Is the Morris Lofts an original building or was it actually constructed once the building in the old photo was demolished first?
The Morris is original, if barely.
A brick wall fronting the ING Building plaza gives a hint to its true age. Unfortunately, the building's facade was in an
extremely poor state prior to its conversion, and the developer's resurfaced it with a veneer. Personally, I think they butchered it and the people on
C2E seemed to agree. Here's how the building originally looked. It's the one to the right:
Speaking of butchered, the development to the left destroyed another heritage building's facade around the same time. The section in the middle dates to c.1912. Unfortunately, its owners plastered over the brick with stucco in 2008. Here's a picture of it as it would've originally stood:
Again, a hint to its true-self is still visible, albeit from the air. If you look on Google Maps you're able to make out the distinctive lightwells on its north and south elevations: