Oakridge Park | 13 Towers | 154m | 52fl | 5M sqft | U/C

[djh]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Do they know that people use their balconies for barbecues? Because that's wholly absent from this little fantasy of dinner parties, yoga, and business meetings.

The wasted space and inflexibility of these contrivances is outrageous. Plus, have these architects ever tried to keep outdoor furniture clean and free of dirt accumulation and mildew? White? Really? And I assume that they have conducted drainage testing on this furniture and outdoor fabrics.

Correction: Canadians barbeque. I'd never been to a barbeque until I moved here, and from about half of the ones I've been to, the experience has been "meh".
So that clearly indicates to me that the target audience for these suites are not Canadians.

But the bigger issue I see is how the whole thing looks like it was designed on a computer screen by "designers", rather than by experienced engineers. Those chairs will not last long - rain will ruin that fabric, puddling due to the shape will make them puddles, mould will stain the white fabric and hard surfaces. Mould will get behind the glass; the stained (teak? cedar?) flooring will fade in areas exposed to sunlight so will look mismatched to the parts in shade that will become slippery from fungus growing in the wet shade...I can imagine dark rain/mould staining on the exterior within 2 winters and the whole thing will look grubby, and because of its custom design it will be nigh-on impossible for a cleaning crew to scale the building and power-wash.

Yikes...

[s211]

^Westbank must be going for some kind of world record for buildings designed more for marketing, and conversely with limited thought for real-world usage.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by s211

^Westbank must be going for some kind of world record for buildings designed more for marketing, and conversely with limited thought for real-world usage.

That's honestly where a lot of architecture is going - the "Instagram" appeal instead of the everyday I can live here and use it.

Might not look as great on Houzz or whatever, but some of these new places are definitely not designed for actual everyday human use.

[Feathered Friend]

Infrastructure upgrades on Ash Street and West 45th Ave - Sept 5th, 2019

[svlt]

Long lines of people going into the sales center over last Saturday, no doubt for the free dim sum and not looking to buy. But these guys know how to drive traffic.

[Feathered Friend]

Everything You Could Want And More – Massive New Community Centre Reignites Neighbourhood Passions

728 West 41st Avenue – Oakridge Centre Buildings 1 & 2 – DP-2019-00534
With Hannah out of town to attend a family funeral, I was happy to have several open house events last week to distract me from our empty home. I know that will disappoint some people, as we’ve been told that her writing is more entertaining than mine, but I hope you’ll bear with me. After all, this wasn’t a typical Cambie Corridor response, as over 50 people came by before I left for another venue.

There were several reasons for this large turnout, but perhaps the biggest one is simply because of what this proposal offers. After all, who wouldn’t be excited to see a new ~100,000 square foot community centre that will offer performance spaces, fitness centre, senior’s centre, childcare, and the second largest library in Vancouver. Yet it was 187 non-market homes that drew the most attention, as many were curious how they could apply to live in one....

...In fact, the process is so far along construction is about to begin. If you haven’t visited the mall’s Unwritten exhibition, you’re running out of time, as the demolition of this former Zellers will start in November, and it is hoped that excavation work will start in January.

More at:
https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/1...hood-passions/

[Metro-One]

What’s going on here?

Have they changed the station entrance design again?

That model looks to be a blend of the older proposed design and the more recent one which retains the existing Skytrain access point.

[officedweller]

I'll bet it'll change as I doubt the more recent L-shaped one probably was received well.

[Feathered Friend]

That's correct, it's just that the transit plaza portion of the model wasn't updated for this open house. The plan still calls for the Boomerang to replace the Potato Chip concept.

[whatnext]

LOL, almost everything in the Central district of HK is closed due to protests, but if you want to buy a condo the intrepid team at Westbank is on the job:

https://twitter.com/dewolfleloup/sta...94448460451841

[Feathered Friend]

Urban Design Panel Support Lights The Way Ahead For Elegant Oakridge Civic Centre

728 West 41st Avenue – Oakridge Centre Buildings 1 & 2 – DP-2019-00534
It’s kind of maddening that, after five meetings within the space of two years, the Oakridge Centre redevelopment continues to be brought back to the Urban Design Panel. I understand this is a huge site with many different pieces, including a massive nine acre park, but it feels wrong to require a two hour review every couple months. We should expect the best for our city, instead of wearing thin these volunteer members with endless paperwork.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand how incredibly important it is for the future heart of this new town centre to function well. As the presentation highlighted, this will be far more than just another community centre, it will be a civic centre. That might seem like a nit-picky detail, but with the second largest library in Vancouver, a theatre, gym, 69 spaces of childcare (not including the after-school care), and much more, that clarification seemed necessary.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/1...-civic-centre/

[djh]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/1...-civic-centre/

I wish the posts on your website would have dates on the articles themselves. Looking back over previous entries, it's difficult to know exactly when something happened. It makes it hard to use as an archive if one can't know exactly the chronology of events you're describing.

Just a small critism, but please keep it up.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by djh

I wish the posts on your website would have dates on the articles themselves. Looking back over previous entries, it's difficult to know exactly when something happened. It makes it hard to use as an archive if one can't know exactly the chronology of events you're describing.

Just a small critism, but please keep it up.

The date is in the box at the bottom of the page.

[djh]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

The date is in the box at the bottom of the page.

Ah, good find.
Not exactly the logical or most convenient place to put the date on an article though. Who looks past the adverts to find out when an article was written? Convention is to write it next to the header.

[SpongeG]

that building seems so different from the rest of the buildings, will they also end up less sleek and dated looking?

[truenorth44]

Originally Posted by djh

Ah, good find.
Not exactly the logical or most convenient place to put the date on an article though. Who looks past the adverts to find out when an article was written? Convention is to write it next to the header.

Exactly!! This is sadly becoming more and more common - blogs and news outlets are ignoring the date. It needs to be up at the top - first thing I do is look for the date, and if I have to scroll to the bottom, chances are I'll just close that tab and go on to something else.

[VarBreStr18]

Don't drive to Oakridge if you can help it. Parking absolute nightmare during prime shopping hours. Many detours, many underground and surface parking eliminated, and it is not Christmas shopping in full swing.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by VarBreStr18

Don't drive to Oakridge if you can help it. Parking absolute nightmare during prime shopping hours. Many detours, many underground and surface parking eliminated, and it is not Christmas shopping in full swing.

There business must be plummeting. A friend mentioned she heard of someone being stuck trying to get out of parking for hours?!

[SpongeG]

I saw in a news article it was taking more than 2 hours to get out of the parking. I think there are only 2 exits now.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

I saw in a news article it was taking more than 2 hours to get out of the parking. I think there are only 2 exits now.

That's appalling. Rather than charging rent, they should be paying whatever tenants are left to stay.