Saskatoon Construction III

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by 905er

picture it, Bucharest, 1963.. ..wow that is an ugo...

YouTube video of Baydo's architect in action...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTg...rr_watch_on_yt

[Draftsman]

Originally Posted by Stormer

YouTube video of Baydo's architect in action...

That's too funny, Stormer. It always amazes me how you find interesting things such as this.

[Arts]

Originally Posted by Stormer

YouTube video of Baydo's architect in action...

That's hilarious... I get the value-engineering part at the beginning but didn't understand the meaning of the buildings being installed everywhere, so looked up what "Irony of fate" means and found out it was in reference to a Russian film that has a fantastic sounding plot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irony_of_Fate

[SLB1970]

Preaching to the choir here for the most part, but this article really sums up the dangers of sprawl and suburban developments.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...ent-2019-12-16

[905er]

Originally Posted by Stormer

YouTube video of Baydo's architect in action...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTg...rr_watch_on_yt

Thank you for that!! too funny

Lets see how this one turns out... maybe it'll be better than the renders after all.

[Arts]

I like to hope that the rendering of that building was just quickly done from a model being used for preliminary massing and in no way conveys the finishing and details. If it does get built I hope they can do something stylistically to make it not look like a communist block beyond just making one lower corner a darker shade of stucco than the rest.

Edit: thinking about the massing of this some more, it's just so terrible, there is no consideration for the site itself, clearly no studies were done to optimize sunlight and shadows (and energy efficiency) instead they are going to brute force this to be the absolute minimum price to build per sq ft. and when there is low demand they will just reduce number of floors to suit since their only design consideration is plopping the footprint symetrically onto the site. No chance they will do anything innovative to maximize efficiency just simply install a lack of glazing and insulate the crap out of it.

[Oiler]

I heard they do everything in-house, from conceptual design to blueprints, including all architectural and engineering disciplines. Unfortunately this is probably the limits of their in-house design crew. Anyone with more talent probably owns or works at a design/engineering firm.

On the bright side I also heard that they have recently engaged an outside designer to spruce it up a bit based on negative feedback they have received... not sure from whom... maybe the city? But who knows, maybe some Baydo staff lurking on here were influenced by our “constructive” feedback.

Look at us shaming one boring developer at a time into building something worthwhile!! Jk, but hopefully there is some truth to some improvements coming. Though, we’d be fooling ourselves if we expect anything like riverlanding or highpoint. That’s not their market.

[Temperance]

It honestly looks like a building crying to be torn down in the name of urban renewal. And it hasn't even been built yet

[roryn1]

"Nutrien has now expanded to nine floors [out of the 14-floor building]," Sinclair said. "[That's] a true sign of their continued confidence in the Saskatchewan economy."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...ncil-1.5407897

welp I hope the 14 floor comment is just a typo...

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by roryn1

"Nutrien has now expanded to nine floors [out of the 14-floor building]," Sinclair said. "[That's] a true sign of their continued confidence in the Saskatchewan economy."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...ncil-1.5407897

welp I hope the 14 floor comment is just a typo...

Tough to tell if they were actually reporting something that Blair Sinclair said, or if the reporter was just filling in what they thought the # of floors was.

No reason for concern, though - it's still 18 floors. Nutrien has floors 10 -18, leaving floors 3 - 9 still for lease.

[Arts]

Originally Posted by Oiler

I heard they do everything in-house, from conceptual design to blueprints, including all architectural and engineering disciplines. Unfortunately this is probably the limits of their in-house design crew. Anyone with more talent probably owns or works at a design/engineering firm.

On the bright side I also heard that they have recently engaged an outside designer to spruce it up a bit based on negative feedback they have received... not sure from whom... maybe the city? But who knows, maybe some Baydo staff lurking on here were influenced by our “constructive” feedback.

Look at us shaming one boring developer at a time into building something worthwhile!! Jk, but hopefully there is some truth to some improvements coming. Though, we’d be fooling ourselves if we expect anything like riverlanding or highpoint. That’s not their market.

Thanks for the informative reply. I'm not really into bashing developers that want to actually invest, just that it gets to a point where is what they are developing contributing in a positive way? Or even just not negative? Obviously to a would be buyer there would be potential value in that boring communist design, it would also potentially bring more residents to the downtown area which could make it more vibrant. I just see the potential to go a little beyond the minimum to actually attract people that are enthusiastic about it, helping the area be desirable and improving the downtown area not just sustaining it.

[roryn1]

Originally Posted by Arts

Thanks for the informative reply. I'm not really into bashing developers that want to actually invest, just that it gets to a point where is what they are developing contributing in a positive way? Or even just not negative? Obviously to a would be buyer there would be potential value in that boring communist design, it would also potentially bring more residents to the downtown area which could make it more vibrant. I just see the potential to go a little beyond the minimum to actually attract people that are enthusiastic about it, helping the area be desirable and improving the downtown area not just sustaining it.

As unpretty as it is (and I have faith they'll redraw), don't forget that they could be North Prairie / Canwest - creating fake news story about both residential and commercial builds downtown solely to scare aware out of town developers.

[roryn1]

This fairly useless monster just started getting built in Stonebridge.

https://www.collierscanada.com/en-CA...ada/CAN2002389

Does anyone else agree that Stonebridge approved too much commercial space? The city almost set themselves up for losing downtown tenants to stonebridge.

[prairieguy]

Yes....pretty impressive wreath in the entrance window! Does anyone know if the Bay side of mall is getting the same exterior face-lift?

[roryn1]

Can't remember if this document on the conservatory was shared here.. and I'm assuming this project is starting up soon.

https://pub-saskatoon.escribemeeting...cumentId=92294

[prairieguy]

Limited to what I have read and heard in the media, I certainly feel there are two sides to the story of the Farmers Market. I would have loved to have seen it continue at River Landing, but I also felt there was a missed opportunity there for the non market days.

Hopefully there will be a creative solution to the site that still makes it a fun and entertaining destination for locals and tourists.

[Echoes]

I am certain there is plenty of blame to go around between both parties over the falling out. The Saskatoon Farmers Market definitely got the upper hand in pushing their narrative in the local media though, painting the City as being solely blameworthy. I suppose there was no winning for the city in trying point fingers back at them, so I guess they could only stay mum and bear the thrashing.

But I sensed a certain intransigence from the farmers market throughout the entire affair. An unwillingness to evolve the space or their operating model. Not to mention the entitlement. Some of the comments that their leadership made in the press were absolutely outrageous, such as demanding public subsidies for their move to the suburbs. These comments did nothing to win my sympathy.

I'm concerned about what the outcome of this may be, but hopeful for something great.

[Wyku]

If the farmers' market's new location can turn into something like the Edmonton Bountiful Farmers' Market (https://bountifulmarkets.com/) I think it could do really well. I'm definitely interested to see what they come up with--their temporary space in an old office building with drop ceiling looks about as drab as it could possibly get so they don't have far to go to at least make THAT look better...

[prairieguy]

They need to strip their new building down to the bare bones and leave mechanical and duct and plumbing exposed to at least try to give it a bit of an industrial market look. IMO

Carpeted office building is NOT the right vibe!

[roryn1]

Homesense is moving into the old Home Outfitters location in Preston Crossing. Definitely was time we got a second one.

On a side note - Pier 1 announced they're closing ~500 stores, I'm assuming that will include Saskatoons.