Kelowna Construction - Page 194

DKaz · #**3861** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 4:54 AM**

Each floor is 1104 m^2 or 11877 ft^2. I thought there were trying to amend city bylaws to reduce the floor plate for buildings over 40 metres tall from 1220 m^2 to 930 m^2 for commercial buildings and 750 m^2 for residential buildings, did that ever pass?

Also, the rooms are pretty big so there'll only be room for approximately 680 students (assuming 1 per studio suite, 1.5 for 1 bedroom suites, and 2.5 for 2 bedroom suites) or approximately 20 per floor. I thought they would try to go for micro suite sized rooms. The housing crisis has seriously affected UBCO students.

JayMi · #**3862** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 5:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKaz

Each floor is 1104 m^2 or 11877 ft^2. I thought there were trying to amend city bylaws to reduce the floor plate for buildings over 40 metres tall from 1220 m^2 to 930 m^2 for commercial buildings and 750 m^2 for residential buildings, did that ever pass?

Also, the rooms are pretty big so there'll only be room for approximately 680 students (assuming 1 per studio suite, 1.5 for 1 bedroom suites, and 2.5 for 2 bedroom suites) or approximately 20 per floor. I thought they would try to go for micro suite sized rooms. The housing crisis has seriously affected UBCO students.

The bylaw for floor plates did pass, I took it to council last year. Bylaw in the C7 (downtown zone) is 750m2 for residential use, 850 m2 for hotel use, 930m2 for office use. The floor plate sizes tell architects we are looking for slender towers to reduce shadows, maximize sunlight, and preserve view corridors. These floor plates can be varied but it is a good starting point for designs.

UBCO isn’t applying for the C7 zone. They needed a custom zone. Main reason being the C7 zone only permits an FAR of 9.0, which cannot legally be varied. The current proposal is just north of an FAR of 13.0. UBCO is working under a CD zone being tailored specific for this project.

LFC · #**3863** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 12:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayMi

Update for everyone for UBCO tower proposal downtown. A significant redesign has taken place. The new proposal includes an additional 10 storeys. original proposal was 35 storeys and new proposal is 45 storeys and 155m. For comparison, the existing One Water Street tower is 36 storeys and 119m. So UBCO will be significantly taller then One Water. Full details in link below.

http://apps.kelowna.ca/CityPage/DevApps/...%20Permit%20Submission%20June%202022.pdf

Anyone else getting a trump tower vibe off the gold facade in the rendering….love the height though!!

Metro-One · #**3864** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 12:25 PM**

Nope, I love the gold coloring. Fits the Okanagan well and will do a great service to break up the recent influx of sea foam blue and greens.

LFC · #**3865** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 2:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Nope, I love the gold coloring. Fits the Okanagan well and will do a great service to break up the recent influx of sea foam blue and greens.

I do like continuity in the shading of highrise clusters, maybe not all in the seafoam blue and greens, but colours that blend in with the natural landscape and wont obnoxiously stick out.

I do believe they will place with the tones of the facade and glazing, it would be nice to see it more softer to match some of the rolling grass and tree lined hills behind the tower to the East....

Something like the Angels landing proposal for Los Angeles, still sticks with the tones of the rendering, but plays more into the softer grasslands landscapes of the East hills of Kelowna.

https://handelarchitects.com/project/angels-landing?pagi=los-angeles

VantageHD · #**3866** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 5:41 PM**

Wow, great building! This is what I like about Universities, the architecture always seems to be that much more unique. Really like this tower, but I'm confused. This looks to be majority student residence. Is the point to house them downtown and have a shuttle to to UBCO?

giallo · #**3867** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 6:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VantageHD

Wow, great building! This is what I like about Universities, the architecture always seems to be that much more unique. Really like this tower, but I'm confused. This looks to be majority student residence. Is the point to house them downtown and have a shuttle to to UBCO?

This tower will be part of the expanded UBCO downtown campus which will include another apartment tower and university.

DKaz · #**3868** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 6:26 PM**

There is about 350,000 sq ft of academic space in this building. It's going to be the largest single academic building for the university, roughly double the next largest building, the Engineering building.

504 housing units (a quarter of them one and two bedrooms) might still be overkill for the academic space provided but Kelowna's housing crisis is surely causing some students to think twice about coming to the Okanagan to study. The 97 will serve the two routes well and I really think they should promote/expand the 6 for travel between downtown and the main campus.

Vin · #**3869** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 8:03 PM**

Wow. These are the kind of mixed-use development towers that the City of Vancouver will never ever get due to all sorts of ridiculous restrictions. Kelowna is building some very urban CBD-style projects and I love it!

