Future Canadian Skylines

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

I personally have a problem with moving historic buildings or faradism. Everything about the building (that is original or has been there for the majority of its history) is historic; the bricks, windows, detailing, interior, structure, foundations and location.

Many would agree.

[Beedok]

Am I the only one who despises grand boulevards? They're a horrible thing that damages the urban fabric of an area, especially ones like that one beside the canal which just sticks too scars beside each other cutting the CBD off from Bytown. Small narrow streets are best.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Am I the only one who despises grand boulevards? They're a horrible thing that damages the urban fabric of an area, especially ones like that one beside the canal which just sticks too scars beside each other cutting the CBD off from Bytown. Small narrow streets are best.

The ones beside the canal, and all other parkways running beside the rivers, are pretty dismal. Waste of space and waste of valuable waterfront , although not much could be done with the Rockliffe Parkway between the escarpment down to the river and a cliff on one end and the Rockliffe Airport on the other. I also think that the MacDonald Parkway is actualy useful, though the NCC should let the City build its rapid transit trench and sell the air rights to developers for medium density.

As for grand boulevards; it depends on the execution but it is still a bit of an outdated concept IMO.

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Am I the only one who despises grand boulevards? They're a horrible thing that damages the urban fabric of an area, especially ones like that one beside the canal which just sticks too scars beside each other cutting the CBD off from Bytown. Small narrow streets are best.

I more or less agree, but I find that one or two nicely done boulevards can be a nice attraction and addition to a city, but it should not be the founding basis for development and traffic planning.

You've also reminded me of my hate for the NCC and their car-centric perspective.

[lake of the nations]

Sherbrooke might have this skyline in a few years (btw this area is not downtown Sherbrooke).

Green: U/C
Blue: Approved
White: Built


By me

Here are the numbers of floors for each building, from left to right: 3* - 3* - 5* - 13 - 7 - 10 - 10 - 10/12 - 6/8.

*office buildings


By me

[Beedok]

As a more or less obligate pedestrian I suppose I do get a different opinion of things from most people.

[Chadillaccc]

I just realized, this is a future skyline render. Most people have seen it I think, but I'm sure there are many that haven't.


Source: http://www.universitycity.ca/


Source: http://conasysinc.com/wp-content/upl...rsityCity1.jpg

The only two towers in these renders that don't exist yet are the Green and Red towers of University City. Construction will begin on those this year (most likely). The tiny Blue building of University City won't be built for a while.

Apparently there is anoher major proposal (unofficial) for another multi-tower TOD just to the south of this, just on the other side of where the one render says "Safeway Grocery Store"

[Doug_Cgy]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I just realized, this is a future skyline render. Most people have seen it I think, but I'm sure there are many that haven't.


Source: http://www.universitycity.ca/


Source: http://conasysinc.com/wp-content/upl...rsityCity1.jpg

The only two towers in these renders that don't exist yet are the Green and Red towers of University City. Construction will begin on those this year (most likely). The tiny Blue building of University City won't be built for a while.

Apparently there is anoher major proposal (unofficial) for another multi-tower TOD just to the south of this, just on the other side of where the one render says "Safeway Grocery Store"

I never noticed Calgary's multiple skylines until recently, and I've lived here my whole life. This city is really growing up. In that shot alone there's University, Foothills, and Westgate. There's also a growing mid rise skyline around Chinook, Heritage, and Southcentre too

[Chadillaccc]

I've been noticing it for a few months now. I posted a pic of the University/Brentwood skyline a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to snap pics of Westbrook, Heritage, and Chinook. It's just hard to find good angles since, for the moment, those skylines are so dispersed.

[lio45]

^ Unfortunately, all those new units popping up there will mean that vacant downtown lots like André Lavoie's King Ouest/Gordon parking (attempted St. Patrick condos project) will be even harder to fill up...

I'm not really a fan of seeing a bunch of big-ish buildings appear outside downtown.

This Cité du Parc is a repeat of the late 1980s decision to let the Delta/Place Royale be built where it currently stands... Today's downtown would be a much nicer place had the Delta and its complex been somewhere on Plateau Marquette for the last 25 years.

If you let magnets like that be built all over the place, you end up with no real CBD. Sherbrooke's a textbook example of that, and the hard-to-believe part is that they're not done yet learning their lesson.

