haltcatchfire said:
This one has 5 different materials going on though. The red brick, the grey hardy horizontal siding, the cream smooth Hardy paneling, the grey smooth Hardy paneling, and the faux wood horizontal siding. Not to mention the precast or stone window headers and sills, white perf. aluminum soffits, Hardy trim, Smartboard type fascias, and whatever they plan on using for capping the 4th floor parapet and balcony railings.

They could have just done the brick and smooth Hardy paneling in the cream or a cream stucco and been done with it. Would have been sharp and the same cost, but now it's a mess for no architectural reason.
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I agree, keeping it simple pays off, no need to have multiple materials to create visual interest. Good scale/proportions and a few interesting high quality elements at key locations to draw the eye can go a long way.
I even use some vinyl on apartments on areas of the building that aren't noticeable to save money. No one escapes VE. But I do find a lot of developers are using multiple materials to attempt to create "articulation" and visual interest on an otherwise non-descript square building.

Here is a rental building we finished in PoCo. Building is a mixture of Hardy and Vinyl in a suburban rental market. It is square and a really efficient floorplate. Didn't break the bank, and looks fairly good.
1547572628777.png

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.255...4!1sBH0Uk860kxTMpQg55m-xpg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
 
While I do like this one, to me it doesn't look any less busy than the Memorial drive project. Three color choices, but 5 different texture color combos.

I don't have an issue with the Memorial Drive design. While it does have a number of colors/textures, most seem to be accent materials that aren't immediately noticeable, and one of the colors (white) is noticeable only on the top floor which is set back. I guess I'll have a better opinion once it's completed, but so far it seems okay to me.
Calgcouver said:
I agree, keeping it simple pays off, no need to have multiple materials to create visual interest. Good scale/proportions and a few interesting high quality elements at key locations to draw the eye can go a long way.
I even use some vinyl on apartments on areas of the building that aren't noticeable to save money. No one escapes VE. But I do find a lot of developers are using multiple materials to attempt to create "articulation" and visual interest on an otherwise non-descript square building.

Here is a rental building we finished in PoCo. Building is a mixture of Hardy and Vinyl in a suburban rental market. It is square and a really efficient floorplate. Didn't break the bank, and looks fairly good.
View attachment 171033
https://www.google.com/maps/@49.255...4!1sBH0Uk860kxTMpQg55m-xpg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
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Zoom said:
While I do like this one, to me it doesn't look any less busy than the Memorial drive project. Three color choices, but 5 different texture color combos.

I don't have an issue with the Memorial Drive design. While it does have a number of colors/textures, most seem to be accent materials that aren't immediately noticeable, and one of the colors (white) is noticeable only on the top floor which is set back. I guess I'll have a better opinion once it's completed, but so far it seems okay to me.
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I do honestly think this project will look fine. Anthem doesn't really build ugly buildings. I do agree with Halcatchfire that the white soffit and vertical wood panel is too much and will detract from the facade though.
 
Calgcouver said:
I do honestly think this project will look fine. Anthem doesn't really build ugly buildings. I do agree with Halcatchfire that the white soffit and vertical wood panel is too much and will detract from the facade though.
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I'm inclined to agree. Anthem is solid, so it's not going to be a pile of crap, but if it were up to me, I would have gone with one less color, or material change. I'm looking forward to seeing Anthem's project at the old CBC site.
 
The white paneling is also down at the entry doors to the main floor units. Time will tell once the finishes get closer to completion as each finish type that’s up is mostly out on their own right now.

It won’t be an ugly building by any means, just I have an unreasonably high design standard. Easy to do so from this spot.

Zoom said:
While I do like this one, to me it doesn't look any less busy than the Memorial drive project. Three color choices, but 5 different texture color combos.

I don't have an issue with the Memorial Drive design. While it does have a number of colors/textures, most seem to be accent materials that aren't immediately noticeable, and one of the colors (white) is noticeable only on the top floor which is set back. I guess I'll have a better opinion once it's completed, but so far it seems okay to me.
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Oh no.... why the wood?!
 
The marketing of this project has been strange. It is well on it's way to completion this year. I know the plan was to sell these as finished spec homes but I have seen no advertising of this project. Other than the banner seen as you drive by, and a brief description of the project on their website, Anthem has kept pretty quiet about this.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
The marketing of this project has been strange. It is well on it's way to completion this year. I know the plan was to sell these as finished spec homes but I have seen no advertising of this project. Other than the banner seen as you drive by, and a brief description of the project on their website, Anthem has kept pretty quiet about this.
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Marketing will be coming close to the date of completion (September)
 
That isn't an excuse, they could have used the same brick, or the vinyl siding used elsewhere on the building. Another one of our city's famous "dogs breakfasts" of architecture.
 
UrbanWarrior said:
That isn't an excuse, they could have used the same brick, or the vinyl siding used elsewhere on the building. Another one of our city's famous "dogs breakfasts" of architecture.
Click to expand...
There is not a single square inch of vinyl siding anywhere on that building.
 
It's not wood though. It's faux wood. Some sort of glossy composite. I'm still baffled by the white perf. alum soffits under the balconies and top overhang where there's no need for venting. Looks so cheap next to the black smartboard.
 
My eyesight must be going, I can’t even see the white soffit material. As far as the overall colours go, I’m happy with the way it turned out, it looks much better than the renderings . Which I thought was going to be pink stucco.
 
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