Surrey/South Fraser Updates

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

I disagree. It can be functional AND attractive looking and stay in budget.

Do you have any examples of budget friendly attractive looking hospitals in Canada?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Good to see the project is being sized for a growing region. Not the nicest looking building, but function trumps form for hospitals.

While I'm sure there's better examples, this isn't that bad, it still looks better than almost every other hospital in BC.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Do you have any examples of budget friendly attractive looking hospitals in Canada?

Top of my head, Montreal and Toronto have some decent ones.

The thing with the hospitals here is they could just simplify them, making them cleaner looking. Reducing all the gimmicky elements would reduce the cost

Just my personal preference I guess

[vanman]

All our new hospitals/expansions are pretty hideous. This new Cloverdale hospital seems to be the exception although by no means is it great.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Top of my head, Montreal and Toronto have some decent ones.

The thing with the hospitals here is they could just simplify them, making them cleaner looking. Reducing all the gimmicky elements would reduce the cost

Just my personal preference I guess

Agree 100%, clean up the busy-ness and re-direct the savings from doing that to better finishes.

It is depressing to think we could build St. Paul's 100 years ago, and now we build ugly, dog's breakfast messes like this.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Top of my head, Montreal and Toronto have some decent ones.

The thing with the hospitals here is they could just simplify them, making them cleaner looking. Reducing all the gimmicky elements would reduce the cost

Just my personal preference I guess

What do you mean my simplify? These new hospitals look as simple and practical as possible.

Originally Posted by GMD

Agree 100%, clean up the busy-ness and re-direct the savings from doing that to better finishes.

It is depressing to think we could build St. Paul's 100 years ago, and now we build ugly, dog's breakfast messes like this.

The original St Paul’s building is functionally not a hospital by contemporary standards and hasn’t been for decades. To think of how much improvement has been seen in the equipment and systems that make up a contemporary hospital should be the opposite of depressing.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by madog222

What do you mean my simplify? These new hospitals look as simple and practical as possible.

Well, speaking for myself, not Osirisboy here, but just look at this thing, you've got glass with some sort of metal vertical bars on the bottom floor or two of one facade, except the lowest part doesn't have the vertical bars, you've got some sort of grey squares with square windows for four floors on another facade, then you've got some vertical rectangles of different shades of grey with some vertical wooden bars and randomly placed windows higher up, but interrupted by a floor with a fully opaque facade, albeit still with random wooden vertical bars, then you've got some brick(?) corner stairwells, but with different proportions, on opposite corners, you've got some sort of rectangular carve-out of a rectangular balcony for a small part of the top 3 floors on one side, and so on.

You have to think it would be cheaper to pick a theme and stick to it, with a symmetrical massing and deisng, and then put the savings into better finishes and end up with a much nicer looking final product.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by madog222

To think of how much improvement has been seen in the equipment and systems that make up a contemporary hospital should be the opposite of depressing.

Who said anything about equipment and systems, we are talking about how the building looks.

[madog222]

Which obviously has nothing to do with the function of the building.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by madog222

Which obviously has nothing to do with the function of the building.

I don't see why having modern hospital equipment on the inside requires the architect to mix together nine different styles and a bunch of architectural gimmicks on the outside of the building.

I can see that it is efficient to have large floorplates and a 'blocky' structure to a hospital building, but that still seems to leave plenty of opportunity to build something that doesn't look awful.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by madog222

Which obviously has nothing to do with the function of the building.

Yeah that’s our point with the new hospital. There is a ton of things that serve zero functionality. And if it’s all about budget than I’d rather them scrap it and do a cleaner design.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by GMD

I don't see why having modern hospital equipment on the inside requires the architect to mix together nine different styles and a bunch of architectural gimmicks on the outside of the building.

I can see that it is efficient to have large floorplates and a 'blocky' structure to a hospital building, but that still seems to leave plenty of opportunity to build something that doesn't look awful.

I think people would get very angry if they found out that so much money was spent on making the building look good, when it comes to public buildings like hospitals they can't be too flashy or nice but the money needs to be seen as being spent on patient treatment first.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I think people would get very angry if they found out that so much money was spent on making the building look good, when it comes to public buildings like hospitals they can't be too flashy or nice but the money needs to be seen as being spent on patient treatment first.

Yes, but the point is, it should be possible to make it look better without spending any more money than they are as it is. By simplifying/cleaning up the design to not have so many conflicting and unnecessary elements and spending the money saved on better finishes, better details. I mean, I guess there is a risk that if it doesn't look ugly, the philistines will assume it must have cost a lot extra to not be ugly and will be upset, even though it didn't cost any extra, but you can only humour people so far.

Again, depressing to think St. Paul's could be built a century ago, but this is the best we can do (from an aesthetics/outward appearance perspective) today.

[superelevation]

Wanted to chime in with some major new hospitals in the East

Chum in Montreal is crazy, it's enormous:

The McGill Hospital is quite large too:

Toronto's newest large hospital is the Humber River Hospital:

[Migrant_Coconut]

Yeesh - Montreal, pick just two or three colours and stick to them.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by GMD

Yes, but the point is, it should be possible to make it look better without spending any more money than they are as it is. By simplifying/cleaning up the design to not have so many conflicting and unnecessary elements and spending the money saved on better finishes, better details. I mean, I guess there is a risk that if it doesn't look ugly, the philistines will assume it must have cost a lot extra to not be ugly and will be upset, even though it didn't cost any extra, but you can only humour people so far.

Again, depressing to think St. Paul's could be built a century ago, but this is the best we can do (from an aesthetics/outward appearance perspective) today.

I sent a short e-mail to the BC gov complaining about how it looks (and copied a few comments from here, esp from you). If enough people do that they might make it, well less hideous.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Yeesh - Montreal, pick just two or three colours and stick to them.

haha have you seen that one in London England?

[SpongeG]

the seating is coming along at Bear Creek

2023-05-30_04-38-57 by snub_you, on Flickr

2023-05-30_04-38-52 by snub_you, on Flickr

[SpongeG]

slowly getting more action, this site of a 6-storey condo called Amaya is getting going now. 108th and 140th. This is the furthest east along this two-block stretch with multiple projects going up. it is kitty-corner to Viktor.

2023-05-31_12-15-56 by snub_you, on Flickr

2023-05-31_12-16-01 by snub_you, on Flickr

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

looks like the THIRD tower at Foster-Martin is about to go to market its being called

Landmark at Foster Martin is the name

Here's a pic with the 2 existing towers (at rear) and the new one in front.
Looks like there's a park on the corner?
(hopefully not just a placeholder?)


https://www.livabl.com/white-rock-bc...--the-landmark