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  #1461  
Old Posted Oct 15, 2023, 5:37 PM
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Taken today.



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  #1462  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2024, 12:50 AM
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  #1463  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2024, 4:22 AM
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Is it just me or does it feel like there was an extreme lack of planning for patio space with the design in an area where clearly patio space is highly desired?
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  #1464  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2024, 2:17 PM
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I feel like this small stretch of King William from James to John should be just for pedestrians patios can encroach onto the road all spring/summer. No reason for cars to be cutting through this road.
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  #1465  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2024, 5:17 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaperSun View Post
I feel like this small stretch of King William from James to John should be just for pedestrians patios can encroach onto the road all spring/summer. No reason for cars to be cutting through this road.
Do you ever go downtown? King William is already closed to cars during the summer months for patios.
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  #1466  
Old Posted Jan 4, 2024, 5:41 PM
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A full closure right to John should be do-able. I don't remember King William being closed for the summer between Hughson and John.
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  #1467  
Old Posted Jan 5, 2024, 2:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere View Post
Do you ever go downtown? King William is already closed to cars during the summer months for patios.
You don't know what you're talking about, its closed part time in the summer and only from James St to Hughson St.
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  #1468  
Old Posted Jan 5, 2024, 2:44 PM
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Also agree the whole thing should be closed between James and John. There's plenty of alleyways and parking lots behind all of those businesses for deliveries and parking, no reason to have the actual street open to traffic in the summer. I'm guessing thats probably why they built this right up to the street, since they anticipate it to be pedestrian only in the future.

Gotta say, the podium doesn't look so bad on King William but on King it just ain't really doing it for me. Kinda wish they'd gone with something different for that side.
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  #1469  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2024, 4:28 AM
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Originally Posted by matt602 View Post
Also agree the whole thing should be closed between James and John. There's plenty of alleyways and parking lots behind all of those businesses for deliveries and parking, no reason to have the actual street open to traffic in the summer. I'm guessing thats probably why they built this right up to the street, since they anticipate it to be pedestrian only in the future.

Gotta say, the podium doesn't look so bad on King William but on King it just ain't really doing it for me. Kinda wish they'd gone with something different for that side.
Sadly they can't really close it past that due to the fact cars need to exit from this podium and to make them only turn towards the escarpment and then have to turn around somewhere to go towards the lake would be silly..

..and yeah I was trying to figure out why this looked bad, the white parts , and then it dawned on me, if you look at the corners the "stone" is mirrored on each side - like "L" shapes and squares instead of alternating interlocking rectangles - like long parts are mirrored long parts - it doesn't feel like stone, it feels not only like cinder block, which makes it look horribly unfinished, but it also looks like cinderblock VENEER, which is somehow even worse. It's the same sorta half-assed look they did on the building on the corner of john and main.. You can't "fake" pre-confederation stone like that. It cannot be the exact same size as cinder block for one, and it has to look rougher - it's much too polished. That and it has to be mathematical - you don't just cut it of at weird ratios to punch windows and doors in - that's why they used to be placed at certain even intervals - maybe 2 or 3 "blocks" on each side in succession, then a window, or a door. Not a block and then like 3/8ths of one..

I mean why do the "corners" look like they have mortar in between them? It makes it look like the stone is a tiny veneer on each side.. like someone rolled out a pattern on each side and slapped it on.. that and the cinder block "cornices" are STILL bothering me - they should have gone with actual stone cornices.. this just feels Disneyland - to coin a certain user's phrase on here, but badly done Disney. The red and black brick aren't TOO bad.. but this on all fronts feels like a bad attempt - it's still better, miles better than what we saw in the renders,.. but the front really looks like they just got lazy - esp the black stones on top of the red in the front. Even if they stucco'ed the cornices like they did with the william thomas building, I think would look better.

At least it's faux traditional vs the ultra modern on the other side of the street - between the right house and the Olympia Club, it deserved at LEAST that. I find this is awkward for many of us to swallow - because it's worlds better than Vranich, but it falls FAR short of core urban for the podium. We've kinda gotten used to extremes - really crappy or really beautiful. The fact this is RIGHT BESIDE a beautifully restored Core Urban building, the Olympia Club, does not help either, as you can immediately cross-compare - I dunno, maybe that's a better way to promote Core Urban..

I could understand the white in between to make each "block' look like a different building - but putting them on the corners somehow makes it feel like a building isn't even there, because they've also used it to give the illusion of separation between buildings. I feel this was an ambitious attempt, but many things feel short simply due to.. I dunno.. a lack of understanding of fundamentals?

