Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
I'm kinda glad they're only recreating the building as it was--just because I wonder how a taller building behind the facade could be gracefully integrated. I'm kind of excited to see a true reconstruction of a historical building that would otherwise be lost. We don't have many of those.
But one thing that is profoundly dumb is that the original tower on top of the mansard roof ( as seen on the right in this pic) can't be rebuilt, because it now falls under view plane restrictions. I mean, come on--the tower was built in 1891, and in 2014 it's too tall? Quite ridiculous.
|
I don't want to be disagreeable, but this project by necessity is facadism. A better reconstruction (i.e new construction) would be to keep the original number of floors and a "true reconstruction" would be to restore the original floor layout. I am glad that they are at least keeping the Barrington Street facade and I think they deserve some credit for the way in which they added an extra floor (only one floor will intersect within a window-recess, as shown in this image posted by ns_kid -
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3845/...9de0e245_b.jpg, so it could have been much worse).
I would also like to have seen the original tower restored; it would have made an interesting loft for one of the apartments. Thanks for posting this image -
http://www.historicplaces.ca/hpimage...7528_Large.jpg - 1800's architacture certainly had some interesting details.