[Saint John, NB] 99 King Street | 13 storeys | Under Construction

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

You are correct. It supports itself as it’s pieced together.

Yes, that's what I understood. Rebar in the panels and the floors along with steel brackets connecting everything gives the building it's structural strength.

No steel frame with an exterior facade hung on it.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by Sabien

The entire first floor walls are installed now - it shows the doorway in question capped off but that doesn't really clarify its purpose.

The exposed support connections for the entrance canopy can be seen on these new panels. The canopy can be seen in this rendering, which also corroborates it being a entrance door not a parking entrance.

Of all the renderings we've seen, the building going up seems to most closely resemble this one from OSCO - which makes sense since they are the ones producing the panels. The height in this also matches the approvals from the City.

[DyAm00394]

New CTV Article:

12-storey building on Saint John’s King Street expected to open for tenants in 2026

https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/new-brun...et-expected-to-open-for-tenants-in-2026/


“Every couple, two to three weeks I believe, you’ll see probably another storey move forward,” Cyr says. “It’s a building that will go up quite fast from our understanding.”

Cyr believes the project will “redefine” the area and will bring new life and vibrancy to the streetscape.

“It’s going to put 150 new homes in the uptown,” Cyr says. “It’s going to bring more than 30 affordable units, which are desperately needed, and it’s going to add to the skyline. Not a lot of projects will add to the skyline like this project will.”

[sailor734]

Went by today. The panels look pretty good IMO. Although, the vertical seams where two sections of brick join are quite noticeable. I don't know what, if anything can be done about this. Overall though, I'd say this is a pretty good impression of a building from the early 20th century but is obviously "faux" when you look a little more closely. I think the "faux-ness" gives it a sort of Disney World vibe.

Obviously economics and what the market will bear inform construction choices and I expect that is the case here. That's reality.

Purely personal opinion but I wish the developer had chosen to go with a modern, architecturally interesting design rather an imitation 1920's building

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Went by today. The panels look pretty good IMO. Although, the vertical seams where two sections of brick join are quite noticeable. I don't know what, if anything can be done about this. Overall though, I'd say this is a pretty good impression of a building from the early 20th century but is obviously "faux" when you look a little more closely. I think the "faux-ness" gives it a sort of Disney World vibe.

Obviously economics and what the market will bear inform construction choices and I expect that is the case here. That's reality.

Purely personal opinion but I wish the developer had chosen to go with a modern, architecturally interesting design rather an imitation 1920's building

Definitely agree, I have never liked faux heritage designs, they cheapen the look of streets and short-sell the city by turning our heritage into a caricature.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

Definitely agree, I have never liked faux heritage designs, they cheapen the look of streets and short-sell the city by turning our heritage into a caricature.

I don't think this building is going to be awful. I just think it will end up kind of boring and uninspired. A missed opportunity for a very prominent location.

[bingun]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

The exposed support connections for the entrance canopy can be seen on these new panels. The canopy can be seen in this rendering, which also corroborates it being a entrance door not a parking entrance.

Of all the renderings we've seen, the building going up seems to most closely resemble this one from OSCO - which makes sense since they are the ones producing the panels. The height in this also matches the approvals from the City.

Yeah, I expect things to look very similar to this rendering based on what we've seen so far. As you said, they are making the panels; they wouldn't release a rendering if the design isn't defined or is different.

I am still hoping for some more clarity or changes for the upper floors. I pray they don't have those obnoxious logos on the building corners.

Originally Posted by DyAm00394

New CTV Article:

12-storey building on Saint John’s King Street expected to open for tenants in 2026

https://www.ctvnews.ca/atlantic/new-brun...et-expected-to-open-for-tenants-in-2026/


“Every couple, two to three weeks I believe, you’ll see probably another storey move forward,” Cyr says. “It’s a building that will go up quite fast from our understanding.”

Cyr believes the project will “redefine” the area and will bring new life and vibrancy to the streetscape.

