Canadian City Proposals

[Nicko999]

Tour SSQ is garbage... you got to be kidding me!

[MTLskyline]

I don't get the hate for it. It looks like a solid building to me. I think the end result will look pretty good. The window treatment is unique, and the mechanical floor is done in a creative way. Suburban office towers are usually not going to be works of art, but this one is hardly offensive, IMO.

This generic suburban office tower under development in Laval, on the other hand is true garbage. It looks straight out of 1986.

http://lavaltechnopole.altusinsite.com/e...tri_40_1740_2=&searchbasicbtn=Find+Space

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by headhorse

no architecture school for the city certainly doesn't help.

Very true... But coming

[Nicko999]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

I don't get the hate for it. It looks like a solid building to me. I think the end result will look pretty good. The window treatment is unique, and the mechanical floor is done in a creative way. Suburban office towers are usually not going to be works of art, but this one is hardly offensive, IMO.

This generic suburban office tower under development in Laval, on the other hand is true garbage. It looks straight out of 1986.

http://lavaltechnopole.altusinsite.com/e...tri_40_1740_2=&searchbasicbtn=Find+Space

Maybe I'm crazy but this looks "less ugly" than SSQ.

[Coldrsx]

Encore keeps moving forward ever so slightly.


(http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/7272686.bin?size=620x400s)

C.1. Encore
Dub Architects – Michael Dub
P. Odinga read the comments of the development planner.
MOVED: M. Nebozuk
Motion of support. Administrative walk-on required.
• Create a more defined residential lobby entrance off of 103 Street.
• The north podium façade must wrap around 103 Street in order to better define the corner and provide a more consistent profile.
• Articulate the podium façades that face into 103 Street and 102 Avenue in order to meet the spirit of the Heritage Area (HA) Zone Regulations.
• Consider patterning of the brick on the south façade and/or adopting the rhythms of the 103 Street façade.
• Provide a comprehensive signage and exterior lighting package.
• Create an opportunity for a ground level retail space along the north half of the lobby by moving the residential lobby vestibule southward.
SECONDED: R. Lederer
FOR THE MOTION: C. Domanski, K. Kerr, R. Labonte, R. Lederer, C. McRae, M. Nebozuk,
CARRIED
A. Pantelimon, L. Woodland

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/EDCMinutesMarch5.pdf

[SteelTown]

L.R. Wilson Hall, McMaster University











The building, to be LEED certified, will house McMaster’s Faculty of Humanities and Faculty of Social Sciences. It will include:

* classrooms
* research spaces and labs
* performing arts facilities, including a 350-seat concert hall
* public gathering and community spaces
* gardens

Located on the site of the current Wentworth House, construction is expected to begin in June, 2013 with the building opening in September 2015.

[davidivivid]

This proposal in situated in the heart of nimbyland in Quebec City and at that height, it is 2 story taller than the current height limit. Therefore, it will have to go through a process of public consultations...

It will replace a lot that has been empty for many years, will include a small public space (you can see that the building is situated farther from the road than the building to its left), public restrooms and an indoor bus stop. The goal of the projet is to allow young people to buy property in this part of town which has become very expensive in the last few years.


http://www.quebecurbain.qc.ca/2013/05/28/le-terrain-esso-enfin-un-projet/

[rapid_business]

Great looking project! Every city in Canada could benefit from infill of this scale. I'll take a dozen please.

[SignalHillHiker]

Group Germain has finally released the smallest peek at what it has planned for the Atlantic Place parkade in downtown St. John's:

Originally Posted by JCE

They had a piece on the NTV News and showed a couple drawings while interviewing Tom Hann. This is what they showed.

And a reminder - this is the mess that's there now (the parkade on the right):

So they'll be bringing it up to the height of Atlantic Place on the left, adding a hotel, and recladding the works.

[Chadillaccc]

Oh my goodness...

[itom 987]

That project reminds me of the walled city of Kowloon.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

Maybe I'm crazy but this looks "less ugly" than SSQ.

Perhaps you're crazy. The SSQ rendering in Longueuil is architecturally engaging; many notches above the forgettable glass facades they usually just slap onto office buildings. That Laval building is about as low brow/cookie cutter as you can get. It's a 'K-car' and the typical — they build in suburban business parks. 90% of them are plain awful and this one's no different.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by itom 987

That project reminds me of the walled city of Kowloon.