[MTLskyline]

How far from Downtown Sherbrooke is this?

Sherbrooke really still has only one downtown street (Wellington), it would be great to see this on a parallel street like rue des Grandes-Fourches along the Saint-François River.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

How far from Downtown Sherbrooke is this?

2 km west of downtown's western boundary, about 3 km away from the "core" of downtown (Wellington Nord / City Hall).

Sherbrooke really still has only one downtown street (Wellington), it would be great to see this on a parallel street like rue des Grandes-Fourches along the Saint-François River.

IMO it would have been great to see this unit volume scattered all over downtown instead, filling up the many holes. 82 King O, King/Gordon, King/Peel, Belvedere/Montcalm, Frontenac/Goodhue (ex-Nettoyeur building), that quick list of five have all been vacant spots where developers have tried to build stuff in the past years. I'm not even counting the downtown holes where no one is going to build stuff (for example the parking at 310 King O ), that short list was only the vacant downtown lots where development projects are attempted and don't make it past the stage of the sign on site to show off the projected building...

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by lio45

2 km west of downtown's western boundary, about 3 km away from the "core" of downtown (Wellington Nord / City Hall).



IMO it would have been great to see this unit volume scattered all over downtown instead, filling up the many holes. 82 King O, King/Gordon, King/Peel, Belvedere/Montcalm, Frontenac/Goodhue (ex-Nettoyeur building), that quick list of five have all been vacant spots where developers have tried to build stuff in the past years. I'm not even counting the downtown holes where no one is going to build stuff (for example the parking at 310 King O ), that short list was only the vacant downtown lots where development projects are attempted and don't make it past the stage of the sign on site to show off the projected building...

Intéressant. I used to think Gatineau had by far the worst downtown of all of the cities in its "class" in Quebec (Gatineau, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Chicoutimi), but now I am thinking it might not be the case.

[travis3000]

I'd like to see some future Montreal renders. Anyone up for it? I would but I don't know how

[MTLskyline]

Here is a future Montreal render courtesy of Projet Montréal (a municipal political party). The Peel Bassin is in the foreground. They want to build mostly rowhouses on the Peel Bassin to entice families to live near the core.

Anyways, in the background you can see the Montreal skyline, and they seem to have included the Deloitte Tower, the Tour des Canadiens, L'Avenue, YUL condos, Place University St-Jacques, the new CHUM, Gallery sur le Canal, District Griffin, and the Bassins du Havre. Pretty much everything on the downtown side of the Lachine Canal is under construction aside from Place University St-Jacques (office project looking for tenants for several years) and YUL condos (will start sales soon).

Everything on the south side of the canal toward the river (the foreground - Peel Bassin), as well as the baseball stadium and the towers east of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, are purely a vision on Projet Montréal's part.


Quartier Bonaventure: faire renaître Goose Village by etiennecoutu, on Flickr

[Innsertnamehere]

found this on Hariri Pontarini's website for the one yonge proposal, this is the biggest size I could find:


http://www.hariripontarini.com/proje...ial/01-1-yonge

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

found this on Hariri Pontarini's website for the one yonge proposal, this is the biggest size I could find:


http://www.hariripontarini.com/proje...ial/01-1-yonge

Toronto's skyline is looking good. But it could certainly do with a bit more bulk.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Toronto's skyline is looking good. But it could certainly do with a bit more bulk.

Yeah, it's got a good spine going up the Bay-Yonge corridor, but some more towers on University, Church and Jarvis would help beef it up.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Ramako

Yeah, it's got a good spine going up the Bay-Yonge corridor, but some more towers on University, Church and Jarvis would help beef it up.

I've often pondered why I'm so impatient for buildings to shoot skyward despite the unprecedented boom. 10 years ago the skyline consisted of the CBD. New developments in Yorkville, City Place, and East Bayfront have pushed the boundary far further in every direction vastly increasing the geographic footprint.

The enlarged area looks undeveloped compared to the CBD. Mentally, it won't feel like it's come together till it all fills in. I suppose north American cities never look 'done' in the way European cities do, but Toronto more so than many other cities on this continent.

[lio45]

I would not really put Gatineau in the same "class" as Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, and Saguenay. IMO Longueuil (pop. 231 409 as of the time of the 2011 census) is a much better "city class"-match for it.