Also you can STILL see the metal lintels sticking out on the seams of each "floor" - are they going to cap those? I struggle to think they won't rust and then just run down the building.. you can see them if you look close - and I know they are lintels as I saw them apply the stone on top of them.. and what's going on with the gap between this building and the Olympia Club? I am guessing they'll put some sorta vinyl panel or something to cover that up.. are we not allowed to but right up to an existing building anymore? I am a bit rusty on my building code requirements these days so maybe that IS something that is legit..

There's just no consistency, and there is no harmony.. even their weird decisions to block some windows in and have some be recessed balconies on the king William side especially which you can see in the aerial view - the mind tries to find symmetry and fails, and the asymmetry isn't even all that good. This podium will always be a mixture of "mm! and "ugh!" all mixed into one.. raise your hand if you think Core Urban should just do ALL the podiums on big builds like this - save them the trouble of trying to figure out what looks good - leave it to the professionals.



I am curious though - there are a bunch of stones on the side walk with green ty-wraps it looks like around them.. what are those being used for..?

Last edited by Chronamut; Jan 6, 2024 at 5:02 AM.
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  #1470  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2024, 4:50 AM
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Hughson could remain open. Make it two-way north of King to Wilson -- it's not a wide street, but should be manageable as it's not a major arterial road. Maybe some street parking will need to be sacrificed (oh the horror... the horror )

As for the podium, perhaps the lighter two-thirds of the King side could have been broken up more like the King William facing. They're still very similar, and I'm going to wager the feel from sidewalk level will be similar as well, with the two towers having less visual impact when on those abutting streets.
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  #1471  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2024, 5:22 AM
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The one on King William works better because it feels like a tiny block between the 2 brown brick parts - the one on king feels like is the main focus because it's 2/3s of that corner. It just doesn't feel like there is a building you're looking at - and having the balconies on the corner like that IS a bit weird. I dunno.. my minds like euuughghghgh I just don't like it. I mean we saw how many times we ourselves tried to 'redesign' that corner just in this thread.. it just always felt awkward.

I wonder if the Olympia Club will "fix" their facade - now that the side building is done - the left side is all sheared off, like they expected the building next door to but right up to it, vs the side on the right that flares out like cornices should.

Also the Olympia club isn't exactly even - the part on the left is shallower in than the right - not sure why they did that, or maybe that's how it originally was.. so much to ponder.. I've been aching to go inside it for so long.. but still it sits empty..
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  #1472  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2024, 5:42 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chronamut View Post
I wonder if the Olympia Club will "fix" their facade - now that the side building is done - the left side is all sheared off, like they expected the building next door to but right up to it, vs the side on the right that flares out like cornices should.

Also the Olympia club isn't exactly even - the part on the left is shallower in than the right - not sure why they did that, or maybe that's how it originally was.. so much to ponder.. I've been aching to go inside it for so long.. but still it sits empty..
It was fairly recently renovated, wasn't it? I can't recall exactly when. Uses/emptiness could be timing-related.

I think downtown King St. (the part west of the International Village) is finally transitioning from discount retail and cash-money launder... er, lenders to something better. LRT will make life difficult for some retailers for a number of years, but the people living in Cobalt and other new developments will still need local 'stuff'
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  #1473  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2024, 7:35 PM
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Originally Posted by ScreamingViking View Post
It was fairly recently renovated, wasn't it? I can't recall exactly when. Uses/emptiness could be timing-related.

I think downtown King St. (the part west of the International Village) is finally transitioning from discount retail and cash-money launder... er, lenders to something better. LRT will make life difficult for some retailers for a number of years, but the people living in Cobalt and other new developments will still need local 'stuff'
Yeah it was being renovated as cobalts underground parking was being built iirc..

and I am so glad it was.. what it had become was just such a horrible example of decline and for them to restore it BACK to what it ORIGINALLY looked like (more or less) just lister blocked this building - from trash to gold. I love looking at it now whereas I used to wince at what it was before.

And I certainly hope so - I am glad the city has the rule that once a cash place leaves they are never allowed to come back - they all need to go - they prey upon the poor. We don't need them in our city.
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  #1474  
Old Posted Jan 7, 2024, 2:56 PM
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Have they been able to fill the ground level commercial spaces yet? Anyword on who the tenants may be? Haven't been there in awhile to check out myself.
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  #1475  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2024, 6:46 PM
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