Bruce Kuwabara West Harbour tower | 147 m | 45 fl | Approved

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

You mean there are three different proposals for the tower, right? Not three towers?

The meeting link notes presentation and video will be available Mar 11, so I guess we'll see this all on Friday (unless someone has advance copies or their own pics)

Yes, three different proposals. It seems like one of Bruce's primary concerns is the wind. It's already a windy spot, so adding a tower will exacerbate the issue. So he's coming up with designs to help absorb the wind. The large 3-storey podium is also meant to shield some of the wind too.

[TheRitsman]

I have pics I'll share. There were a lot shown, so it was going to take more time than I had last night.

[lachlanholmes]

I was able to screenshot most of the presentation, but there's at least one or two renderings that got away from me. I'll try to summarize briefly.

As SteelTown noted, all of the designs have a circular-ish shape to help allow for the wind to flow freely around the tower, rather than get pushed down to grade which would make the ground experience less comfortable, and the podium further reduces wind effects at grade.

Starting off with some of the general slides and views:





Note the inset balconies shown in this next image. This is a change from the original plan which saw more of a wraparound-style balcony configuration (more on this later.)





Some early renderings focused on the podium and streetscape:











Now, moving on to balconies and preliminary floor plans.

Mr. Kuwabara noted that the balconies are now planned to be inset based on the wind studies that were completed by RWDI, and that they'll be more useful and less windswept compared to wraparound balconies as shown in the original concept plan.

It was further mentioned that floorplate size is limited to 650 square metres for the uppermost portion of the tower (floors 31 through 45) and 850 square metres for the lower tower floors. This is noteworthy because these sizes are significantly slimmer than the usual Hamilton tower (often 900 to 1100 square metres) and more closely resemble the Toronto maximum floor plate size of 750 square metres. This will be a tower with nice proportions, in other words.







Here is an updated overall rendering of the project with the tower included:

---

Now, let's move on to the three different tower design options. The difference between the three is in shape, as noted in previous posts. Mr. Kuwabara stated that the exterior treatment for the tower is still a work in progress, and subject to further design evolution. I imagine this element of the design will be firmed up by the second DRP meeting on this project in April.





Option 1 - Cylinder







*Note: I was not able to catch the rendering entitled "view from the north" for this option. I have not included the aerial view for this option either, because it is the same as shown in slide #25, seen further up in this post.

Option 2 - Waves











Option 3 - Lily

---

As said, I know I missed some, so keep an eye for the slides to be posted to the City's website in the days to come. As well, my apologies if this is too many images; I usually try to keep my posts to no more than 15 or 20, but I figure that these are of public interest enough to justify breaking that.

[escolt45]

Thanks for uploading these. I attended the meeting last night and the first one is by far the best. The second one isn't too bad either, but I feel like they included the third as an ugly alternative to force everyone to choose one of the first two. I really hope this gets built. I'm just disappointed with the lady blabbing about how they're building x amount of family sized 2br & larger units. I

If we look at Television City for reference, the 2 br units start at 600sqft. That's insane. How is a family supposed to live in that shoe box. I don't care about height restrictions (build 100 storeys for all I care), zonings, or anything else like that. I wish Hamilton would be the most progressive city in Canada and mandate that 1br's have to be a minimum of 500+ sqft, 2brs 850+ sqft, and 3 brs 1050+ sqft. or sth like that.

I love this development but Pre-con in Hamilton is selling at 1000-1200+psf to Toronto investors right now so this will bring nothing to the city other than overpriced rentals.

[TheRitsman]

I actually think the Option 3 and Option 1 are the best options.

[ScreamingViking]

I like them all, but the "Waves" and "Lily" have a lot of appeal to me. I could see them being preferred by a developer too, given that the floorplans shown have an extra unit, or more space to expand a couple of the unit options.

Thanks for sharing!


In today's Spec there's a story:
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...al-pier-8.html

Excerpts:
“Monstrosity” and “eye sore” are how some of the online forum participants, whose identities the host kept anonymous, described it.

