Saskatoon Construction

[kgc087]

I'm very excited for the Clarion, alongside with the AGOS it will help to continue to foster a growing culture within our area. I know the media is probably embellishing a bit but it would be interesting to see the UofS become one of the main artistic universities in Canada along with already being one of the leading science unis.

[WoodlandCritter]

Here's our project we did. Just to clarify that it was a steel construction and computer design project, we had no budget, completely hypothetical and just had to create a structure within these parameters. We did it from start to finish in 5 days. So everything may not be thought out fully or 100% accurate. Here are our two panels for submission. I have other renders and images if you want to see them. But have not had time to photoshop the images completely yet. And sorry for the size of the images, i couldn't get the size down to any smaller when i uploaded them to my alternate site.

[EarlyByrdProductions]

Originally Posted by kgc087

Sorry to rain on your parade, but Saskatoon could only hope for something as iconic as those two museums. I'm finding a trend in modern canadian architecture to be occurring and that is these types of buildings! So it would be great for Saskatoon to something this forward, I really think it would compliment LP if it is built. I'm hoping for something completely deconstructive and outlandish!

I would completely love having such a unique and captivating building such as the AGA or AGO. When I visited Edmonton this winter and saw the building I was completing mesmerized. Same goes anytime I'm in T.O, I try and plan a walk past the 'crystal'.
Any building that can get my creative juices flowing just by looking at it is good in my books. Either that or a throwback style that parallels the Bes.
However the latter seems like it would be much harder to properly pull off.

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by WoodlandCritter

Here's our project we did. Just to clarify that it was a steel construction and computer design project, we had no budget, completely hypothetical and just had to create a structure within these parameters. We did it from start to finish in 5 days. So everything may not be thought out fully or 100% accurate. Here are our two panels for submission. I have other renders and images if you want to see them. But have not had time to photoshop the images completely yet. And sorry for the size of the images, i couldn't get the size down to any smaller when i uploaded them to my alternate site.

Uhhh...AWESOME!! I sure hope you're going to mail this to the city, if not I'm totally infringing and doing it myself!

[milanboy]

Originally Posted by WoodlandCritter

Here's our project we did. ...

Breath-taking! Awesome! Kudos to your design group. You should definitely submit this design to city council. Even if they just see it, it should raise the bar for what ultimately gets built there. Again I am awed. If this were a submission from a design professional, I would be equally impressed at the quality and their pushing the envelope of great design. The fact that you are in university makes the design even more amazing. Your group has an excellent future ahead of you. Never lose the enthusiasm or the creativity.

[Temperance]

Very impressive design for the bus terminal. Nice to have something sculptural but also functional. What are the water and light features on the benches? Also, I wonder if this would be very expensive to build? This is something I know nothing about - maybe because of the curvy metal it would be more expensive as you would have to custom design each piece. Don't know.

I'm also excited about the critical mass of arts facilities we are now getting in the city: Art Gallery of Saskatchewan, new Persephone Theatre, Clarion performing arts centre. Not to mention the Saskatchewan native theatre on 20th if that ever gets completed. Very good along with the continuing development of the university. Still think a small Life Sciences Museum in the old Mendel gallery building would be great, not to mention the aboriginal keeping house somewhere else (in a perfect world).

[dsim249]

Originally Posted by J_M_A

Did I read in the Globe & Mail today that Vaughn Wyant is opening a Porsche dealership in Saskatoon? When is this happening? Or might I have misread the article?

If this is happening, its great to hear and just another sign of how well Saskatoon is doing.

I believe you read correctly, although the article was the first I've heard of the new Porsche dealership.

__________________________________________________________

Kudos, WoodlandCritter. The design looks phenomenal.
I'm curious about the benches with light and water feature, also.

[milanboy]

Originally Posted by Temperance

I'm also excited about the critical mass of arts facilities we are now getting in the city: ...

Don't forget about the new La Troupe du Jour theatre space on 20th Street around Avenue J or so. They are renovating a building on the north side of the street.

Also I understand that SNTC either has or is in the process of selling one of their buildings on 20th Street (they owned adjoining properties that were going to be renovated into their new theatre space), and are pursuing less grand plans for the future of the theatre company. Regrettably they have been rather dormant over the past 2 years with only a couple of minor productions and co-productions instead of the usual full seasons.

