[urbottawa]

Discussion History:
81 Slater St | 79m | 25f | U/C

Latest Render:

 

[urbottawa]

Yesterday:

 

[urbottawa]

(@hoggytime i think we have 2 threads going for this one)

 

[pgagnon]

Nothing crazy but adds density, fills a hole in downtown and adds to the street level experience. Says coming Spring 2024 so I imagine this is almost complete and move-in should start fairly shortly.

 

[J.OT13]

And it's different from anything else around... for now.

 

[urbottawa]

How is this utility box right next to the sidewalk on a brand new build acceptable?? Also disappointing that the trees are in small planters vs the ground. Little things like this have to be done better on new developments if we ever want downtown to be a more pleasant place to be.

 

[hoggytime]

Absolutely brutal. 'More Housing' is literally the only redeeming factor for this build.

 

[Pwat_]

How is this utility box right next to the sidewalk on a brand new build acceptable?? Also disappointing that the trees are in small planters vs the ground. Little things like this have to be done better on new developments if we ever want downtown to be a more pleasant place to be.

I believe its a fire code requirement, gas utility access not allowed to be inside the building, so we get these silly ugly set ups on new buildings. Same situation with Clardige Moon, terrible set up between the building and the bus shelter that takes up much needed room. Seems very silly to me, just have a room along an exterior wall with a door the fire department can easily access.

 

[J.OT13]

I believe its a fire code requirement, gas utility access not allowed to be inside the building, so we get these silly ugly set ups on new buildings. Same situation with Clardige Moon, terrible set up between the building and the bus shelter that takes up much needed room. Seems very silly to me, just have a room along an exterior wall with a door the fire department can easily access.

Agreed. This is quite bad. Seems they wouldn't even have been allowed to put it under the overhang. Better spot that would probably still be to code is on the left, the one spot with no overhang, where there's a random door.

Apart from the gas meter (which at least has fencing around it, even though it looks weird since it's away from the building), I think it looks pretty decent for what it is.

 

[pgagnon]

The columns and the planters take up all the space! Should've forgone one or the other for a more pleasant pedestrian experience. Wonder if records confirm that trees in planters survive more than trees in the ground in DT Ottawa at least, since they won't be drowned in snow salts for 6 months of the year..

 

[J.OT13]

The columns are essential as part of the buildings structure. I do appreciated they went with an arcade style entrance instead of a shear wall to the sidewalk. Hope the trees survive in those planters; it's a good theory that they may have more of a chance with less exposure to salt, but they also have less space to grow out their root system.

Tbf, all of the "clutter" is on their propriety line, unlike The Slater/Alt that was somehow allowed to use the sidewalk for a car drop-off area, which is quite terrible for anyone with mobility devices. For this project, I do appreciate the "arcade" style ground floor, giving the impression of more space (even if actually minimal because of the "clutter"), instead of a shear wall on the sidewalk.

The narrow sidewalk is the City's going. Latest plans I've seen for Slater basically only removes a car lane for bi-directional bike lanes, with no improvement to the sidewalk (unless my memory is off), which would be quite a waste. Sidewalks on Albert and Slater desperately need widening on both sides of the roads.