What do you think of this project?

  • I like it a lot

    Votes: 9 25.7%

  • I like it

    Votes: 21 60.0%

  • I neither like nor dislike it

    Votes: 5 14.3%

  • I dislike it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I dislike it a lot

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    35
whattheheck said:
How about more buildings like this, but covered in a good, always ageless brick??

It's too bad the 50 floor original proposal is not gonna be built. But it's a sign of the times that demand fr DT living is not as strong as we all want it to be. The fixing of social disorder issues, cleanliness etc still not being addressed in a fulsome manner. le sigh
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I mean, demand for downtown living is strong! Multiple towers have leased up very quickly! I think it's a little unfair to gripe that demand is just very strong instead of extremely, overwhelmingly strong. Westrich is just not in the mood for taking risks, perhaps due to having been burned in the past.
 
Some of the elevations are average but the cantilevered portico is very well done and gives the building a stronger presence than it otherwise would. Landscaping adds interest too. Not perfect but overall it should be a pretty good addition.
 
constance_chlore said:
I'm not at all bothered by the fact that it's not a tower and doesn't have CRUs, but I have to agree with this. This isn't to say the renders are horrible—they have a lot of nice features and they could certainly be worse—but why are they so busy? And why do we call the types of buildings going up in Griffintown or St-Henri (or for that matter much of Calgary) drab when those, with their clean brick façades, would be much more authentic to a warehouse-type area like this? Would we call buildings in Edmonton like the Tegler Building, the Manoir St-Joachim, the Mayfair Village South, etc. drab, or would we appreciate them for their monumentality and their clean lines? I understand that Westrich wasn't going to clad this entire building in brick, but I think it would look much nicer if (for example) the first three floors were all brick and the ones above that (with a slight setback) were all stucco/EIFS/whatever the other material is, like the Raymond Block. I get the sense that this sort of design comes from an obsession with trying to make big buildings not look so imposing, but ultimately I find it kind of ugly and inauthentic.

But hey, if this does turn out to be concrete, I will gladly shut up and take the W.
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Imagine architecture being subjective. I did say in my opinion when I said drab.
 
constance_chlore said:
I mean, demand for downtown living is strong! Multiple towers have leased up very quickly! I think it's a little unfair to gripe that demand is just very strong instead of extremely, overwhelmingly strong. Westrich is just not in the mood for taking risks, perhaps due to having been burned in the past.
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I find it weird to speculate on this, with Ian being on the forum and all, but I also feel like this might be a (very interesting) strategy to make bank and test the market for what may be a bigger, landmark project down the line, all while also helping create better conditions for that to be successful, with the added density that could help create momentum for retail and hospitality, improve the feel of the area, etc...

I feel like this is also something we have been forgetting when we talk about the amount of 6-7 storey buildings we're getting: the more successful these are, and the more of these we get, the higher the chances of bigger and more expensive projects working out, for reason we all know very well.
 
Owning right on the corner I'm happy to see something human scale going into the area. You see parks around Victoria surrounded by 5-7 story buildings and it feels a bit less like you're being utterly dominated by a sun-blocked city whilst in the park.

There's also still opportunities for commercial in upcoming developments and I would LIKE to see a little bit of mixed use in the area. One coffee shop on a corner, one diner on the other kinda thing. I think however the park needs to prove itself as a node that brings people in without seasonal variation first though before those commercial year round rents can be justified.
 
ChazYEG said:
I find it weird to speculate on this, with Ian being on the forum and all, but I also feel like this might be a (very interesting) strategy to make bank and test the market for what may be a bigger, landmark project down the line, all while also helping create better conditions for that to be successful, with the added density that could help create momentum for retail and hospitality, improve the feel of the area, etc...

I feel like this is also something we have been forgetting when we talk about the amount of 6-7 storey buildings we're getting: the more successful these are, and the more of these we get, the higher the chances of bigger and more expensive projects working out, for reason we all know very well.
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A benefit of not being in the industry is that I don't find it weird to speculate on this at all!

inclusion said:
Imagine architecture being subjective. I did say in my opinion when I said drab.
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We're on a forum for discussing architecture!
 
ChazYEG said:
I find it weird to speculate on this, with Ian being on the forum and all, but I also feel like this might be a (very interesting) strategy to make bank and test the market for what may be a bigger, landmark project down the line, all while also helping create better conditions for that to be successful, with the added density that could help create momentum for retail and hospitality, improve the feel of the area, etc...

I feel like this is also something we have been forgetting when we talk about the amount of 6-7 storey buildings we're getting: the more successful these are, and the more of these we get, the higher the chances of bigger and more expensive projects working out, for reason we all know very well.
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With oil prices not great, interest rates not as low as hoped and trade issues still not resolved, I believe there is general caution particularly about bigger projects now. So I feel it is a vote of confidence in the city and the area that they are moving ahead with this now and I hope if it is successful it will help lead to a bigger, landmark project in the future.
 
northlands said:
A portapotty on this site was lit on fire and fully melted today by one of Edmonton’s finest.
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A lot of methane gas in the air.

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