[Burnaby] Concord Brentwood | U/C and Proposed

[seamusmcduff]

The Urban Design on this project is absolutely terrible. I know the grading is challenging, but the development is completely disconnected from it's surroundings.

[officedweller]

It's supposed to preserve views towards Metrotown from grade (and conveniently prevent condos from facing directly into the SkyTrain guideway),
so it has that barren plaza feel under the towers, like the former Westcoast Transmssion Tower in Vancouver.

Between each pair of towers you'll have the amenities building blocking the view, but under each tower and between the 2 pairs, there should be some views preserved
- although Phase 2 and 3A of Concord Brentwood will block a chunk of that view.
You can get as sense of it here at the top of these stairs that will lead down to the cul-de-sac below:

Originally Posted by Lexus

2022, June 4
All from Skytrain

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

[Lisaismyfav]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

The Urban Design on this project is absolutely terrible. I know the grading is challenging, but the development is completely disconnected from it's surroundings.

In what way? The elevated base of the towers allows everyone on Lougheed to see the view of Metrotown as you are driving/walking along, it actually looks really cool in person. There is also a staircase/elevator for use by the public that connects to the bottom of the hill.

[Precix]

Originally Posted by Lisaismyfav

In what way? The elevated base of the towers allows everyone on Lougheed to see the view of Metrotown as you are driving/walking along, it actually looks really cool in person. There is also a staircase/elevator for use by the public that connects to the bottom of the hill.

Yeah I don't get why everyone on this forum complains about the podiums. They look very good to me!

[MistyMountain]

Originally Posted by Lisaismyfav

In what way? The elevated base of the towers allows everyone on Lougheed to see the view of Metrotown as you are driving/walking along, it actually looks really cool in person. There is also a staircase/elevator for use by the public that connects to the bottom of the hill.

These buildings around Brentwood are basically vertical suburbs, they have no street life or vibrancy. They feel like gated communities, Burnaby should be encouraging better urban design with things like more retail and better connectivity with the surrounding area. It also doesn't help that Lougheed is so busy and loud that its an unpleasant place to walk down.

[seamusmcduff]

Originally Posted by MistyMountain

These buildings around Brentwood are basically vertical suburbs, they have no street life or vibrancy. They feel like gated communities, Burnaby should be encouraging better urban design with things like more retail and better connectivity with the surrounding area. It also doesn't help that Lougheed is so busy and loud that its an unpleasant place to walk down.

Exactly this. The towers are basically perched on two giant inaccessible slabs with parking ramps on either side disconnecting the towers from the surroundings. Then in between the two towers is the only access point, that' makes this essentially a high density cul-de-sac. The base of the towers are completely devoid of any function except vehicle access. Its an ineffective use of space, and creates an environment that people can't actually use, including residents. It honestly feels like they designed the area so as few people would visit the site as possible, which is pretty backwards for a high density area like this. Even residents will have to leave the development for actual useful amenities other than the ones in their private amenity spaces.

[officedweller]

That's also because Dawson St. is the area high street, not Lougheed Highway.
Even the project on the north side of Lougheed across from it just has a massive retaining wall planter system in place.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Loughe...97c0665f!8m2!3d49.1647378!4d-122.1965802

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

why would anyone want to walk along Lougheed Highway? gross.

[jasonpark]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

why would anyone want to walk along Lougheed Highway? gross.

I guess this is why Concord decided to make this into a "vertical suburb" like the previous commenter said. Can't really make a highway walkable.

I think Concord will turn all the warehouses facing south a park/greenspace, so hopefully that makes things more walkable in future phases.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by MistyMountain

These buildings around Brentwood are basically vertical suburbs, they have no street life or vibrancy. They feel like gated communities, Burnaby should be encouraging better urban design with things like more retail and better connectivity with the surrounding area. It also doesn't help that Lougheed is so busy and loud that its an unpleasant place to walk down.

You're not wrong. The whole Brentwood area is weird. You've got these huge towers, but nothing interesting at the base. A lot of them are set back pretty far from the street, so it makes the area feel really cold and lifeless.

[Lisaismyfav]

Originally Posted by officedweller

That's also because Dawson St. is the area high street, not Lougheed Highway.
Even the project on the north side of Lougheed across from it just has a massive retaining wall planter system in place.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Loughe...97c0665f!8m2!3d49.1647378!4d-122.1965802

Exactly this. They've already designated Dawson as the high street, and there will be retail and townhouses at the latest phase with connectivity to the future park. I'm actually glad they didn't do anything on Lougheed as it doesn't make sense to have many pedestrians walking along the side of a highway.