Oh God... that was good.

I actually really like this one. It's retro enough to complement Atlantic Place while taking the focus off that objectively less attractive building. It's based on their Calgary hotel, which everyone seems to like - and the setbacks evoke some iconic buildings from the past.

It's also going to have some exceptionally beautiful illumination at night - they're apparently going to try things that haven't been done before.

And, of course, there's the colour. Far too many of the modern buildings erected in St. John's in the 1960s/70s exactly copied the styles and preferences of mainland Canada at that time. That's not who we are - we need more colour, more funk, more weird, more interest. We need to look more to Oslo than Halifax.

Most people find any individual one of Oslo's larger buildings quite unattractive - but, together, it's cooler than just Anywhere, North America.

As for the plan...

I love that it's a small hotel on top of an enormous parkade - with just an elevator shaft connecting it to the ground. We don't even know if there will be any sort of a front desk at ground level. I'm excited to see how that's going to work.

And the setbacks are brilliant. Atlantic Place is such a large block - it'd be a pity if the parkade had been elevated to a similar status. The setbacks keep it feeling appropriately scaled. I wonder if the setbacks face Water Street as well? Or only the Harbour?

This hotel is going to nicely replace the recently-sold-to-Memorial-University Battery Hotel, which previously offered the best views of the city. The Group German hotel will offer unmatched views of the harbour, Narrows, and Atlantic - or the city - depending on which side of it you're on.

I'm just thrilled with this design. Proud of it, even. It's not like the hideous Hilton, which looks like a converted warehouse in southern Ontario. This is actually us.

Gaahhh... I can't wait for it to be finished! No more Atlantic Place parkade in every panorama of downtown? Yes, please!

I'm so excited to get a shot from Shea Heights with the hotel completed and Old Town rising behind. It's going to be lovely!

[SignalHillHiker]

I'm so excited about this one. Disproportionately so, I think. It's the joy of being rid of that harbourfront parkade.

And there are so many angles of the city that I'll have to redo.

This one, for example. Once that hotel is completed, I'll be able to take it from a high elevation, and standing further to the right, and it'll still look like St. John's:



I find the typically North American buildings just stand out like a sore thumb here. That Group Germain proposal, for example, could even replace this red brick Government of Canada building and look more appropriate:



You can sit there and basically count the 5-6 significant buildings erected since Confederation, with no consideration for the local preference or style. They stand out THAT much. You can't notice as much the modern ones built according to our preferences. The Group Germain falls into the latter category.

I think that's why I'm disproportionately excited. We're going to change an Anywhere eyesore into something great and appropriate.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I think the Atlantic Place proposal is great considering what the developer is given to work with, which is a huge, ugly parking garage. It has a massive footprint and is just about as ascetically unpleasing as a building gets. But two very important points which should be mentioned:

-The city will not allow the current parking garage there to be converted into anything else. The parking must stay (it was conditional during the sale of the garage that the owners must keep the parking).

-If by some strange loophole the developer was able to destroy the garage and start with a fresh development it'd be limited to the areas strict height restrictions (4 floors), and would have to provide enough parking spaces. This would probably result in another parking garage or an ugly parking lot right on the water front.

I'm pretty excited to see a more detailed look at the development. Love to see how the screen and lighting effects really change the look of the building. It's a prime piece of real estate and would easily become the central downtown hotel with the best view

[trueviking]

Tour SSQ is nice...you guys are crazy.

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[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Nicko999

Maybe I'm crazy but this looks "less ugly" than SSQ.

I agree, I don't know how anyone can like SSQ, how it meets the street / landscaping at the base is also incredibly boring.

Going to get some backlash on here, I know it, but Metrotower 3 in Burnaby is what suburban office towers should strive to be. It would look at home in downtown Vancouver.





Pics are by Yellow Fever
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=145876&page=19

[Chadillaccc]

Absolutely agreed.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

This generic suburban office tower under development in Laval, on the other hand is true garbage. It looks straight out of 1986.

Well Paul, it looks like you have quite the building there. I'm so sorry to hear about your wife and your daughter. . ., oh and your second wife and her daughter. . . and your third wife, gee Paul, the streets are rough. Maybe you should head into the suburbs, it's more peaceful there. . .