St. Pauls at the Jim Pattison Medical Centre | U/C

[madog222]

DP is up on shapeyourcity for the CSRC. No mention of mass timber so I guess it will be standard concrete construction after all.

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/1002-station-st-4





Images from Diamond Schmitt Architects

[osirisboy]

That looks great. And it will help block the hideous hospital building

[jollyburger]

Maybe it's nice to have two distinct building styles but is kind of weird to see how drab the main building is.

[urbanight93]

I like that there's variety in styles, colours and materials.

For those interested, there are more renders showing the activation at grade, plaza and materiality in the development application design rationale package.

High hopes for this one! Looking forward to seeing the site progress.

[officedweller]

The vision glass is smaller than the entire panel, and the spandrel looks like light gray,
so it may end up looking weird with the light beige "wood effect" cladding.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The vision glass is smaller than the entire panel, and the spandrel looks like light gray,
so it may end up looking weird with the light beige "wood effect" cladding.

To quote the Changing City blog post on the project "The building has a metal panel skin, with highly reflective glass, and there are several possible options for colour (so not necessarily as shown in the render)."

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

im hoping all the buildings around the hospital complex get connected with skybridges. would be good for a hospital. similar to all the tunnels at VGH.

[dleung]

there's a rumour going around that in BC they purposely make hospitals look ugly, so that the health authority can show how poor it is in order to secure more funding? Royal Jubilee Patient Care Centre in Victoria comes to mind. Why do new buildings choose the color palette of 1960's hodge-podge renovations...

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by dleung

there's a rumour going around that in BC they purposely make hospitals look ugly, so that the health authority can show how poor it is in order to secure more funding? Royal Jubilee Patient Care Centre in Victoria comes to mind. Why do new buildings choose the color palette of 1960's hodge-podge renovations...

The less cynical side of this is new hospitals might look ugly because health authorities know they shouldn't waste money that could be used on equipment/amenities/doctors on architectural niceness.

But is that really new? Do we consider Vancouver General, Richmond, and Burnaby hospitals examples of hospital architecture of a bygone era? They all look more like factories than government buildings to me.

[dleung]

I saw early renders of Royal Jubilee, which had the same massing, slightly larger windows, and a modern-looking grey/green palette. I was told at a party that it was perceived by the ministry as too extravagant-looking even though it hadn't been costed at that stage, so they switched to the current design, which doesn't appear to be much cheaper save for the hideous colour palette.

The vast majority of healthcare capital expenditure is on what's inside the building, so minor improvements to the architectural budget don't really have an impact on the big picture. I wouldn't compare a hospital built today to one built 50 years ago, or expect it to look 50 years old when it's brand new.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by dleung

there's a rumour going around that in BC they purposely make hospitals look ugly, so that the health authority can show how poor it is in order to secure more funding?

Sounds like something someone just made up.

For the sake of being cost effective, both in initial construction and long term maintenance, is a far more logical guess.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by chowhou

The less cynical side of this is new hospitals might look ugly because health authorities know they shouldn't waste money that could be used on equipment/amenities/doctors on architectural niceness.

But is that really new? Do we consider Vancouver General, Richmond, and Burnaby hospitals examples of hospital architecture of a bygone era? They all look more like factories than government buildings to me.

No. This is bs. This excuse comes up every time we talk about how ugly this thing is. They could literally just paint it all one nice colour and it would look way better. Also, they spend a ton of money on art so they do budget for aesthetics.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

No. This is bs. This excuse comes up every time we talk about how ugly this thing is. They could literally just paint it all one nice colour and it would look way better. Also, they spend a ton of money on art so they do budget for aesthetics.

There's a big difference between internal art (improve the environment for patients) and external architecture (improve the environment for people commenting on a forum).

I like cool buildings, but I don't know why we have to resort to conspiracy theories to explain why a utility building might look utilitarian.

[jollyburger]

Most of the hospitals look like oversized school lockers with the boxy facade treatment.

They should have gone for this look with a nod to the old hospital



https://www.dezeen.com/2021/11/11/fo...-pennsylvania/

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by chowhou

There's a big difference between internal art (improve the environment for patients) and external architecture (improve the environment for people commenting on a forum).

I like cool buildings, but I don't know why we have to resort to conspiracy theories to explain why a utility building might look utilitarian.

Huh? I’m just saying it’s not out of budgetary concerns that this building therefore looks like shit. Also, all buildings are “utility buildings” lol

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Most of the hospitals look like oversized school lockers with the boxy facade treatment.

They should have gone for this look with a nod to the old hospital



https://www.dezeen.com/2021/11/11/fo...-pennsylvania/

It's amazing what a for-profit healthcare system and a $21 billion university endowment can mean for the external architecture of a hospital

[osirisboy]

I feel like for-profit would try to be even cheaper. lol. BC likes to breakup large buildings to make them look less imposing. They use multiple materials and random windows and other gimmicky things to try and achieve this. That’s why it’s ugly af imo. The example shown would probably be cheaper to build. Just use 1 material and clean rows of windows. Done.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

I feel like for-profit would try to be even cheaper. lol. BC likes to breakup large buildings to make them look less imposing. They use multiple materials and random windows and other gimmicky things to try and achieve this. That’s why it’s ugly af imo. The example shown would probably be cheaper to build. Just use 1 material and clean rows of windows. Done.

I think a problem with how we look at buildings is just assuming one giant massing is too scary and imposing, when it's really a matter of how the building looks like as a whole. Hotel Vancouver is a massive building that isn't broken up or anything, but it is not seen as imposing or scary. Instead it looks majestic and inspiring. Late 20th century urban design is overly simplistic and not at all holistic.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

I think a problem with how we look at buildings is just assuming one giant massing is too scary and imposing, when it's really a matter of how the building looks like as a whole. Hotel Vancouver is a massive building that isn't broken up or anything, but it is not seen as imposing or scary. Instead it looks majestic and inspiring. Late 20th century urban design is overly simplistic and not at all holistic.

Yes, absolutely!

[dleung]

Exactly. Just look at Montreal's CHUM hospital. It probably costs less per square foot because facade type was all the same and the massing was simpler, which they embraced with the prismatic dark/light palette (making the small windows and random placements less of a distraction from the design). Proof that new institutional buildings don't need to look like a pile of bad renovations waiting to be torn down.