[urbanight93]

It seems like people keep missing the point of context-specific design. Not every tower needs to have a podium with retail (re: a bank and a nail salon). As has been mentioned before, Lougheed Highway is not intended to be the high street in the vicinity so there is no point in trying to activate it.

The same way that building to the lot line on West Georgia isn't done. The buildings there are set back and have open space creating a buffer from the roadway because W Georgia is supposed to be an avenue (and acts as a main thoroughfare). Different street contexts, different building typologies.

[SpongeG]

they have been digging up and making some changes to the middle/median where lougheed meets Douglas, they have created a longer left turn lane from Lougheed onto Delta.

[Lexus]

2022 July 10

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Along Lougheed sidewalk is almost completed to Douglas Rd

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

[invisibleairwaves]

I feel like the stuff about Dawson is still missing the point. If you look at most truly walkable urban areas- pre-car downtowns, any old neighbourhood in Europe, etc.- you don't have retail confined to a single "high street" surrounded by acres of dead space. Sure there's usually a main shopping street with all the prime retailers but beyond that you have street-oriented uses including retail, restaurants, townhouses scattered pretty much throughout. I get why Lougheed is tough to turn into a walkable street (although that's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy) but these towers just suck on all sides. Sure there's sidewalks and stairs but there's no reason to walk anywhere, no "eyes on the street" for safety, just blank walls and closed-off amenity space everywhere you look. It's mid-century crap that most somewhat forward-thinking planners and municipalities abandoned years or decades ago. I don't know if Burnaby just has more old-school holdouts on its planning staff or what, but I definitely agree with gallo's comment about Brentwood having these flaws all over the place.

[Lexus]

July 20, 2022
Looking East along Lougheed HWY from Beta Ave
Also yesterday there were seem to be washing windows and balconies on tower #1

Untitled by Lexus LX570, on Flickr

[Vin]

Originally Posted by invisibleairwaves

I feel like the stuff about Dawson is still missing the point. If you look at most truly walkable urban areas- pre-car downtowns, any old neighbourhood in Europe, etc.- you don't have retail confined to a single "high street" surrounded by acres of dead space. Sure there's usually a main shopping street with all the prime retailers but beyond that you have street-oriented uses including retail, restaurants, townhouses scattered pretty much throughout. I get why Lougheed is tough to turn into a walkable street (although that's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy) but these towers just suck on all sides. Sure there's sidewalks and stairs but there's no reason to walk anywhere, no "eyes on the street" for safety, just blank walls and closed-off amenity space everywhere you look. It's mid-century crap that most somewhat forward-thinking planners and municipalities abandoned years or decades ago. I don't know if Burnaby just has more old-school holdouts on its planning staff or what, but I definitely agree with gallo's comment about Brentwood having these flaws all over the place.

Precisely. Well, at least we know that just a few years prior, this whole area was an ugly industrial park. The immediate areas surrounding the mall would be lively places, but definitely not at Concord Brentwood, but it will be a pleasant high density bedroom community.

[memememe76]

Burnaby is just a weirdly structured city, kinda like Coquitlam. Getting from Marine Way to Metrotown to Brentwood to Hastings seems like an eternity to me.

But I find Hastings a really walkable neighbourhood, and Metrotown does have its charms. I think you need to look at Brentwood for what it was--they can do more, but they have done quite a bit too. I have done quite a few runs in the area. And running between Lougheed and Hastings is rather nice. South of Lougheed is in rougher shape.

[clearbrook4]

This is why the plan for the Lochdale Urban Village is so interesting to me. If Burnaby is able to actually follow through on the existing plan for Lochdale, it could become one of the most human-scaled neighbourhoods in the city.

Most of the criticisms of Brentwood above can be traced to the car-centric nature of these developments. Skyscrapers are impractical solutions to decades of planning that has preserved single-family neighbourhoods in Metro Van and forced density into small pockets. But criticizing skyscrapers on this forum is kind of taboo. I find them impressive feats of construction and engineering. But for the most part they are indeed just vertical suburbs and gated communities. Even Burnaby Heights, where I live, which is relatively "walkable" by Canadian standards, is still ruined by the deafening roar of car traffic, with almost all density mashed up along Hastings. The rest is all single-family homes with SUVs.

[Klazu]

The only solution to car traffic in town centres would be to tunnel through Brentwood and Metrotown and I would be all for it. The solution is not to reduce traffic lanes since these are critical thoroughfares and arterial roads. Also, these roads were here before all the cramming of people into these areas, so everyone knows what they are buying into when moving in.