227 King St S (Sun Life Building)

[MacBerry]

Is this not going to house a generator for Sun Life?  I'm assuming specifically for it's data centre.  The one housed in the parking garage is outdated.

I am pretty sure I read somewhere, as schooner77 noted, that this is a newer emergency long term power back system for the Waterloo SunLife site. They want to make sure that they can continue to work/invest people's money should something happen to a local or regional power grid.

This is also good news for the Waterloo region as it indicates SunLife is most likely going to stay for the long haul by investing a million+ dollars in a back up power system building.

[MidTowner]

Large and imposing.  Between that and the parking garage, that's a pretty attractive corner coming together there.

Thanks for that photo! I agree that this is going to be a step closer to a pretty nice intersection. I like that this is fairly close to the street.

[Markster]

Large and imposing. Between that and the parking garage, that's a pretty attractive corner coming together there.

Thanks for that photo! I agree that this is going to be a step closer to a pretty nice intersection. I like that this is fairly close to the street.

I was detecting more than a little sarcasm in notmyfriends' comment.

[MidTowner]

I was detecting more than a little sarcasm in notmyfriends' comment.

I did get that based on the "between that and the parking garage" bit, and the use of the word "imposing" (is it?). But I see no issue with this building- what else was likely to have ever gone there, given the site's owner? The alternatives would be much worse than this.

[mpd618]

I did get that based on the "between that and the parking garage" bit, and the use of the word "imposing" (is it?). But I see no issue with this building- what else was likely to have ever gone there, given the site's owner? The alternatives would be much worse than this.

It's looking like a concrete bunker, located as far as possible from their building possibly for that very reason. I think I might prefer a parking lot.

[ookpik]

It's looking like a concrete bunker, located as far as possible from their building possibly for that very reason. I think I might prefer a parking lot.

Bell and some other utilities(*) build sub-exchanges and sub-stations to blend into the neighbourhood. For example in a residential neighbourhood they'll build a structure to look externally like a house. You have to look carefully to notice things like the backup power generator hookup at the back.

Also considering that Sun Life already has to do mowing, gardening and snow clearing, etc. on the property the additional ongoing cost to them of maintaining a fake "house" (or whatever) would be negligible.

(*) added: Toronto Hydro's not-so-hidden residential substations 


Toronto Hydro sub-station at 555 Spadina Road

[Pheidippides]

Some finishing touches still being added to the emergency power centre on the Sunlife property:
   

[eizenstriet]

Some finishing touches still being added to the emergency power centre on the Sunlife property:

I think they did a good job with this. A challenge for what is by function basically a secure box. You can do a surprising amount with finishes and textures. It seems they spent some money on quality when it might have been tempting to do something cheap and utilitarian like sculpted styrofoam.

[nms]

Now if only something similar could be done for the big, grey TPSS boxes along the ION.

[Viewfromthe42]

Now if only something similar could be done for the big, grey TPSS boxes along the ION.

Just a matter of cost.

Hiding them with landscaping: $50-200K
Boxing them in: $200-500K
Burying them: $800K-1M

[Markster]

Now if only something similar could be done for the big, grey TPSS boxes along the ION.

Just a matter of cost.

Hiding them with landscaping: $50-200K
Boxing them in: $200-500K
Burying them: $800K-1M

Locating them in more discreet locations: $Free

Unless there's a technical reason why they must be right next to each station.

[tomh009]

Not quite free: at the minimum you would want to bury the 750V DC power lines. I have no idea how much that would cost. Also, the region would need to buy additional real estate, whereas the current locations are already part of the ION infrastructure.

[Pheidippides]

York U simply painted some of their smaller utility boxes:
   

[panamaniac]

York U simply painted some of their smaller utility boxes:

I'm sure the local taggers will look after the boxes here for us.

[tomh009]

York U simply painted some of their smaller utility boxes:

I'm sure the local taggers will look after the boxes here for us.

If they are to be left as standalone boxes, the best thing would be to engage some (of the higher-skilled) urban artists to turn them into artworks.  The urban art in the downtown alleyways has been pretty much left free of random graffiti.  And this is not an expensive option.