[Halifax] Nova Centre | 65-58-58 m | 16-15-14 fl | Completed

[Keith P.]

I am not sure, but something tells me that the DRC has no standing in this.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I am not sure, but something tells me that the DRC has no standing in this.

At the end of the day it is up to the province, not HRM. I have no idea what the process is for this development, but I doubt Joe Ramia would spend so much excavating this site if the whole development hinged on an uncertain committee decision.

I remain a little disappointed in the DRC. I am not convinced it's possible to set up a "gatekeeper" committee like this and have it remain impartial and functional for a long period of time. There is a large incentive for groups like STV/HT to get their friends into these positions and there's no clear way to establish that a committee member is an expert or is impartial. It seems unlikely that an architect in a small town like Halifax can be impartial when judging submissions from other architects and developers. I also think that a lot of the types of comments architects seem to give are ultimately subjective or arbitrary; there's really no consensus in the field as to what good or bad building aesthetics are. It is not like engineering.

Actually the committees often remind me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law_of_triviality

[sdm]

Originally Posted by someone123

At the end of the day it is up to the province, not HRM. I have no idea what the process is for this development, but I doubt Joe Ramia would spend so much excavating this site if the whole development hinged on an uncertain committee decision.

I remain a little disappointed in the DRC. I am not convinced it's possible to set up a "gatekeeper" committee like this and have it remain impartial and functional for a long period of time. There is a large incentive for groups like STV/HT to get their friends into these positions and there's no clear way to establish that a committee member is an expert or is impartial. It seems unlikely that an architect in a small town like Halifax can be impartial when judging submissions from other architects and developers. I also think that a lot of the types of comments architects seem to give are ultimately subjective or arbitrary; there's really no consensus in the field as to what good or bad building aesthetics are. It is not like engineering.

Actually the committees often remind me of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson's_law_of_triviality

Its a private project after all and is required to go through HRM by design like every other project. The only thing different for this is the height, which was written into HRM by design. If this gets to bypass HRM by design altogether there is going to be a lot of opposition in the industry calling foul, and rightfully so in my opinion.

Besides, there is currently no building permit issued and before any foundations can be poured they require one and that will mean the design will need to be approved (working drawings at that as well, not just renderings).

[Drybrain]

The most skeptical journalist has been Bousquet at The Coast, but he's obviously just got a thing against the centre, and went looking for some technicality which could, theoretically, derail it. It is extremely unlikely at this point that that the project will not be approved. Even if there's some sort of DRC or other problem with the development agreement, I can't imagine the city wouldn't want to work very closely with Ramia to resolve it. The chance that the centre won't be built due to a technicality is infinitesimally unlikely.

It certainly has nothing on the mega boondoggle in Toronto with the St. Lawrence Market redevelopment, where the city hosted a much-hyped design competition to select a redevelopment of the north market building, only to reveal this week that the project will now cost $33 million more and be heinously downscaled. That's a screw-up for the history books.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

from cbc.ca/ns

The head of Halifax's new convention centre project says he's already booked five conventions for the year the facility is set to open.

Construction of the $160-million building in downtown Halifax is underway and is expected to be completed by January 2016.

Scott Ferguson, the president and CEO of Trade Centre Ltd., appeared before the public accounts committee of the legislature Wednesday morning.

Ferguson said he's confident about the centre's ability to remain on schedule and had been drumming up business over the past year.

“I’ve talked a little bit about two of them, the Canada Venture Capital Association — which is responsible for about $88 billion in investments, private equity — will be in Halifax in 2016. At the other end of the spectrum Canada's Cooperative Housing Federation … and the Canadian Librarian Association, and two other medical conferences,” he said.

The province's auditor general is skeptical of the market projection and last fall recommended the province get another independent assessment.

The government refused, saying it was comfortable with the studies that had already been done.

Despite concerns from the auditor general, Ferguson is convinced the new facility in Halifax will attract more national and international business.

“We are a centre of excellence for a number of sectors, including defence, aerospace, life sciences and oceans — just to name a few,” he said.

CBC continues to use the old renderings in all their articles. Not sure why they can't update.

I have no doubt that the new convention centre will be successful. My belief is based on the fact that people who travel to Nova Scotia are usually happy with their experience.