DKaz · #**3870** Posted **Jun 10, 2022, 8:18 PM**

Doesn't CoV have a whole bunch of mixed use towers? The condos over Costco and Home Depot for example. Or Jameson House on W Pender with residences over 10 office floors, plus they have a super cool automated underground parking system.

UBC Vancouver has Orchard Commons with student residence towers over four storeys of academic space, although they are their own jurisdiction.

https://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/residences/orchard-commons/

LFC · #**3871** Posted **Jun 11, 2022, 12:08 AM**

I stopped by FSH at the corner of St Paul and Doyle and noticed that they have closed because of the re-dvelopment of the site.

Rezoning passed 1st reading a week and a half ago, getting closer!

Metro-One · #**3872** Posted **Jun 11, 2022, 12:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFC

I stopped by FSH at the corner of St Paul and Doyle and noticed that they have closed because of the re-dvelopment of the site.

Rezoning passed 1st reading a week and a half ago, getting closer!

Which project is that?

LFC · #**3873** Posted **Jun 11, 2022, 12:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Which project is that?

1405 St Paul st.

City staff was in favour of rezoning back in early May, now it pushes through the next steps including the DP and DVP.

I find it interesting FSH shut its doors already, especially just prior to the busy summer season....Demolition soon?

Coldrsx · #**3874** Posted **Jun 11, 2022, 12:51 AM**

https://www.arcstudio.ca/riviera

LFC · #**3875** Posted **Jun 11, 2022, 1:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

https://www.arcstudio.ca/riviera

Those views of downtown will be unbelievable from those units. Highway traffic sound would be an issue forsure, but what a fantastic unique design.

Sign me up for a unit with a private pool.....

Vin · #**3876** Posted **Jun 13, 2022, 8:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DKaz

Doesn't CoV have a whole bunch of mixed use towers? The condos over Costco and Home Depot for example. Or Jameson House on W Pender with residences over 10 office floors, plus they have a super cool automated underground parking system.

UBC Vancouver has Orchard Commons with student residence towers over four storeys of academic space, although they are their own jurisdiction.

https://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/residences/orchard-commons/

Those happened couple of decades ago and most were much smaller projects. None as grand as the ones in Kelowna being planned or proposed for the foreseeable future in downtown Vancouver. The few smaller ones that are currently being built are also nothing like those to be built in Kelowna.

LeftCoaster · #**3877** Posted **Jun 14, 2022, 6:15 PM**

The Post, HBC expansion, not to mention Oakridge, Commercial Dr. Safeway, and Marine Gateway I and II outside of downtown...

Anyway UBCO tower looks great, hopefully it will be a focal point that anchors the Kelowna skyline for years to come.

Vin · #**3878** Posted **Jun 14, 2022, 8:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

The Post, HBC expansion, not to mention Oakridge, Commercial Dr. Safeway, and Marine Gateway I and II outside of downtown...

Anyway UBCO tower looks great, hopefully it will be a focal point that anchors the Kelowna skyline for years to come.

*The Post - Allowed only because it has heritage designation. If something totally new of similar size were to be proposed this day, it will definitely be rejected.

*HBC Expansion - Same explanation as above.

*Oakridge, Commercial Dr Safeway, Marine Gateway: All outside downtown. We are talking about downtown.

There are however, similar scale buildings proposed in Surrey and Burnaby. Can't wait to see Kelowna's CBD grow with all these new proposals!

LeftCoaster · #**3879** Posted **Jun 14, 2022, 8:44 PM**

There are only a few sites left downtown that don't require prohibitively large demolition to allow for a major mixed use development so it seems pretty obvious to me why you see that development spilling outside of downtown, so you can discount Oakridge etc... because it's outside of downtown but that's going to happen more and more because downtown is largely built out.

Kelowna Burnaby etc.. all have much easier to assemble parcels that are massively underbuilt so of course you are going to see projects like this that you don't see anymore downtown Vancouver.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vin

*Oakridge, Commercial Dr Safeway, Marine Gateway: All outside downtown. We are talking about downtown.

Well no, if you go back to the original comment, made by you, post 3869 it was about the COV not having these types of developments, not just downtown... so you can try to change the goalposts if you like, but the bottom line is the COV does have major mixed use developments complete, under construction and in planning.

KelownaResident · #**3880** Posted **Jun 15, 2022, 1:13 AM**

Anyone have an update on the Westcorp tower? Have they gone to council yet to get their DP re-approved? Last time I heard they were planning to because it expired after two years of nothing being built during the pandemic.