Winnipeg | Richardson Innovation Centre | 4 floors | U/C

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by trueviking

^^ha ha. No problem!

I wish every commercial building downtown had a retail ground floor too. It’s not realistic but it would be great. Richardson’s need a lab. They spent more building downtown than the suburban option they looked at. I’m glad they did. I didnt have a realistic expectation that they would build and run retail in their lab. As great as that would be.

It's a nice distance from the Richardson HQ, too -- one long block, not connected underground, but still close enough that people can walk from 1 Portage over. Has the potential to bring a little bit of street action to that stretch of Lombard.

[Jammon]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

It's a nice distance from the Richardson HQ, too -- one long block, not connected underground, but still close enough that people can walk from 1 Portage over. Has the potential to bring a little bit of street action to that stretch of Lombard.

I really don't understand how people could be critical of this development. When Winnipeg has filled up all of the surface lots only then can we complain about the types of projects being built. One more gravel lot filled by a building that creates sustainable jobs is ok by me. Anything is better than looking at that.

[joshlemer]

This seems like really fantastic news for the city, both economically and from an urban development perspective. Major win guys, cheers!

[trueviking]

Ha ha. Yeah I deserve it.

The parking isn’t even for the building. It’s a remnant because it’s not legal to build within 30m of a main line.

I’ll totally give you the setback. It’s the only thing that makes it ‘suburban’ in my mind. Wouldn’t be my choice, and I can’t defend it, but I get why it was nonnegotiable. The site is an island in a sea of surface parking lots. And it likely will be for a long time. If it was surrounded by buildings built to the property line, I’m sure they wouldn’t have felt the need for it. It may even be a nice little pocket park on the lane if the rest of the lots were built up. It’s odd because it is seen in isolation, like a suburban building.

I do think it’s pretty unrealistic to expect every office building to have retail units. It’s not a public building. They could have built it in the suburbs. They almost did. I’m glad it has a huge street facing atrium and 10’ high windows into the labs. It was a battle to get that. It has more dialogue with the sidewalk than any other building on Lombard.

Compare it to the NRC labs on the other side of downtown. Or the labs near HSC. They are fortresses.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by trueviking

H

I’ll totally give you the setback. It’s the only thing that makes it ‘suburban’ in my mind. Wouldn’t be my choice, and I can’t defend it, but I get why it was nonnegotiable. The site is an island in a sea of surface parking lots. And it likely will be for a long time. If it was surrounded by buildings built to the property line, I’m sure they wouldn’t have felt the need for it. It may even be a nice little pocket park on the lane if the rest of the lots were built up. It’s odd because it is seen in isolation, like a suburban building.

why the insistence on setback? is that coming from the client?

btw great job with the angled cantilevered section so the nutty club sign remains partially visible, i love that sign

[borkborkbork]

also one of the things to point out for those who are talking about "it looks suburban", think about the cladding here. in a render, you don't necessarily see the distinction as much between tyndall stone and the usual EIFS/hardie/stucco/whatever cladding you'd see in the burbs. but at a street level, this being tyndall stone will make it feel MUCH more solid and urban, i think

[plrh]

I like it. With a building that size it could have ended up looking like a credit union. I don't know why but credit unions always look awful. But this does not

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by plrh

I like it. With a building that size it could have ended up looking like a credit union. I don't know why but credit unions always look awful. But this does not

The SCU main branch in Steinbach would look at home on any street in downtown Winnipeg.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

also one of the things to point out for those who are talking about "it looks suburban", think about the cladding here. in a render, you don't necessarily see the distinction as much between tyndall stone and the usual EIFS/hardie/stucco/whatever cladding you'd see in the burbs. but at a street level, this being tyndall stone will make it feel MUCH more solid and urban, i think

This is true. The cladding is 6'x3' panels of tyndal stone. The glass is super clear. It is not typical condo materials.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

why the insistence on setback? is that coming from the client?