[mike474]

Originally Posted by milanboy

Don't forget about the new La Troupe du Jour theatre space on 20th Street around Avenue J or so. They are renovating a building on the north side of the street.

Also I understand that SNTC either has or is in the process of selling one of their buildings on 20th Street (they owned adjoining properties that were going to be renovated into their new theatre space), and are pursuing less grand plans for the future of the theatre company. Regrettably they have been rather dormant over the past 2 years with only a couple of minor productions and co-productions instead of the usual full seasons.

I drove past the other day and the SNC building has for lease signs posted in all the windows. I was going to ask if anyone know if they were relocating or whatever.

[mike474]

Originally Posted by milanboy

We do have the Beaver Creek Conservation Area just south of the city where beavers can be seen in their natural habitat.

I have bad luck there with seeing beavers there. In the last year I've seen more downtown on the river and even at Wanuskewin than at Beaver Creek. Plus they close the gates at 5 PM (not sure if they extend this in the summer) which is lame. If you want to go for a walk in the evening you have to park in the ditch by the gate and walk the grid road to get to the trails. I just think it'd be cool for a small beaver-creek-like setting within walking distance of downtown for city folk to enjoy.

[dsim249]

Originally Posted by milanboy

Can someone help me out? I'm trying to figure out what SaskTel and cellular service have to do with construction in Saskatoon. Well, anyone?

Originally Posted by milanboy

We do have the Beaver Creek Conservation Area just south of the city where beavers can be seen in their natural habitat.

Can someone help me out? I'm trying to figure out what beavers have to do with construction in Saskatoon. Well, anyone?



I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that.

[milanboy]

Originally Posted by dsim249

Can someone help me out? I'm trying to figure out what beavers have to do with construction in Saskatoon. Well, anyone?



I'm sorry, I couldn't resist that.

The interpretive centre at Beaver Creek is a pretty cool building.

[WoodlandCritter]

Originally Posted by milanboy

Breath-taking! Awesome! Kudos to your design group. You should definitely submit this design to city council. Even if they just see it, it should raise the bar for what ultimately gets built there. Again I am awed. If this were a submission from a design professional, I would be equally impressed at the quality and their pushing the envelope of great design. The fact that you are in university makes the design even more amazing. Your group has an excellent future ahead of you. Never lose the enthusiasm or the creativity.

Thanks, yeah i'd be up for mailing it to the city, but to whom i don't know. so if any of you have contact information for me that would be helpful. Also the water features are concrete benches that seem to be peeling out of the ground exposing a small water pool with lights underneath. The image in the panel is not the best angle to see this tho. If you'd like a few more images i sure could post some more. As for the price, i have no idea what it would cost, yes it could be expensive because each piece would have to be made custom-fit. We just tried to create something a little more imaginative and grand. Something that seems to be reserved for museums, galleries, theatres and such. We figured why can't a bus terminal be something inspiring and unique? Turn the regular and ordinary into art itself. More people from all walks of life would use a bus terminal than would visit a performance theatre, or art gallery. So it brings in many demographics, why not bring something like this to a civic project, especially in such a prominent space, right across from city hall, main branch of the library, second ave. and many other high profile areas in the city and downtown core.

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by WoodlandCritter

Thanks, yeah i'd be up for mailing it to the city, but to whom i don't know. so if any of you have contact information for me that would be helpful. Also the water features are concrete benches that seem to be peeling out of the ground exposing a small water pool with lights underneath. The image in the panel is not the best angle to see this tho. If you'd like a few more images i sure could post some more. As for the price, i have no idea what it would cost, yes it could be expensive because each piece would have to be made custom-fit. We just tried to create something a little more imaginative and grand. Something that seems to be reserved for museums, galleries, theatres and such. We figured why can't a bus terminal be something inspiring and unique? Turn the regular and ordinary into art itself. More people from all walks of life would use a bus terminal than would visit a performance theatre, or art gallery. So it brings in many demographics, why not bring something like this to a civic project, especially in such a prominent space, right across from city hall, main branch of the library, second ave. and many other high profile areas in the city and downtown core.

Just check the city site and it will have emails for people.

