[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[jeddy1989]

MORNIN NEWS

Council Considers Condos

Developers have come up with a preliminary design for a condominium on LeMarchant Road in St. John's. Reardon Construction presented the city's Heritage Advisory Committee with a preliminary design of the building earlier this week. The condos would be at the site of the old Tulk's Key and Glass store at 47 LeMarchant Road.

Councillor Sheilagh O'Leary, who sits on the Heritage Advisory Committee, says although it is still in the early stages, the committee is pleased with the design.

O'Leary says that the committee has requested that the developer submit over elavations that show the entire building in context to the street scape of LeMarchant Road and Lime Street. She says it will give the committee a better sense of how it will affect the neighbourhood. O'Leary adds that as a whole the committee is pleased with the design.

Also before the committee was a proposal to expand 430 Water Street at the rear facing George Street West and consisting of a 6-storey building. The advisory committee came back with suggestions for improvement to the design to better fit into the downtown.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=28784&latest=1

awesome for lemarchant condos ... maybe we need to email again with the 430 water street .. show some support for the project and in a higher and modern way that statement makes me nervous

[AllBlack]

Originally Posted by statbass

Agreed... If a Delta extension were to take place it would have to be some height difference to take away from a wall effect, even if it's only 2-3 stories taller.

I wonder if they could extend backward atop the existing banquet facilities, making the hotel T-shaped.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by AllBlack

I wonder if they could extend backward atop the existing banquet facilities, making the hotel T-shaped.

That's a possibility - but extending upward in that direction could be encroaching on the residential area behind the Delta (that too depends on overall height). Personally, I don't really see it being a problem but in light of issues raised from the original Hilton proposal it begs me to question; I guess my argument here is moot.

[SignalHillHiker]

Second batch for December 1, 2012:


Downtown St. John's from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


West End St. John's (including Mount Pearl) from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


East End St. John's from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


351 and Convention Centre Expansion by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

Pleasantville:


The Battery from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Pleasantville and Signal Hill from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


The Whole Shebang from Southside Hills II by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


TD PLace from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


351 from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Fortis Place and 351 from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

[AllBlack]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

MORNIN NEWS

Council Considers Condos


http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=28784&latest=1

awesome for lemarchant condos ... maybe we need to email again with the 430 water street .. show some support for the project and in a higher and modern way that statement makes me nervous

The heritage committee's suggestions for 430 Water cause me some concern too. Here they're recommending that the original brick facade and window layout of a less-than-attractive non-heritage building be maintained. Also suggesting that the 6-story extension not be enclosed in glass curtain wall but brick, "to better fit into the downtown"? I agree an email campaign is called for, if we're going to help create a modern west-downtown core.

[AllBlack]

Originally Posted by statbass

That's a possibility - but extending upward in that direction could be encroaching on the residential area behind the Delta (that too depends on overall height). Personally, I don't really see it being a problem but in light of issues raised from the original Hilton proposal it begs me to question; I guess my argument here is moot.

I guess I was thinking they could extend back without adding any height at all. They'd create a bunch of additional rooms by adding a wing of 6 floors or so, without creating a "great wall of China" and without agitating the height police. Now if they went higher than the existing building, that'd be great too..!

[jeddy1989]

here's another rendering of DT to add to the collection ... again very probably inaccurate hahahah but you get the idea these are buildings proposed/under construction in the weste end dt

[SignalHillHiker]

Batch 3 from December 1, 2012:


Old St. John's from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Downtown West End St. John's from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


New Construction on Livingstone Street by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Fortis Place and 351 by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


From Cathedral to Confederation by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

[Townie709]

Nice pictures Signal. Hiking up into the bogs of the southside hills shows dedication! I did that in the summer once and swore I would never go back It's so nice to see some snow on the ground!

And nice render Jeddy! All the buildings seem to be about the right height. Regarding the Steele hotel, It may not be as bad as I had anticipated. The six stories is much taller than I had originally imagined in my mind. Ideally, I'd like to see something much taller go here, but that ship has sailed. As long as the design isn't horrible, It may be somewhat tolerable.

