Canadian City Proposals

[raggedy13]

Here are the latest renderings for the Oakridge Mall redevelopment. The tallest tower the City is looking to allow is 45 storeys.

A little context...

City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver


City of Vancouver

[Beedok]

If the mall wasn't open air I'd love it.

[raggedy13]

^It is a mix of indoor and outdoor, with most being indoor. For example, the pond in the centre of the development is actually 3 storeys up, above 2 storeys of indoor retail. If you look closely you can even see several large skylights mixed among the green space. I think they're about doubling the retail space of the current mall so there will be no shortage of indoor retail.

Personally I prefer streetfront retail though.

[HTania]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

^It is a mix of indoor and outdoor, with most being indoor. For example, the pond in the centre of the development is actually 3 storeys up, above 2 storeys of indoor retail. If you look closely you can even see several large skylights mixed among the green space. I think they're about doubling the retail space of the current mall so there will be no shortage of indoor retail.

Personally I prefer streetfront retail though.

The plan looks great!!

[Nouvellecosse]

That mall redevelopment looks amazing! A shopping mall several km outside downtown that integrates residential and doesn't seem to have any surface parking?? Is such a thing really possible in Canada?

[TallBob]

Really impressed with these proposals for Edmonton! Calgary's going to get some competition!!

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

I like the top 50% or so of this tower, but the podium looks too boxy and tacked on to me. I think they need to relate it more to the section above, create a better transition from box to cylinder. It might also help if they carried that textured cladding that is on the podium up those beige walls above.

I'm no architect but something about that podium just looks awkward. Other than that I like the height, the red elements, and the cladding material on the podium. I would agree with some others here that for a signature tower (height-wise) it should have a much better design overall. It's far from iconic.

I agree that ideally the podium should mirror the cylindrical form and vertical orientation of the tower; there's no reason it needs totally different than the majority of the building. If they felt they needed to have straight walls at right angles for practical reasons, they could have just enlarged the rectangular "wings" that go up either side, and had them continue all the way down to the bottom. It should have more of a deco, tapering look.

Also, I'm not sure about the colour choices. I love vibrant hues, but the red beside the pale, washed-out blue just isn't working for me. I think the red flange is just overpowering the main part of the building. Instead of having that super-intense red flange they should have just included more subtle red trim into the rest of the design to make it more cohesive.

Definitely still an exciting and impressive proposal though! And i wouldn't be surprised if the design is altered and refined a couple times before it actually begins to rise.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by raggedy13

Are all of these essentially guaranteed to be taller than the current tallest? Would be impressive to have a new tallest top 3. Lots to look forward to in Edmonton the next few years.

As planned currently, yes.

Also hear that the Edmontonian is now 71 storeys, condo/office/hotel with mechanical parking.

[Spring2008]

That Vancouver proposal looks amazing. Has a bit of a Singapore vibe to it.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

That mall redevelopment looks amazing! A shopping mall several km outside downtown that integrates residential and doesn't seem to have any surface parking?? Is such a thing really possible in Canada?

Why wouldn't it possible? Why would a non-downtown mall need surface parking to survive? That most of them up until now have had surface parking is nothing more than a reflection of land values.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

As planned currently, yes.

Also hear that the Edmontonian is now 71 storeys, condo/office/hotel with mechanical parking.

So, probably 220m or so?

[Rico Rommheim]

That Oakridge mall redev looks fantastic. Now if only invanhoe Cambridge could do projects like this in its own hometown...

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

That mall redevelopment looks amazing! A shopping mall several km outside downtown that integrates residential and doesn't seem to have any surface parking?? Is such a thing really possible in Canada?

One big reason behind this I guess is that has a Canada Line stop, plus I think there's a fair amount of bus traffic along 41st. It's a good location for something like this.

[O-tacular]

That Vancouver proposal reminds me of this outdoor mall I saw in Santa Monica this summer. Van's probably the only city in the country that can actually have a functional outdoor mall like this because of the weather.

[franktko]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

That Vancouver proposal reminds me of this outdoor mall I saw in Santa Monica this summer. Van's probably the only city in the country that can actually have a functional outdoor mall like this because of the weather.

Quartier Dix30 has been a huge success on the south shore of Montreal despite the weather...

[someone123]

It's true that in Vancouver there aren't many days that are unpleasant to be outside assuming you're sheltered from the wind and rain. A well-designed outdoor mall like this could work well for the vast majority of the time.

Sometimes I think though that Canadians are too quick to jump to the conclusion that things wouldn't work here because of the climate. There seems to be lots of year-round outdoor stuff in Stockholm, for example, and they have heated sidewalks that eliminate the need for snow removal or salt. The lack of nice year-round outdoor spaces in Canada has more to do with a lack of imagination and investment than the climate.

[Beedok]

Snow free sidewalks aren't a huge issue, it's taking your coat on and off as you go from store from store is really annoying.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Why wouldn't it possible? Why would a non-downtown mall need surface parking to survive? That most of them up until now have had surface parking is nothing more than a reflection of land values.

Makes me question if it's possible because I've never seen or heard of such a thing happening here. The best I've seen for malls other than those right downtown or immediate inner-city is parking hidden somewhere around back. And even that is fairly rare.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Snow free sidewalks aren't a huge issue, it's taking your coat on and off as you go from store from store is really annoying.

I rarely see that happen here in NS. People here usually leave their jackets on, and maybe just unzipper them when they go inside a public building unless they plan to stay for a long time (like several hours). You see all kinds of people walking around an indoor shopping area wearing winter coats and appear perfectly content in doing so.

[CanadianCentaur]

Here's the latest Kelly-Ramsey rendering which was posted by Coldrsx a couple of pages back as adjusted for a more normal perspective, as the whole original rendering looks skewed.

I've managed to adjust the whole thing the best I could using CorelDraw (not the best photoshopping/art software, but...), so here it is.