[WoodlandCritter]

I'll do that. thanks

[kgc087]

I asked Darren Hill, the ward 1 councilor, and he said mail it to Jeff Jorgenson GM Utility Services, city hall!

[WoodlandCritter]

Here's a closer look at the benches. originally our idea was to have them at an even level with the surrounding cement as to give the effect that the benches were being peeled back from the ground exposing water and light in the spot were the cement had been. but when it came time to model we ran out of time to edit them into the ground.





And some more partial renders....

[drm310]

Driving around the city this weekend, I noticed some activity at construction sites. Part of the southbound side of Pacific Ave between 22nd and 23rd Streets is blocked off, and it looks like site preparation is underway for the Holiday Inn.

In Nutana, a block of old houses on 8th St between Dufferin and Landsdowne have been razed, and it looks like they're prepping for the contruction of the Vestel condos. Looks like the majority of the units are either sold or on hold. If some of them are first-time buyers, I'm sure there's a "Vestel virgin" joke to be made there...

In University Heights, it looks like equipment is being moved in to develop the University Heights Square project. Here's an article from the paper that I found just now from last week.

Retail complex underway

The StarPhoenix
April 15, 2010

The largest retail development in northeast Saskatoon is now under construction.

Pillar Development Corp. completed the purchase on March 31 of the 23-acre site at University Heights Square, on the corner of Attridge Drive and McOrmand Drive. Construction started this month on Phase 1, which has about 115,000 square feet of retail space to accommodate 27 tenants.

"We have been working closely with local, regional and national tenants. Many of the tenants are scheduled to open Nov. 1, 2010," said Keith Webb, vice-president of Colliers McClocklin, which is doing the leasing on behalf of Pillar Development.

So far, Phase 1 is 70 per cent leased, with remaining spaces ranging from 1,400 square feet to 30,000 square feet.

In March, CIBC announced plans to open a 6,100-square-foot branch at the development in spring 2011.

University Heights Square is surrounded by six established neighbourhoods -- Arbor Creek, Erindale, Forest Grove, Silverspring, Sutherland and Willowgrove -- as well as the planned Evergreen neighbourhood.

In September 2009, the City of Saskatoon granted the developer a payment extension to March 31 on the nearly $18 million it owed for the 23-acre property.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
Source

[gopher65]

Originally Posted by mike474

I've seen lots of them this year. If you scroll back a few pages I posted a couple of photos of one that I watched for a good ten minutes chewing the bark off a stick (too bad it was crappy cell camera). If you walk down to the river from the corner of Spadina and 23rd there's a drainage pipe that creates a small creek that flows northward into the river; I've seen a few there and there are plenty of felled trees. I've also seen them on the east shore just north of the University Bridge, but that was after the ice broke up.

I think a neat attraction would be some kind of riverbank wildlife integration like beaver habitat. Has anyone been to that shoreline park in Kelowna that has boardwalks through a riparian habitat right in town? You can see the fish swimming and there are nesting eagles iirc right on the edge of downtown next to that large hotel complex (I forget the name); or there's the new tidal park in false creek in Vancouver or even some of the islands in Wascana Lake. I kinda wish the River Landing walk had incorporated something like that; but I have no idea how feasible it'd be with out climate, wildlife, and the local physical geography.

Originally Posted by milanboy

We do have the Beaver Creek Conservation Area just south of the city where beavers can be seen in their natural habitat.

Thanks guys. I don't know when I'll get to head out to Beaver Creek (I have no car, so I'll have to bum a ride), but I intend to go! I'd never heard of that place before.

As for the corner of 23rd and Spadina, I live not far from there, so hopefully I'll have time to check it out in the next few days. Right now I only have my little cybershot though, so I won't be able to get any good shots until my zoom lens for my real camera gets here.

[gopher65]

WoodlandCritter: That looks awesome. Please send that in to the city, and forward it to every one of the city councillors. Please hint to them that it would be a political coupe for them to be able to select a design done by students. They'd still have to have it professionally appraised, and undoubtedly design changes would have to be made for utility purposes (if the building doesn't do its job, or if it isn't structurally sound, then it doesn't matter how good it looks *cough*SydneyOperaHouse*cough*), but even with that, selecting an "amateur" design would be a great talking point for them.