[Halifax] Citadel Halifax Redevelopment | 3X49 m | 18-16-16 fl | Completed

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by Nifta

Heh. As a Brit, I'm used to 99% of housing and a significant percentage of retail/commercial being brick. Upon moving here, I found the absence of brick quite striking (I'm still a little nervous about houses here being built from insulation/foam, a few support timbers and a thin covering of wood shingles ). I really don't find that we have a lot of brick downtown at all!

By comparison, Halifax doesn't have an overwhelming amount of red brick.
By pessimism, every new project brings more symptoms of disease from which this wretchedly stupid city suffers.

Subjectively, I think the red brick is fine; it even contributes to the historical charm of the downtown while remaining modern.

Objectively, this three-tower development will add to the city's revenue base; the downtown businesses will see additional customers, which means a potentially faster pace of downtown economic growth; and we are achieving this growth without having to create new roads, and new water and sewer systems, and new utility lines.

It's been thrilling to see these downtown surface parking lots explode into buildings!

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

Weekly updates:

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Halifax suffers from red brick disease. It seems especially attracted to downtown hotels.

Prince George
Marriott
Cambridge Suites
Westin
Lord Nelson
Delta

Some of those are just brick, but not red. Westin and Lord Nelson come by it honestly given their age. On this though KP and I agree - Cambridge, whatever that one on the corner of Blowers/Barrington, Prince George all could have been modern, poorly executed red brick is the worst. It can be good, for example the Molson building looks nice to my eyes, but mostly the last 20 years has been meh.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Nifta

Heh. As a Brit, I'm used to 99% of housing and a significant percentage of retail/commercial being brick. Upon moving here, I found the absence of brick quite striking (I'm still a little nervous about houses here being built from insulation/foam, a few support timbers and a thin covering of wood shingles ). I really don't find that we have a lot of brick downtown at all!

Yeah. Having lived in Montreal and Toronto, Halifax doesn't feel especially brick-y outside of a few streets downtown. In Toronto it's just brick for miles and miles along the central main streets. (That's one reason I feel so protective of the brick we do have--it lends the city a sense of grace and solidity that I like.)

[someone123]

There are some really low-quality building materials that can ruin buildings (vinyl siding, pressboard, etc.), but for the most part I don't think the success of a design is dictated by the material. There are some great brick facades in Halifax, like the Old Triangle. Having more of those wouldn't be a bad thing.

The new designs are far from perfect but I actually find the larger new red brick buildings in Halifax to be pretty interesting and distinct from what is being built in most other cities. The style is something I associate with larger East Coast cities like Boston and New York. Had Halifax grown a bit more before World War II, areas like the Public Gardens and Commons would have been surrounded by brick apartment buildings. It's interesting how the city is still filling in this way many decades later, even though the styles and craftsmanship aren't quite the same as they would have been. I hope the city will continue to fill in like this and lose some of its small town feel -- the region has enough small towns.

[RyeJay]

Has anyone posted this brief information yet, about the apartment building (?) :

Citadel Redevelopment Apartment Tower

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Has anyone posted this brief information yet, about the apartment building (?) :

Citadel Redevelopment Apartment Tower

Thanks for posting the information.

The Spatz Theatre at Citadel High School, also built by Bird Construction, looks quite decent for a high school auditorium - http://www.bird.ca/Projects/project-spatz_theatre.html

[halifaxboyns]

I've never seen that Theatre on the inside - looks nice!

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

I've never seen that Theatre on the inside - looks nice!

It's a great space, and perfect for acts that need a large stage but aren't quite ready for the Cohn yet.

[someone123]

Source

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Thanks for posting the information.

The Spatz Theatre at Citadel High School, also built by Bird Construction, looks quite decent for a high school auditorium -

Is that brick on the wall? Wouldn't that be an acoustical nightmare?

[Hali87]

I'm not sure. The "what appears to be brick" in the photo looks broken up enough, and wood placed strategically enough, that the acoustics wouldn't necessarily be bad. I doubt they would have built that nice of an auditorium without considering such things. Also consider that the presence of an audience would positively affect the acoustics.

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

"Weekly" updates:

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

Too-busy-to-update updates:

[resetcbu1]

Wow , I'm so impressed by this ! The potential when cogswell comes down is beyond belief.

[someone123]

Thanks for the updates!

I think projects like this really increase the chances that a redevelopment of Cogswell will be successful, if and when it happens. Same thing goes for Waterside, the Scotia Square improvements, maybe International Place, etc. If the new blocks are to work well they need to fit relatively seamlessly in with well-designed existing buildings so that people can easily get around the whole neighbourhood and so that there's a good mix stuff worth visiting within a relatively small radius. The empty lots and blank concrete walls that exist right now have a deadening effect on the neighbourhood because they effectively push the good parts of the neighbourhood apart and make it less convenient to walk.

[RyeJay]

Pictures I took, yesterday.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Great context shots!

This development is great and totally unexpected

[ILoveHalifax]

RayJay, you need to take more pictures. You find some great views, great pics.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Pictures I took, yesterday.

I like your pictures but I am shocked to see this large 16 storey blank wall. It is similar to the blank end walls on the Scotia Square apartment towers but higher. I thought the Design Review Committee was put in place to avoid such mistakes.

Even just a couple windows on each level would have been a big improvement. (and a finish that was lighter, such as on the TD Tower blank wall, instead of bricks - yikes!)

However, the other perspectives look good.