I do think we should email in support of 430 water street. imo, the heritage committee should have about zero say on this project. It's in an area that should be modernized. We don't need brick on all our modern buildings. Asking them the developers to keep that ugly beige brick facade on the building is not reasonable as that has absolutely no heritage value whatsoever. I think it should be all glass. It would compliment Fortis Place much better than brick.

I'm very glad the heritage commitee/council likes the idea of the Lemarchant condos

Now on to the alleged delta extension. I would love to see something taller built on the surface parking lot as to not create the 'great wall' effect. Something taller than anything there, even by only 3-4 stories (and not too bulky) would do wonders for our skyline. That being said, it would no doubt draw alot of criticism from the surrounding neighbours who won't be able to see the oil tanks anymore. But what AllBlack says is true too. They could expand directly behind the existing hotel as well. You wouldn't really be able to see it from anywhere, which would make me very sad, but it would do the same for the hotel as expanding on the parking lot. Anyway, this is all theoretical. I'm not going to get too excited about this because this is simply speculation and there is a good chance absolutely nothing is in the works at the moment. But I hope there is

[SignalHillHiker]

Happy City St. John's developed a report about heritage versus development with the St. John's Board of Trade (Development) and the Newfoundland Historic Trust (Heritage). It's been submitted to council as part of the municipal review.

http://happycity.ca/blog/posts/2012/nove...on-heritage-and-development-in-st-johns/

[Townie709]

I hope they awarded the east to the heritage, and the west to developers

In all seriousness, I think, for the west end of downtown, the worst that can happen in the revised municipal plan, is that not much change (height restrictions stay the same and no change in zoning). I really hope to see it rezoned for higher commercial/residential development. But somehow I still doubt that much will change at all. We'll see. In january, right?

[SignalHillHiker]

Batch 4 for December 1, 2012:


Memorial University of Newfoundland from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Fortis Place from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Old and New St. John's from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Downtown East End from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

And final batch for December 1, 2012:


Ayeronaut's Hood from Southside Hills by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


Fortis Place and 351 by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


New Residences at Memorial University of Newfoundland by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr


From Colony to Canada by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

[Townie709]

I love the last picture! The snow brings out the colors of the row houses so well!

[codyLawrenceDylan14]

Originally Posted by Townie709

I love the last picture! The snow brings out the colors of the row houses so well!

I agree! Great pictures. The last one makes all of the houses seem much more vibrant

[statbass]

A great trek for a great set of pics!

[Architype]

Great photos Nflder, the first ones that really look wintery.
Jeddy, the Hilton would be a bit shorter than the Delta and Fortis, good job though.

[Architype]

Here is my favourite statements from the Joint Submission:

“Heritage refers to a set of design principles, integral to all stages of
development and planning, that reflect the distinctive sense of place and a
tangible connection to our history. These design principles should include
the creation of functional, mixed-use urban environments that optimize the
benefits to stakeholders. In short, heritage is good design.”

and

“It’s not how dense you make it; it’s how you make it dense”

http://happycity.ca/media/5881/Joint-Submission-for-SJ-Municipal-Plan.pdf

[statbass]

Source: The Telegram.
Date: Dec 1, 2012
Author: Daniel MacEachern

What are the consequences of long-distance commutes? A new Memorial University project tackles the social and economic results of Newfoundland and Labrador workers who have to travel long distances — ranging from long drives to the city, flights to offshore oil platforms or across the country to Fort McMurray, Alta.

Memorial professor Barb Neis, project director for “On the Move: The Consequences of Long-Distance Commuting,” said the project was born of research she’d been doing in fishing communities in rural Newfoundland.

Interesting article...

http://www.thetelegram.com/Business/2012...-explore-consequences-of-long-commutes/1

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by Architype

Great photos Nflder, the first ones that really look wintery.
Jeddy, the Hilton would be a bit shorter than the Delta and Fortis, good job though.

Hilton will be shorter than the delta, but won't it be at a higher elevation than fortis? Fortis is bing built in a pit dug off New Gower, while the Hilton site is at a higher elevation than fortis. So it would be shorter than the delta, but closer to fortis from that angle.

I think