General Updates and News

[coolmillion]

Gil Penalosa made two points that are interesting in the context of this conversation. The first is that it is a myth that you need to build highrises in order to create density. Most highrises are (required to be) spaced so far apart that lower buildings more tightly packed can hold the same number of units. The second is that low-rise buildings create better streets. He advocates building heights the same width as the street - wider streets, taller buildings. There is nothing radical about either of these ideas and they are widely recognized by planners all over the world (except some cities in Asia with severe land shortage).

The Vancouver example is interesting because though the city has built a lot of towers downtown, it has done so while retaining some of the benefits of low-rise street profile by using podiums and set-backs and by requiring towers to be very narrow. Most of the rest of the city only has tall towers around transit stations. Many cities require low-rise podiums but Halifax has a bad history of allowing tall wide towers (Park Vic, Brunswick Street, the Paramount on South Park, etc). I'm not sure if the planning by-laws would still allow this type of design. I hope not.

I have nothing against tall buildings per se but I don't think that most of downtown Halifax has an ideal topography or layout for highrises. The streets are narrow, the blocks are small and the incline creates complications for entrances and street frontage. Also, the way the hill slopes down to the east means that there is very little sunlight in the afternoon to begin with, making it not the most pleasant place to be (except if there is a gaping hole - like on Argyle Street currently... the patios have never been better!).

I think the idea of building tall buildings in order to create a nice skyline is kind of lame. You see a skyline from a distance, but people have to live in it. A lot of American cities had pretty amazing skylines in the 70s and 80s but were pretty wretched places to live. In contrast some of the nicest cities in the world have unremarkable skylines but amazing and vibrant street life. European cities like London and Paris have highrises, but only in certain areas.

In Halifax I think that the Financial District, Cogswell lands, around the Halifax Shopping Centre/Jo Howe drive and upper Spring Garden are good places for highrises. I really think that design should be first and foremost, however.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by coolmillion

The Vancouver example is interesting because though the city has built a lot of towers downtown, it has done so while retaining some of the benefits of low-rise street profile by using podiums and set-backs and by requiring towers to be very narrow. Most of the rest of the city only has tall towers around transit stations. Many cities require low-rise podiums but Halifax has a bad history of allowing tall wide towers (Park Vic, Brunswick Street, the Paramount on South Park, etc). I'm not sure if the planning by-laws would still allow this type of design. I hope not.

Yup. The most important thing in high-rise design is where the building meets the street. High-rise districts without them can be densely populated but otherwise, fundamentally suburban. (I'm thinking especially of Gladstone Ridge...shudder. Again, someone please drive Danny Chedrawe out of the development industry. Good intentions, pitiful execution.) One exception is the Triillium, actually. I really don't like the building, but from that perspective, it succeeded.

Originally Posted by coolmillion

I think the idea of building tall buildings in order to create a nice skyline is kind of lame. You see a skyline from a distance, but people have to live in it.

Exactly my point. There was a good argument made earlier that our residential neighbourhoods are generally considered to be built and stable, so we're not going to be able to densify the city to, say, a Parisian level. (Outside of the North End, with its many industrial spaces and weedy lots.)

Still, I feel as if there's a lot of room for piecemeal development. We should protect our historical residential streetscapes, especially the saltboxes and Victorians, but there are still plenty of unremarkable, mid-20th century suburban-style houses on the peninsula that look like they could have been built anywhere in North America, at any point in the last 60 years. A six-storey building could replace just two or three of those houses, and double the density of a given block.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yup. The most important thing in high-rise design is where the building meets the street.

This is one of the reasons why I don't think it's very good for development-related discussion to be overly preoccupied with height. I would rather see a slender 30 storey building with a nice podium than a square 20 storey box. Historically, the squat boxes are what the height limits in Halifax have encouraged.