“It’s going to put 150 new homes in the uptown,” Cyr says. “It’s going to bring more than 30 affordable units, which are desperately needed, and it’s going to add to the skyline. Not a lot of projects will add to the skyline like this project will.”

Given the reference to affordable units, I don't know what happened to David Hickey's announcement related to this. Maybe they delayed it for optimal timing or some other administrative reason.

I've commented before that I don't necessarily agree with it as I think there are more cost-efficient ways to provide affordable units, but it looks like it's happening.

As for how long per floor, I think 2-3 weeks makes sense. It has been three weeks since they started, and they have achieved the lower section on King Street and most of the first floor. Once they are doing a complete floor from scratch, that should be the best indicator.

[adamuptownsj]

IIRC ground floors are more complicated than upper floors, not counting the top floors, for this kind of build.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

IIRC ground floors are more complicated than upper floors, not counting the top floors, for this kind of build.

That makes sense. They also may get faster with practise.

[cdnguys]

2-3 weeks per floor seems long, I thought it was 4 months to erect. I’ve seen concrete buildings do 1 floor a week.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

2-3 weeks per floor seems long, I thought it was 4 months to erect. I’ve seen concrete buildings do 1 floor a week.

Yes, 1 week +/- lines up with what I was told in July by someone who had been talking to Percy a few days earlier. At that point it was "Crane installation starting first week of August, panel assembly starting late August and building topped off and weather tight in December"

Those timelines have obviously slipped but the assembly process then was estimated at 3-4 months. If it's actually 3 weeks per floor that's 36 weeks or close to 9 months. Building up by June 2026? That's quite a difference.

Another thing.......I don't know if I read this about 91 King specifically or pre-caste modular construction in general but somewhere I got the impression that the panels were supposed to arrive onsite with windows installed. Am I dreaming?

Maybe that's just a capability of this type of construction that's not being utilized here.

[thefishingnut]

I would think that the street level, where many of the panels are multi-piece and very large/tall, as well as individually distinct, makes the initial base of walls much more complicated and time consuming than the upper floors where you get into repeat mode..

[cdnguys]

Originally Posted by sailor734

Yes, 1 week +/- lines up with what I was told in July by someone who had been talking to Percy a few days earlier. At that point it was "Crane installation starting first week of August, panel assembly starting late August and building topped off and weather tight in December"

Those timelines have obviously slipped but the assembly process then was estimated at 3-4 months. If it's actually 3 weeks per floor that's 36 weeks or close to 9 months. Building up by June 2026? That's quite a difference.

Another thing.......I don't know if I read this about 91 King specifically or pre-caste modular construction in general but somewhere I got the impression that the panels were supposed to arrive onsite with windows installed. Am I dreaming?

Maybe that's just a capability of this type of construction that's not being utilized here.

Lighter colour panels are smaller so I assume they are ones with windows

[sailor734]

^ Both of the two posts above make sense. I guess we will find out in a month or two when they get past the third floor.

[cdnguys]

[cdnguys]

[IMG][/IMG]

[sailor734]

I'd be curious to know if the crew onsite has ever worked with this construction technique before?

Also, is this OSCO's first time producing this type of thing in volume or have they done a bunch of these type of precast panel buildings previously?

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

[IMG][/IMG]

Wow! The vertical seam in the brick is really obvious in this photo.

Remind me. Who are the architects on this project?

[bingun]

Originally Posted by sailor734

I'd be curious to know if the crew onsite has ever worked with this construction technique before?

Also, is this OSCO's first time producing this type of thing in volume or have they done a bunch of these type of precast panel buildings previously?

I recall seeing images of precast projects by OSCO in Ontario, such as warehouses, but I don't recall any in NB or SJ.

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by bingun

I recall seeing images of precast projects by OSCO in Ontario, such as warehouses, but I don't recall any in NB or SJ.

OSCO is a large company with operations in the US and Canada, they have definitely produced precast building panels for many buildings in the past.