80 Florence - Chinese Community Building, part 3

Welcome to the big reveal--the final part in the series on the renovations to the exterior of the apartment building at 80 Florence, the Chinese Community Building.

In the previous two parts, I covered the former look and construction progress of the tower and of the ground level.

In this post, I've got a bunch of before-and-after angles, and some other views of the new look. Here's the view in mid-construction with the now-closed Stinson & Son/Main Garage in the foreground at Kent and Gladstone, in mid-October:

And here's a similar angle last week: the exterior uses two different shades of beige and light red brick to add variety to the view. The beige is contrasted by vertical stripes of blue-green window fixtures.

Here's a closer view of the East wall from early November, when work was still in progress on the North face.

Just before Christmas, work was continuing. It's not quite done yet.

The Chinese characters at the corner (which, I presume, reads "Chinese Community Building") has been re-installed over the new brick.

It looks a bit too high; it's crowded by the band of beige faux-brick. I would have put equal space above and below the characters.

Here's a before shot of the front entrance on Florence. The arches on the front extend above the height of the ceiling, making the openings look bigger.

In the new look, the squares are smaller, and look that way too, especially with the lifting of the bottom edge. However, the lighter brick brighens it up, as does the addition of the street number and title of the building. Obviously, the work isn't yet finished--let's hope they fix that garage door soon.

The "before" view of the West wall in mid-April as the scaffolding was still going up. There are two trees near the sidewalk.

The renovated building already has a bicycle on one of the balconies as work continues on the ground level beneath it. One of the trees is gone; however the architect's webpage depicts the site with four trees along this section. I look forward to seeing them when the landscaping is complete.

The view from Gladstone, just West of Kent, in the middle of construction in mid-August.

The same view in late October. It appears the south wall of the gymnasium has not been modified. The utterly blank wall was clearly designed with a future redeveloped neighbour in mind.

Finally, the corner shot, from mid-April:

Mid-August, behind the green sheathing...

And the mostly-finished product!

Congratulations to everyone involved; I'm sure the residents appreciate the improvements to their living conditions and are looking forward to the completion of the landscaping in the new year.