Others worried the development would “overwhelm” the North End with traffic and asked if the city could handle 1,645 flushing toilets.

Phillips, responding to concerns that Toronto-esque condo towers could wall off the waterfront, said a “contractual legal agreement” between the city and developer will prevent that on the site.

Another participant asked why the city decided that only five per cent of all units would be affordable housing.

[ScreamingViking]

Did they talk at all about how this will be clad? I do like the patterns.

[SteelTown]

To me, I think Lily would probably be the most exciting landmark. It's organic and not straight or perfectly cylinder. It almost has a Marilyn Monroe towers feel, it got angles and curves.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

To me, I think Lily would probably be the most exciting landmark. It's organic and not straight or perfectly cylinder. It almost has a Marilyn Monroe towers feel, it got angles and curves.

To be fair though, the Monroe towers are not the best example since they're a well known hellhole

[craftbeerdad]

I'm on the 'waves' & 'lily' train optionality wise.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

To be fair though, the Monroe towers are not the best example since they're a well known hellhole

Just because they're a hellhole inside doesn't mean they aren't beautiful

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

Just because they're a hellhole inside doesn't mean they aren't beautiful

I mean ground level around isn't amazing either. They look cool from a distance, but everything about those towers is just horrible except the way they look from a distance. Which is my entire point about these buildings. I don't care too much heat it looks like from a distance.

[TheHonestMaple]

That whole area of Mississauga in general is a disaster. Some of the worst urban planning in the country.

[StEC]

I'd be happy with any of the 3 designs but Lily is my favourite!

and asked if the city could handle 1,645 flushing toilets.

OMFG you got to be kidding me!? Well they city will soon have 10's of thousands of new flushing toilets at our current growth rate look out we will have a poo crisis of epic proportions on our hands.... oh the horror!!!! /sarcasm

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

That whole area of Mississauga in general is a disaster. Some of the worst urban planning in the country.

You're not wrong.

[Beedok]

If it gets built, hopefully it pressures other developers to build to a higher quality.

[TheHonestMaple]

I'm surprised the James Street LRT never was taken seriously, with thousands of people moving into this area in the next several years.

[jonny24]

I also like Lily the best, followed by Waves.

Don't love the ground levels though

[Bubba9000]

It was interesting to learn about what goes into an exceptional tower design. I like the circular one. The inclusion of family size units is positive.

Things fall apart for me when we consider what it does for the area. It seems the multi-use potential of the site is being abandoned. The precise location of the tower would have been better used to transition from public amenity to residential. Why can't we have something like Harbourfront Centre or Queens Quay Terminal there instead? Maybe with the tower on top?

I left the meeting when the questions started. The format and tone when there's a facilitator involved turns me off. It's not the facilitator's fault. It's the reasons behind the choice for this format. I have a hard time listening to Chris Philips pretend its not a done deal when it is. It seems weird that the city is basically selling the tower to us as well.

So it looks like Pier 8 will have a luxury enclave after all. The high-profile architect designed high rise version isn't what I expected. I've also been bummed from the start how accommodating private car use is baked in. It's as though we're not even going to try car-free or car-lite neighbourhoods where it could work best.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Bubba9000

It was interesting to learn about what goes into an exceptional tower design. I like the circular one. The inclusion of family size units is positive.

Things fall apart for me when we consider what it does for the area. It seems the multi-use potential of the site is being abandoned. The precise location of the tower would have been better used to transition from public amenity to residential. Why can't we have something like Harbourfront Centre or Queens Quay Terminal there instead? Maybe with the tower on top?

I left the meeting when the questions started. The format and tone when there's a facilitator involved turns me off. It's not the facilitator's fault. It's the reasons behind the choice for this format. I have a hard time listening to Chris Philips pretend its not a done deal when it is. It seems weird that the city is basically selling the tower to us as well.

So it looks like Pier 8 will have a luxury enclave after all. The high-profile architect designed high rise version isn't what I expected. I've also been bummed from the start how accommodating private car use is baked in. It's as though we're not even going to try car-free or car-lite neighbourhoods where it could work best.

I agree with this entire comment 100%.