Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
I have no idea where that logic comes from--by that reasoning, every single post-and-beam commercial building in the country (of which there are thousands, housing God knows how many people and businesses) is unsafe. I guess Old Montreal, Gastown, and our own Historic Properties must be deathtraps-in-waiting? Except, of course, they're not. A well-renovated Roy with sprinklers and fireproof insulation would be as safe as any other similarly sized structure in the city. In fact, a heavy timber building with a brick facade is probably a lot less susceptible to fire than the wood-framed gypsum-board throw-ups happening all over the country's suburbs. (B.C. has recently approved six-storey wood-framed buildings, so there you go.)
The destructiveness of fires in decades and centuries past had more to do with un-sprinklered buildings, less advanced firefighting techniques, and gas-and-candle lighting than with structural issues. Properly maintained, building codes are not an issue at all with a structure like the Roy; it's just another way to weasel out of preserving the structure.
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"Deathtrap" might have been a poor choice of wording. Buildings such as the Roy Building are probably no longer deathtraps because of the wide spread use of smoke detectors that give people early warning and allow time to vacate buildings.
Based on your statement - "
Properly maintained, building codes are not an issue at all with a structure like the Roy; it's just another way to weasel out of preserving the structure" you are indicating that the Roy Building is constructed in such a way that it is up to today's standards since you indicate that it is "not an issue at all". Modern buildings aren't just protected by sprinklers but are also compartmentalized by fire-rated walls and floors. Plumbing and wire service penetrations require fire barriers. Does the Roy Building have sprinklers? (maybe, I just don't know). Are the units protected by fire-rated walls and floors? (probably not, if it was built in the early 1900's). If the Roy Building isn't built to today's standards then any significant fire could result in the loss of the entire building.
Even multi-unit, attached town-homes currently require fire walls between units. Such was not the case when the 5173 South Street apartment building caught fire at one end and spread throughout the shared floor joists. The NFB fire destroyed the entire building in spite of modern day fire fighting techniques.
Since there is a developer who is willing to take a chance and rebuild a facade similar to the old facade (but with more practical floor heights) then I think it should be encouraged. However, the design of the highrise addition could certainly be improved, in my opinion. The Heritage Trust was mainly opposed because of the height of the new development (source -
http://www.htns.ca/pdf/BarrSt/RoyMPSPlcsM011.pdf ). The height of the new development doesn't bother me; it has a significant stepback from the proposed Barrington Street brick facade and will be a big improvement over the current unsightly building, in my opinion.
Getting back on topic, the Espace was essentially a rebuild and would be required to meet current building codes.