surrounding areas, including adjacent and nearby buildings and areas. Many tall buildings have been constructed Downtown over the last several decades, and with the increasing numbers of tall buildings, there is a greater need to ensure that these buildings provide transition to each other and to other scales and forms of development.