[Halifax] RBC Waterside Centre | 37 m | 9 fl | Completed

[RyeJay]

Just a few ...

[someone123]

Thanks for the photos. It is nice to see a wider context for the developments, and I actually like the older Scotia Square towers (I think this one is Duke Tower). I hope Westhill works out well and lightens up the concrete feel of the area without looking making Scotia Square look like a Frankenstein development.

The view from Cogswell shows just how much potential the Waterside area has. If some of these streets were buried the foreground area could be turned into something great; maybe a small public square with the older buildings on one side and a tall glass tower on the other.

[RyeJay]

And another:

[fenwick16]

I like the pictures that you took RyeJay. I am looking forward to seeing more in the future.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

The view from Cogswell shows just how much potential the Waterside area has. If some of these streets were buried the foreground area could be turned into something great; maybe a small public square with the older buildings on one side and a tall glass tower on the other.

Better yet, as Cogswell is dismantled, that centre median can be widened into a narrow city block, and there can be modest development there as well as on the east side, along Water.

As it is, there's so much road capacity that there's enormous room for road re-engineering here. Separated, Montreal-style cycle lanes could be deployed easily without significantly impairing other forms of traffic.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I like the pictures that you took RyeJay. I am looking forward to seeing more in the future.

Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll see what I can manage.

[Nifta]

Some new pictures on the Waterside Centre facebook page showing off the granite finish

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.545994788777603.1073741829.108681372508949&type=1

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by someone123

The view from Cogswell shows just how much potential the Waterside area has. If some of these streets were buried the foreground area could be turned into something great; maybe a small public square with the older buildings on one side and a tall glass tower on the other.

A public square would be a great fit there and could really link the waterfront to Granville Mall. The facing of Morses Teas and Historic Properties sets up the area nicely. To make sure it's big enough to be meaningful, you could push the roads out on either side (use Lower Water and what is now the ramp from Barrington for incoming and outgoing). We could also turn Duke between Hollis and Lower Water into a two-way so that a road in front of Morses Teas isn't needed anymore. A new modern building that fronts right on the square could be built where the pedway is. It could be a great space.

[cormiermax]

Originally Posted by spaustin

A public square would be a great fit there and could really link the waterfront to Granville Mall. The facing of Morses Teas and Historic Properties sets up the area nicely. To make sure it's big enough to be meaningful, you could push the roads out on either side (use Lower Water and what is now the ramp from Barrington for incoming and outgoing). We could also turn Duke between Hollis and Lower Water into a two-way so that a road in front of Morses Teas isn't needed anymore. A new modern building that fronts right on the square could be built where the pedway is. It could be a great space.

This.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by spaustin

A public square would be a great fit there and could really link the waterfront to Granville Mall. The facing of Morses Teas and Historic Properties sets up the area nicely. To make sure it's big enough to be meaningful, you could push the roads out on either side (use Lower Water and what is now the ramp from Barrington for incoming and outgoing). We could also turn Duke between Hollis and Lower Water into a two-way so that a road in front of Morses Teas isn't needed anymore. A new modern building that fronts right on the square could be built where the pedway is. It could be a great space.

I kind of like this idea, but one thing Halifax is actually blessed with is abundant excellent public space. In a small area, we have the Grand Parade, Cornwallis Park, the Public Gardens, and of course, Citadel Hill and the Commons. Living in cities like Toronto and Calgary has made me realize that this is not common in Canada—even Toronto has virtually nothing in its inner city, besides Nathan Phillips (meh) and Yonge-Dundas (ugh). Halifax has lots of well-used, well-loved, well-designed downtown public spaces that have a lot of history behind them to boot.

What we don't have is an abundance of downtown residential, so I still think that creating a development that excites people about living downtown, rather than just visiting, is key here.

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I kind of like this idea, but one thing Halifax is actually blessed with is abundant excellent public space. In a small area, we have the Grand Parade, Cornwallis Park, the Public Gardens, and of course, Citadel Hill and the Commons. Living in cities like Toronto and Calgary has made me realize that this is not common in Canada—even Toronto has virtually nothing in its inner city, besides Nathan Phillips (meh) and Yonge-Dundas (ugh). Halifax has lots of well-used, well-loved, well-designed downtown public spaces that have a lot of history behind them to boot.

What we don't have is an abundance of downtown residential, so I still think that creating a development that excites people about living downtown, rather than just visiting, is key here.

It's true we have some great public spaces Downtown, but they're all very formal places. Cornwallis Park, Grand Parade, the Public Gardens are all very formal, the Commons is huge, which makes it a very different place and Citadel Hill is, well, a hill. A square by historic properties could fill a very different role. It could be a place to linger and people-watch. You could have cafe tables alongside a new building on the northside and Baton Rouge could spill out more on the other. Perhaps the Historic Properties space would then transform into restaurants/cafes as well. Maybe with more people living in the area, there would be enough critical mass to support some kind of specialty weekend market. I think you would want something in the centre to encourage people to stop. People don't linger in wide-open spaces, we're naturally driven to sit on the edges. A fountain or statue would work, but maybe we could do something even more creative. The goal, to me, would be to create a space that invites lingering instead of tolerates it, which is the vibe most of our Victorian era spaces give off. Open, small, tied to the street and buildings instead of being a retreat from the city and inviting.