I also think it makes sense to grant more height to a developer in order to get improvements to the public realm. If you only allow 6 storey buildings there isn't much room for doing expensive things like disassembling and moving heritage buildings, but if you allow more units a lot of things become economically viable. Height should be seen as part of a wider set of trade-offs.

[q12]

New site offers one-stop shop for the latest development details in Halifax

March 11, 2013 Updated: March 11, 2013 | 9:26 pm

By Ruth Davenport

Halifax residents now have a one-stop shop for information on all developments in the urban core, complete with details about the proposal and who’s building it.

The Planning and Design Centre (PDC) Construction Site provides an interactive map of projects within the HRMbyDesign downtown area, colour-coded by stage of completion.

Read more here:
http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/591070/...e-latest-development-details-in-halifax/

http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/

Check out the list for latest renders:
http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/list

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by q12

http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/

Check out the list for latest renders:
http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/list

What a great find. Thank you very much!

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by coolmillion

"Vancouverism" would disagree, however.

Did you go to Larry Beasley's talk on Saturday morning? I think one of the most salient points he made was that Halifax is not Vancouver is not Toronto is not Montreal is not Moncton, etc., etc. In other words, the point is to build a liveable city, but how you do that really needs to come from the local context; what works in one place shouldn't be "copy and pasted" to another. This is coming from the man who basically created Vancouverism. He added that the multitude of tall towers worked in Vancouver because of the backdrop of the mountains, and that it probably won't work here. Another thing he brought up is how envious he is of the heritage here, and how we should do everything to protect it. The diversity our heritage buildings bring is a hugely valuable resource in creating a liveable city.

[coolmillion]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Did you go to Larry Beasley's talk on Saturday morning? I think one of the most salient points he made was that Halifax is not Vancouver is not Toronto is not Montreal is not Moncton, etc., etc. In other words, the point is to build a liveable city, but how you do that really needs to come from the local context; what works in one place shouldn't be "copy and pasted" to another. This is coming from the man who basically created Vancouverism. He added that the multitude of tall towers worked in Vancouver because of the backdrop of the mountains, and that it probably won't work here. Another thing he brought up is how envious he is of the heritage here, and how we should do everything to protect it. The diversity our heritage buildings bring is a hugely valuable resource in creating a liveable city.

I didn't see the talk but I agree with the points raised. I wasn't advocating Vancouverism but it is interesting that it has become one of the most "mobile" models of urban planning globally. Apparently Dubai has constructed a waterfront park using Vancouver's Sea Wall as a template.

I would caution that this argument about local uniqueness is sometimes used as a defense against change... (ie we couldn't possibly do something that worked in Vancouver or Toronto because we're have a unique set of local issues that are distinct). The key is learning about and adapting successful practices to local circumstances. I'm actually doing research on this idea - urban policy transfer and mobility. Halifax actually has a lot to learn from other cities in the area of heritage conservation. Although we have some good buildings and streetscapes we do a pitiful job of protecting them, making them relevant and interesting and engaging the broader public in this conversation.

I was happy to see the Carmichael lecture but I wish I'd gotten to some of the conference over the weekend. Such interesting presenters and no doubt great ideas and discussions.

[Nifta]

Originally Posted by q12

http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/

Check out the list for latest renders:
http://pdcentre.ca/construction-site/list

Fantastic! What a great resource

[Nilan8888]

It is a good resource.

...although I do think it's funny that after a quick look at the site, dmaJackson's compilation thread on these forums actually has listings this does not. I'm not seeing the Craigmore drive condo project for instance, or the ALT Hotel project for the airport. No mention of Mount Royale, either.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Nilan8888

It is a good resource.

...although I do think it's funny that after a quick look at the site, dmaJackson's compilation thread on these forums actually has listings this does not. I'm not seeing the Craigmore drive condo project for instance, or the ALT Hotel project for the airport. No mention of Mount Royale, either.

Thats because this site strictly focuses on the urban core (Penninsula & Dartmouth within the circ).

