Thank you for the updates SekishikiMeikaiHa and Jonovision.
I was quite amazed to see the depth of excavation in this image posted by SekishikiMeikaiHa - http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8625109088_0ba0178aa5_b.jpg. It looks like this area can accommodate several levels of parking. It is too bad that there aren't more details available for the apartment building and parking structure.
I don't mind the brick. It's nicer than exposed precast and it provides a bit of diversity to go along with glass. Here in Vancouver glass cladding is extremely common in condos and offices. The overall effect isn't all that different from having tons of red brick highrises or tons of concrete buildings.
Honestly I feel like halifax has an "appropriate" amount of brick, and isn't really dominated by one type of exterior the way some cities are. Many cities in Ontario have twice as much brown or grey as Halifax has red brick, and look incredibly dreary as a result. Winnipeg would be another example. Portland Maine looks to be almost EXCLUSIVELY red brick downtown. In contrast the near absense of red brick in BC was notable in that it felt like something was missing.
All-glass buildings can also have a lot of problems related to energy efficiency and climate control. Maybe these have been addressed in newer designs but I have heard it brought up as a major issue in recent Toronto projects. The NSP headquarters is efficient but one major reason is that it does not have exterior balconies.
Heh. As a Brit, I'm used to 99% of housing and a significant percentage of retail/commercial being brick. Upon moving here, I found the absence of brick quite striking (I'm still a little nervous about houses here being built from insulation/foam, a few support timbers and a thin covering of wood shingles ). I really don't find that we have a lot of brick downtown at all!
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). I really don't find that we have a lot of brick downtown at all!
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