Whether or not it will turn an annual profit is another issue. However, I am sure that it will have enormous economic spin-offs for the region.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by kph06

I think excavation must be nearing the end, the blasting permit expires in July and when I drove by yesterday I spotted a GPS-enabled excavator (first time I've noticed this onsite). This will allow them to get the grade very close to perfect - they will no doubt bring in a surveyor to confirm elevations to be on the safe side.

Very interesting. Thanks for being a continuing source of technical information on this forum.

It would be great if someone could get a recent close-up picture of the excavation. I check the webcam frequently but the image resolution is rather low.

[fenwick16]

I checked the Nova Centre webcam today (Sunday) - http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/nova-centre-construction.html - and I saw that dump trucks were operating on the Nova Centre site. I believe that they were also operating yesterday (Saturday). It seems as though they are ramping up the excavation speed. Hopefully we will see final design renderings soon.

[Ziobrop]

-Peter
Blog.builthalifax.ca

[sk8tr]

I noticed these same dump trucks (I think) rumbling along Bedford Hwy and up Kearney Lake Road all weekend, which made me wonder where all of this material is going.
On this forum, there was a previous suggestion that the fill may be used for the Salter project, but that clearly isn't happening.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by sk8tr

I noticed these same dump trucks (I think) rumbling along Bedford Hwy and up Kearney Lake Road all weekend, which made me wonder where all of this material is going.
On this forum, there was a previous suggestion that the fill may be used for the Salter project, but that clearly isn't happening.

Most of it is going in the Bedford Basin at The Ceres container pier. They are adding length to their current two berths to accommodate larger vessels.

Dexter construction owns all these vehicles, so they take the Bedford Highway/Kearney Lake Road/102 to get back to thier quarry. As the shale is dumped in the Basin, clean capping stone is needed, this could very well be coming from the quarry. The trucks you were seeing were likely returning to the quarry at the end of the day, or shutting clean stone throughout the day.

More on the infill here

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

-Peter
Blog.builthalifax.ca

Now that is a close-up - you couldn't have gotten any closer without being in the pit.

Excellent shot of the excavation. Thank you for posting it.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by kph06

I think excavation must be nearing the end, the blasting permit expires in July and when I drove by yesterday I spotted a GPS-enabled excavator (first time I've noticed this onsite). This will allow them to get the grade very close to perfect - they will no doubt bring in a surveyor to confirm elevations to be on the safe side.

Thanks for this information that you posted a few weeks ago.

From the Nova Scotia webcams website, it appears as though the northwest corner is quite level now, however, the webcam resolution isn't the greatest, so it is difficult to say for sure - http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/nova-centre-construction.html

I have a question for anyone who is in the Nova Centre construction area. Is this any evidence that the northwest corner has been graded to the final level?

I am becoming anxious to see the first concrete poured, or a crane base prepared.

[someone123]

Allnovascotia mentioned that the Nova Centre is expected to be evaluated under HbD this summer.

It will be really interesting if we can get more detailed project details including elevations and better renderings. A few of the conceptual drawings were pretty good but they were missing some details. More generally I have noticed that there is a tendency to make buildings look less imposing and to take artistic liberties with their surroundings. I guess they do this because a lot of people are against large or tall buildings and like to see lots of trees, but I'd rather see what the buildings will really look like.

[Duff]

Here are some pictures I took with my cell phone this morning.

[DigitalNinja]

Are they still going deeper? Or is that the final depth?

[JET]

interesting that there are so few old buildings in those shots.

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by JET

interesting that there are so few old buildings in those shots.

I also find it interesting that they've managed to dig this crater - and remove a public street - without any plan approval???

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by planarchy

I also find it interesting that they've managed to dig this crater - and remove a public street - without any plan approval???

I guess they're fairly certain of themselves.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Duff

Here are some pictures I took with my cell phone this morning.

There appears to be a fair amount of rebar shown in this picture. I wonder if it is intended to be used for the crane(s) base?

[teddifax]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

There appears to be a fair amount of rebar shown in this picture. I wonder if it is intended to be used for the crane(s) base?

It looks like they are getting awfully close to starting construction. I thought all digging was to be finished in July and once final design was approved, construction would start. Is this true?