[Mountain Man]

I think it looks great except for the large cold planters at street level, quite disappointed by those. I think glass railings on the balconies would have been a bit nicer as well.

 

[Stephen Ave]

I like this one. That closed patios at the front don't bother me at all, and truth be told I much prefer them to those to the other apartment blocks on the street that have the setbacks with lawn. At least with the patios, people can actually use them, whereas the grass setbacks are completely unusable. also with the patios there's an opportunity for some flower planters, etc..., and a chance to give more diversity to the street look than the grass setbacks.
Yeah, the telephone pole sucks, but that's a problem that plagues most of the inner city.

 

[Stephen Ave]

Could the city look at subsidizing a local improvement tax (maybe pay half) to remove the poles in areas with higher density?

It costs just over $1000/linear meter to bury an electrical line so most developers don't do it on smaller projects. It would be nice if Enmax invested in putting the lines underground as communities start to (or in this case continue to) redevelop.

 

[Atticus]

Architecture is always a good discussion point and always has varying views. Nothing is ever black and white, but one thing for sure, with this development and others you've done (Grow), they are interesting. You guys could have easily regurgitated a typical plan, slapped on stucco or hardie board and went the easy route, but instead chose to be creative. I like that we have architects in the city who try are willing to think outside the box.

Hey guys, it's great to see all the comments (both positive and not so positive, lol) on this project. We welcome all feedback of any type and while it may be a polarizing building at the end of the day, we'd rather make architecture that starts lively conversations and spurs debate rather than make something that people are completely apathetic to. The city has enough of those buildings!

The multi-family typology is extremely challenging to do something innovative in. Everything is an uphill battle, including burying Enmax lines. We're always fighting the bottom line. But that will never stop us from trying!

Whatever you do, don't stop caring. We need more voices like the ones on this forum!

 

[Mountain Man]

Architecture is always a good discussion point and always has varying views. Nothing is ever black and white, but one thing for sure, with this development and others you've done (Grow), they are interesting. You guys could have easily regurgitated a typical plan, slapped on stucco or hardie board and went the easy route, but instead chose to be creative. I like that we have architects in the city who try are willing to think outside the box.

Absolutely, have to take a shot once in a while and Moda is consistent on that.

 

[Calgcouver]

View attachment 176082

I don't mind the patios as they are a good material and i agree that grass front setbacks aren't used and should be avoided. However, that being said, I think it is not great practice to have hardscaping abutting hardscaping (sidewalk). It is better to have a bit of landscaping in planter boxes to soften the interaction with the sidewalk for buildings with residential at-grade. Doesn't have to be much, this is what i mean: Planter box example - Olympic Village

 

[kora]

This ground floor treatment just reminds me of the failed Tweed development at 1730 - 5a St SW, just off 17th Avenue and beside Western Canada High School. It's a bunker-like interaction with the street. There needs to be a better semi-public-private space near the property line. That can be in the form of planters like Calgcouver is showing. Many developers in Calgary are doing it including the recently opened Park Point beside Central Memorial Park. I think the best example in Calgary is in the East Village with the Evolution building, along the pedestrian street Riverfront Lane.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I don't mind the patios as they are a good material and i agree that grass front setbacks aren't used and should be avoided. However, that being said, I think it is not great practice to have hardscaping abutting hardscaping (sidewalk). It is better to have a bit of landscaping in planter boxes to soften the interaction with the sidewalk for buildings with residential at-grade. Doesn't have to be much, this is what i mean: Planter box example - Olympic Village

I think in this case they chose to have the softened green space on top of the patio walls instead of down below like the ones in Olympic Village. The challenge is always trying to make the public realm nice, but also pleasing the purchaser. Given the taller patio walls the purchaser probably prefers to have the planter up top where they can enjoy it.

 

[Mountain Man]

This ground floor treatment just reminds me of the failed Tweed development at 1730 - 5a St SW, just off 17th Avenue and beside Western Canada High School. It's a bunker-like interaction with the street. There needs to be a better semi-public-private space near the property line. That can be in the form of planters like Calgcouver is showing. Many developers in Calgary are doing it including the recently opened Park Point beside Central Memorial Park. I think the best example in Calgary is in the East Village with the Evolution building, along the pedestrian street Riverfront Lane.

A big of shrubbery in front of the planter walls would go a long way IMO.

 

[Calgcouver]

A big of shrubbery in front of the planter walls would go a long way IMO.

Ya, that's exactly what i mean. I noticed that they have planters up top of the patio walls on the rendering on the website.

I just think that if they had additional planter boxes on the lower portion to break up the brick wall meeting the sidewalk, it would soften the entrance enough and be more inviting. Layered planting is good practice imo. See shitty MS Paint image below

 

[MoDA]

I agree! We try to incorporate soft landscaping wherever possible. The brick walls are indeed planters and will have shrubbery in them. Part of what drove the height of them (and the height of the main floor) is the elevation of the parkade below, which stretches to the property line on all four sides. This also makes planting at grade very challenging since you're essentially trying to plant on the roof of the parkade.

 

[Calgcouver]

I agree! We try to incorporate soft landscaping wherever possible. The brick walls are indeed planters and will have shrubbery in them. Part of what drove the height of them (and the height of the main floor) is the elevation of the parkade below, which stretches to the property line on all four sides. This also makes planting at grade very challenging since you're essentially trying to plant on the roof of the parkade.

I think you guys did a great job on this, given the context. It fits really well in Bankview. It certainly is challenging doing planters on parkade run into the same issue on our apartment sites.

 

[Alex_YYC]

That is the challenge for sure. Ultimately architects work for the developer, and the developer works for the purchasers. If you can get good architecture for the person walking by on the street as well as the purchasers who will be living in the units, then great, but it's not always easy. The purchasers are the priority.

Overall I like this one, but my one criticism would be that I would have preferred the rear design to be at the front. I'm sure it's easier said than done, but that's my two cents.

I think in this case they chose to have the softened green space on top of the patio walls instead of down below like the ones in Olympic Village. The challenge is always trying to make the public realm nice, but also pleasing the purchaser. Given the taller patio walls the purchaser probably prefers to have the planter up top where they can enjoy it.