[someone123]

I do like the small spaces. One popular one is of course the library. The Robbie Burns square is another. The Public Gardens are great (for their particular purpose), but the Grand Parade is not particularly well-designed or used and Cornwallis Park has always felt neglected. The waterfront is full of what feel like 50% public spaces, usually because they border on surface parking that destroys their sense of enclosure (the parking lot at George and Barrington does this to the Grand Parade, and the Superstore does this to Cornwallis).

Anyway, my point is that I agree with the idea of having lots of small, urban public spaces that are surrounded by pleasant buildings. These little spaces would be entirely compatible with a Cogswell redevelopment; it's the large parks that are impractical for this area and probably wouldn't be very successful.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

I do like the small spaces. One popular one is of course the library. The Robbie Burns square is another. The Public Gardens are great (for their particular purpose), but the Grand Parade is not particularly well-designed or used and Cornwallis Park has always felt neglected. The waterfront is full of what feel like 50% public spaces, usually because they border on surface parking that destroys their sense of enclosure (the parking lot at George and Barrington does this to the Grand Parade, and the Superstore does this to Cornwallis).

Anyway, my point is that I agree with the idea of having lots of small, urban public spaces that are surrounded by pleasant buildings. These little spaces would be entirely compatible with a Cogswell redevelopment; it's the large parks that are impractical for this area and probably wouldn't be very successful.

That's true about Cornwallis feeling peripheral--as you point out, it's the anti-urban built environment around it.

One other public space with enormous potential is Granville mall. It too suffers from being situated at the north end of downtown, up against the dead zone of the interchange. Once that land has filled in with buildings, residents, businesses, etc., I can see Granville becoming much more successful as a place to linger.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

That's true about Cornwallis feeling peripheral--as you point out, it's the anti-urban built environment around it.

One other public space with enormous potential is Granville mall. It too suffers from being situated at the north end of downtown, up against the dead zone of the interchange. Once that land has filled in with buildings, residents, businesses, etc., I can see Granville becoming much more successful as a place to linger.

Shows the importance of International Place as a bookend and source of pedestrian traffic.

[halifaxboyns]

One thing which I felt has been missing from the conversation regarding the regional centre plan and the density bonusing system in HBD is pocket parks or plazas. Halifax really doesn't have a lot of these - where as other cities do. Chicago's downtown and the magnificent mile is based on them, but poorly designed they simply become large hairdryers (like the base of Maritime Centre).

What I think we also lack are truely pedestrian based streets - like Granville mall, but on steroids. My ultimate dream for my idea of Agricola would be to actually close it to vehicles - so that no driver could go from Agricola to Young Street (but the cross streets would still work - so if you were on Charles, you could still drive across Agricola, but in a very narrow lane). This way, the street would be exclusively for pedestrians and a potential streetcar. Loading for the commercial areas would be allowed on the street and small lay-bys would be built, but the trucks could only be there at designated hours of the day. Vehicle access to parking would have to be off of the side streets...would be interesting to see if it could be done. Because then the sidewalk would literally be most of the street since there wouldn't be parking (except for the designated loading areas).

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

What I think we also lack are truely pedestrian based streets - like Granville mall, but on steroids. My ultimate dream for my idea of Agricola would be to actually close it to vehicles - so that no driver could go from Agricola to Young Street (but the cross streets would still work - so if you were on Charles, you could still drive across Agricola, but in a very narrow lane). This way, the street would be exclusively for pedestrians and a potential streetcar. Loading for the commercial areas would be allowed on the street and small lay-bys would be built, but the trucks could only be there at designated hours of the day. Vehicle access to parking would have to be off of the side streets...would be interesting to see if it could be done. Because then the sidewalk would literally be most of the street since there wouldn't be parking (except for the designated loading areas).

Is there not some potential to do this with Argyle? I'm sure I've seen sketches and hypothetical plans that are beyond the pie-in-the sky stage on that...

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Is there not some potential to do this with Argyle? I'm sure I've seen sketches and hypothetical plans that are beyond the pie-in-the sky stage on that...

I don't recall there being a 'plan' for that; was something I thought about recently. Waye may have more information from the HRM perspective on that...

[Waye Mason]

Argyle is on the list to do something with when Nova Centre approaches completion.

I think it is more likely we would see a major upgrade of Cornwallis than Grand Parade.

The two monuments make doing events in GP a colossal pain in the 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Just a few ...
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In the context of this picture (and the discussion up-thread about including some open public space in the Cogswell-lands development) this before-and-after from NYC seemed apropos.

[teddifax]

I love the step effect of the buildings here!