Yes. Many sleepless nights. Many hours trying to present the case for the alternate. The building for them is a showpiece that they bring people from around the world to impress. They see the area as a desolate and harsh place that doesn’t fit that image. Hard to argue. That’s why I say that if there were other buildings on the street it wouldn’t have mattered. They really felt the context needed to be softened to make the building feel like it wasn’t sitting in an ocean of parking lots. I don’t agree but I get it. Hopefully the other sites will be filled with good urban buildings and the little plaza functions a bit like a pocket park.

Need to convince the city to end the deal with Sam for the parking lot to the south and sell it to a developer.

[wags_in_the_peg]

what is with obsession with street level retail? guys & gals, get over it, not every building can have it and there's 100's of empty retail street level spaces located in downtown.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

what is with obsession with street level retail? guys & gals, get over it, not every building can have it and there's 100's of empty retail street level spaces located in downtown.

Pretty much this. I would never expect a corporately owned building like this on a side street with minimal pedestrian traffic to have CRUs. It's simply not gonna happen. If there had been CRUs built, you could bet your bottom dollar that they'd sit empty for years before an accountant or therapist or some other professional service set up shop, it would never become a funky boutique or whatever.

That said, proper urban design can be expected of every building and vike makes a good point that this building is a vast improvement over the NRC research facilities on Ellice... those buildings look nice from a distance but they don't engage with the street at all.

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by esquire

Pretty much this. I would never expect a corporately owned building like this on a side street with minimal pedestrian traffic to have CRUs. It's simply not gonna happen. If there had been CRUs built, you could bet your bottom dollar that they'd sit empty for years before an accountant or therapist or some other professional service set up shop, it would never become a funky boutique or whatever.

That said, proper urban design can be expected of every building and vike makes a good point that this building is a vast improvement over the NRC research facilities on Ellice... those buildings look nice from a distance but they don't engage with the street at all.

Proper urban design *should* be expected of every building, but yes. And there are many ways to make buildings pedestrian friendly without adding active commercial at ground level. Jan Gehl and others talk about what proper building design elements are needed on residential and non-high streets. Lots of permeability (real doors and real windows), and visual texture and scale... ie, no long blank walls.

Given the setbacks the owner demanded, this building does a pretty good job of adding a lot to the pedestrian environment.

And even at downtown Winnipeg's urbanism peak (circa 1915-1930), I don't believe there ever was retail on Westbrook, or just about anywhere else that far east of Main. This was, and certainly is now, very much off the beaten path.

[Urban recluse]

Exactly!

[Ando]

The project is filling longtime surface lots downtown, creating 100 high-end jobs initially with up to 200. It is being built by a private Winnipeg-based company dedicated to the city and the downtown, without public funding. It is a great design and doesn't look anything like anything like anything I've seen in the suburbs, and it's the same height as the building across the street. It's a lab. I don't expect every building built to have ground floor retail, anymore than I would expect Richardsons to put a floor of condos on the fourth floor.

[rrskylar]

Great addition to the area, modern design, private investment what's not to like?!

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by Ando

The project is filling longtime surface lots downtown, creating 100 high-end jobs initially with up to 200. It is being built by a private Winnipeg-based company dedicated to the city and the downtown, without public funding. It is a great design and doesn't look anything like anything like anything I've seen in the suburbs, and it's the same height as the building across the street. It's a lab. I don't expect every building built to have ground floor retail, anymore than I would expect Richardsons to put a floor of condos on the fourth floor.

exactly! very well put

[Urban recluse]

In today's FP, Richardson made a comment about owning that lot for 30 years, and they " were waiting for the right opportunity." That kind of makes me sick that they owned it for that long, and sat on it.

[headhorse]

^ Richardson's are sitting on a lot more money and property than just this one that they're doing nothing with...

[Ando]

Originally Posted by headhorse

^ Richardson's are sitting on a lot more money and property than just this one that they're doing nothing with...

They are a multi-billion dollar international company. I think they do stuff to make money. I can't argue with that. Within the confines of making a profit, they have done a ton for Winnipeg and the downtown.