Claridge Icon [505 Preston St] | 143m | 45 fl | Completed

[Marcus CLS]

Originally Posted by m0nkyman

tragic.

My comments were inaccurate although I saw evidence of removal from the south wall, I assumed it was related to safe work below but in fact they have been working from west, north to east along the wall. Although I in fact saw them removing from the south wall, it reformed. They were diligent but unfortunately not diligent enough. Very sad indeed. Before the tragedy happened it was clear from my daily peeks in the hole that the walls were clear of ice except for the one wall I could not see. The south wall.

Despite the Black mark on Claridge, they are the developer, they are not the hired construction company or the various sub contractors.

The site super will most likely be charged and/or fired regardless who he works for. As for Claridge they hire the professional services to do the job and I do not see how they could be liable.

So sad and so tragic just before Easter Weekend. Condolences to the family.

Whatever the results of the Ministry of Labour investigation, I am not sure if we will learn anything from the media of final results fines or whatever.

I walk by the site everyday and did with all the emergency vehicles around yesterday. I will not feel the same walking by ever again.

[Marcus CLS]

My original comment was posted Feb. 19th. Here is the comment I was responding too.

"I guess they don't clear the snow/ice down there, instead they will just move it around and wait for it to melt?"

Still does not change what happened.

[Harley613]

Does anyone actually believe we'll get the cheese grater with the wavy balconies in the renderings? This will probably be another bait and switch by Claridge. If they pull an Andaz on this one I'm sharpening my pitchfork.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by Harley613

Does anyone actually believe we'll get the cheese grater with the wavy balconies in the renderings? This will probably be another bait and switch by Claridge. If they pull an Andaz on this one I'm sharpening my pitchfork.

I genuinely trust that the architecture firm Hariri Pontarini will not be responsible for a subpar piece. Hariri is one of the best architects currently practicing in Toronto and are definitely one of my favourite Canadian firms. They have produced some really interesting buildings, some that I wish we could see more of in Ottawa. Check them out - you can probably find more of their recent works on Urban Toronto.

Claridge has issues, but I think it's really that the rendering was a low-quality rendering that misrepresented how the materials would look. Hariri hired Norm Li to produce their renderings - which are usually top quality renderings and are quite popular in Toronto and abroad. I think Arthaus contracted them for their renderings too?

We'll have to wait and see though.

[YOWflier]

I wonder if there's a risk that this project won't move forward. There appears to have been zero activity on this site since the tragedy. It's probably due to investigation, but you have to wonder about Claridge's capability to recover from the inevitable, massive financial penalties coming. They better have very good insurance.

[daud]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

I wonder if there's a risk that this project won't move forward. There appears to have been zero activity on this site since the tragedy. It's probably due to investigation, but you have to wonder about Claridge's capability to recover from the inevitable, massive financial penalties coming. They better have very good insurance.

Its a bad accident, but I wonder about Claridge's liability in this case. I'm not an expert in litigation as it relates to construciton sites.

The project won't be cancelled though-its a signature building, the owner is moving in, they are moving their corporate offices there and they are already 30% sold- so we will still see a new Ottawa Tallest building.

[Harley613]

There is no way a project of this magnitude will be cancelled due to a safety incident with ambiguous liability. Somebody will take the fall, but there are too many stakeholders for it to shut the project down.

[tmepost]

Claridge has now posted 3D walkthroughs for five of their suites (claridgeicon.com)

[Boxster]

Originally Posted by tmepost

Claridge has now posted 3D walkthroughs for five of their suites (claridgeicon.com)

Something very strange in 3D walkthroughs!

There are no bulkheads and no baseboard heating? Its usually one or the other.

[teej1984]

Those 3D renders are pretty cool! The Nelson looks like one terrible design! No where to put anything in the living room!

[OTSkyline]

Yeah man are condos getting smaller and smaller and smaller...