[Nilan8888]

But they've got 3561 Dutch Village listed. That's not actually on the peninsula, and no further out than the Craigmore condos...

[Drybrain]

It also doesn't have the redevelopment at the old Strange Adventures/Taz site, or this one.

But that's a little one and I can see how it would get lost. Not to qubble, anyway—great tool, especially if they keep it updated.

[pblaauw]

Originally Posted by Nifta

Fantastic! What a great resource

Except that the "current site" photo and rendering for RBC Waterside are actually from the Nova Centre.

[Phalanx]

New site offers one-stop shop for the latest development details in Halifax
By Ruth Davenport
Halifax residents now have a one-stop shop for information on all developments in the urban core, complete with details about the proposal and who’s building it.

The Planning and Design Centre (PDC) Construction Site provides an interactive map of projects within the HRMbyDesign downtown area, colour-coded by stage of completion.

Full article

I found this statement a bit odd, though:

“We want to bring decision making more out into the open, so we want people to feel as though they’re much more part of the planning process and not that decisions are being made in the back room,” said Soward.

He said a project like the Nova Centre might have benefited from using the site to communicate designs to the public.

“People didn’t have a clue what was going on there, it was a hole in the ground for over a year,” he said. “We know they’re digging…but we don’t know what the next stage is in terms of final approvals and things like that.”

The Nova Centre went through an exhaustive public consultation and awareness campaign. There are several detailed websites detailing exactly what's planned for the site, and the process involved at getting there.

[fenwick16]

I think this skyscraperpage forum has the most up to date information.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I think this skyscraperpage forum has the most up to date information.

Agreed. I think that they know this as well. They actually used a picture I uploaded to the Gottingen & Bilby Development thread under that proposal on their website.

[bluenoser]

I don't know if we need to resurrect the old thread or what...


Renovations underway at Halifax Seaport Market

'This is the dawn of a new day'

CBC News
Posted: Mar 14, 2013 7:18 AM AT
Last Updated: Mar 14, 2013 8:45 AM AT
Read 13 comments13

The Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market is undergoing extensive renovations and at least one vendor says he hopes the overhaul will mark the end of tumultuous times for the market.

...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/03/14/ns-halifax-market-renovations.html

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by bluenoser

I don't know if we need to resurrect the old thread or what...


Renovations underway at Halifax Seaport Market

'This is the dawn of a new day'

CBC News
Posted: Mar 14, 2013 7:18 AM AT
Last Updated: Mar 14, 2013 8:45 AM AT
Read 13 comments13

The Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market is undergoing extensive renovations and at least one vendor says he hopes the overhaul will mark the end of tumultuous times for the market.

...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/03/14/ns-halifax-market-renovations.html

Ok, so the Market is knee deep in red ink to the tune of millions, so they spend "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in additional monies to upgrade a building that was supposed to be "top of the line" a mere few years ago.

Brilliant !!

[Keith P.]

The design process and ensuing design itself was a complete disaster. They employed a designer who apparently either never looked at a market before starting out, or took the original design and totally changed it based upon input from everyone and their dog. The result was this camel of a committee-designed horse that cost us $15 million. The minute I heard about the "living wall" I had grave doubts that anyone involved had a clue. Upon opening, vendors were shocked to find no or inadequate utility connections and for those involved in cooking on-site, ventilation and fire control that was totally outside of code requirements. And of course once it did open, traffic flow inside was an utter disaster. It was a complete boondoggle. So the redesign is badly needed. Hopefully the taxpayer will not the given the bill.

[Drybrain]

Just to provide a counter to the negativity--yes, there were serious problems with the design, and it's unfortunate that they have to go back after the fact to try and correct those errors.

But the market is a fantastic civic resource. A beautiful, sunny building overlooking the harbour is a vastly better location than the warren of underground tunnels it used to be in. It's still a great place on a Saturday morning, and I've never brought an out-of-towner there without them coming away with positive impressions. (Hopefully it can become more vital throughout the week, after the renos.)