6 Comments

Equally important, and being shown in the pictures, is the need for terracing to reduce external walls and wind tunnels. The next big thing is under-occupation resulting in the heating, ventilation and insulation of space and fabric not meeting housing needs, and being a cause of unnecessary new building, whether or not of the Goldilocks model.

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I wholeheartedly agree that wherever possible building design should avoid “wind tunnels”, unfortunately terracing requires small flat roofs that are difficult to access and relatively expensive to maintain leak-free, particularly in cold snowy climates like Toronto. Any feedback is welcome.

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If you're building to no more than six storeys, wind-tunnel potential is already substantially mitigated. Required terracing, like Toronto's 'angular planes', often doesn't allow for appropriate site design--better to have each site require specific solar/wind studies to indicate appropriate contextual responses.

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Sadly it seems like goldilocks is the LEAST popular type of construction. It's all tall & sprawl.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

I think the problem is that a lot of people in North America only conceptualize two types of density - single dwellings, and tall buildings. Anything that is not a single dwelling is a tall building in their mind. So it’s as much fight to convince people 6 storeys is okay as it is to convince them 30 storeys is okay.

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I suspect the profitability of high-rise towers coupled with weak municipal powers (easily overriden by provincial authority) means LDHR growth will be difficult to unstick in Toronto. That said, greater municipal authority won't necessarily save us either: witness Vancouver telling developers to resubmit applications with more height rather than less along Broadway. Mind-boggling...

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