The bedrooms in these units can pretty much only fit a bed (no side tables or dressers or a chair)

And I think they are pushing their luck sometimes adding a small love seat AND a chair in the "living room"... where the living room chair pretty much backs onto the dining room table and impedes access to the living room in general.

[cityguy]

There has been no activity at the site since the accident in March.

[Boxster]

Originally Posted by cityguy

There has been no activity at the site since the accident in March.

I can see from my office that the crane is still in the same position as it was the day of the accident.

[jitterbug]

Originally Posted by teej1984

Those 3D renders are pretty cool! The Nelson looks like one terrible design! No where to put anything in the living room!

These dwellings are really suitable only for transient singles or young couples who a) don't spend much time at home and b) haven't accumulated much stuff. Looks like families and people who need their space will be stuck in the suburbs.

[little italian]

The crane has moved on the Icon, after over a month of no movement. Are they starting up again?

[Norman Bates]

CJOH had a pretty detailed story about this tonight.

The gist was that OML called for two series of changes and that both have been complied with. Therefore, work would start again presently.

There was also a labour representative who suggested that criminal charges may result.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Yeah man are condos getting smaller and smaller and smaller...

The bedrooms in these units can pretty much only fit a bed (no side tables or dressers or a chair)

And I think they are pushing their luck sometimes adding a small love seat AND a chair in the "living room"... where the living room chair pretty much backs onto the dining room table and impedes access to the living room in general.

Layout is more important than size. At 725 square feet, it's actually a pretty big unit. The walls are badly positioned.

I lived in a 250 square foot bachelor once. I fit a bed, desk, chair, bookshelf, sofa, and table in it without much of a problem because it was a square not a rectangle.

Always look at the floor plan, not the square footage, to determine if a unit is "small" or "big".

[Radster]

Watch TinyHouse documentary on Netflix. There is a growing movement towards building tiny houses (under 100 sq ft), in which people live happily, and they manage to fit a bed, kitchen, bathroom, couch, etc.

So a 750 sq ft condo, or even 500 sq ft, is a mansion in comparison. Its this North American mentality that you need BIG this BIG that. Go to Europe, Asia, and people live in small quarters out of necessity, and its a non-issue. If anything, they are masters at making the most use out of all their limited space, its about being as efficient and uncluttered as possible.

[canabiz]

I see nothing wrong with a tiny house, if your budget and lifestyle are suited for that.

I also don't see a problem if people want more space for themselves and their family. I just rented a townhouse in Barrhaven and a significant number of prospective tenants told me the reason they are vacating their current residence (apartment/condo/terrace town) is because they have outgrown the living space and need more rooms and you know what I'm not here to judge that!

[Radster]

Originally Posted by canabiz

I see nothing wrong with a tiny house, if your budget and lifestyle are suited for that.

I also don't see a problem if people want more space for themselves and their family. I just rented a townhouse in Barrhaven and a significant number of prospective tenants told me the reason they are vacating their current residence (apartment/condo/terrace town) is because they have outgrown the living space and need more rooms and you know what I'm not here to judge that!

Good on you, and I too try not to judge others. Yet this is not what's going on here, its just people talking about what sq footage is too small to live in.

You can't deny that people in North America, in general, have an obsession with size, bigger is better. Its not judging, its just a fact. It applies to living space (American dream - have a house with a backyard in suburbia), it applies to cars, it applies to fast food (ie. compare size of pop and fries in a McDo trio in Canada vs Europe), it applies to many other things.

I was born and raised in Poland and so its in my blood to be used to living in small spaces, yet I spent most of my life in Canada, so I got accustomed to living in suburbia, big single house with a backyard. Yet only after I saw that tinyhouse documentary, did it dawn on me that these tiny Claridge condos are not THAT tiny afterall. A young couple could easily live in one very comfortably. And recently, I have been seeing this tiny compact living movement reaching downtowns of big cities in the USA, like NYC. Surely there will be more of these coming to Ottawa too.