Winnipeg | 185 Smith St | Smith Street Lofts

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by michelleb

I passed a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk at the corner of Smith & York on my commute to work recently. Talk about driving home the politics of abandoning social housing.

If you're referring to this building specifically, it's been closed for 5 years.

[michelleb]

I'm aware of what happened with that building. It was a general observation.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by michelleb

I passed a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk at the corner of Smith & York on my commute to work recently. Talk about driving home the politics of abandoning social housing.

I am a fan of giving people a hand up, that said, I'm not sure a 20 story tenement helped either its constituents or the city at large.

In it's hey day, that building had a lot of crime and social problems associated with it. The ambulance was always a visitor.

I much prefer a 'distributed' version of social housing where the near homeless don't live en masse in a downtown filing cabinet.

[michelleb]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

I much prefer a 'distributed' version of social housing where the near homeless don't live en masse in a downtown filing cabinet.

Agreed.

[buzzg]

Yup, and putting it throughout the city. The townhouses in Tuxedo just off Kenaston are a perfect example.

[davequanbury]

Originally Posted by michelleb

I'm aware of what happened with that building. It was a general observation.

I wonder if the total number of units across the city has shrunk, leveled, or grown. The West Broadway Commons has a % affordable units with flexibility for an individual to keep their suite if they cross into a higher income threshold.

Of concern to me is that a ton of operating agreements between the feds and affordable housing providers like Westminster are set to expire and many of these groups will need to sell off a portion of their portfolios to remain afloat.

[Wpg_Guy]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXpV-LAG9e/

[Wpg_Guy]

[buzzg]

So did they just completely eliminate the balconies and those are just fake window-doors, or are they somehow going to fasten balconies onto those tiny little brackets they installed?

EDIT: Looking at the render again, it does seem like the balconies are fully bolted on to the exterior, maybe they are still coming and those concrete walls/columns are structural?

[Biff]

I think that slab of pre-cast will continue all the way to the top of the building and act as a divider and attachment point for the balconies.

Balconies on buildings always seem sketchy to me. 4 bolts and 2 attachment points make me leery. I always feel like when I am on it, that's the time it will break.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Where I live the balconies are part of the concrete slab for the entire floor. Glad of that.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by Biff

I think that slab of pre-cast will continue all the way to the top of the building and act as a divider and attachment point for the balconies.

Balconies on buildings always seem sketchy to me. 4 bolts and 2 attachment points make me leery. I always feel like when I am on it, that's the time it will break.

Totally, and after the issues with the bolted on balconies and the condo building on St. Anne's near the perimeter, surprised they're still allowed to go on like that.

[drew]

Originally Posted by OTA in Winnipeg

Where I live the balconies are part of the concrete slab for the entire floor. Glad of that.

That type of construction is horrible for efficiencies (heat loss), weather proofing, and also creating condensation within the exterior wall assembly right above the interior/exterior interface that will eventually cause the wood to deteriorate and mold to grow.

They don't build them this way anymore for a reason.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

I think that slab of pre-cast will continue all the way to the top of the building and act as a divider and attachment point for the balconies.

Balconies on buildings always seem sketchy to me. 4 bolts and 2 attachment points make me leery. I always feel like when I am on it, that's the time it will break.

Newer balconies are almost always fastened together using weld plates. You can see them embedded in that piece of pre-cast wall in that picture.

Pure cantilevering balconies would generally be made with underlying steel structure welded in place.

Some of the lowrise wood framed buildings use joists that cantilever out.

Bolted on balconies would be pretty unusual - I don't ever spec them.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by drew

That type of construction is horrible for efficiencies (heat loss), weather proofing, and also creating condensation within the exterior wall assembly right above the interior/exterior interface that will eventually cause the wood to deteriorate and mold to grow.

They don't build them this way anymore for a reason.

That's true about the heat loss. You really feel that in the floor next to the deck in winter. No mold though. Building is 60 years old.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by drew

Newer balconies are almost always fastened together using weld plates. You can see them embedded in that piece of pre-cast wall in that picture.

Pure cantilevering balconies would generally be made with underlying steel structure welded in place.

Bolted on balconies would be pretty unusual - I don't ever spec them.

Bolted...welded, there is still a chance they are going to fail when I am out there trying to enjoy the sunset.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Biff

Bolted...welded, there is still a chance they are going to fail when I am out there trying to enjoy the sunset.

Is this because of the Covid +20lb...

Trust me, the Building Code does not discriminate on your body type!

That balcony (and connections) is designed to to hold itself up plus accommodate 100 pounds on every square foot of area.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by drew

Is this because of the Covid +20lb...

Trust me, the Building Code does not discriminate on your body type!

That balcony (and connections) is designed to to hold itself up plus accommodate 100 pounds on every square foot of area.

Yeah, but i'm 210 and I like to stand on my tippee-toes

[bomberjet]

From what we discussed earlier on in this thread. Looks like the balcony plan has changed from the one render in the OP. Looks like they're only going on the middle part of the building. And looks like they're not going to have all the concrete structure either. Will bolt on steel to those attachment points and but the prefab slab on that. Much loike the balconies going up at 360 main st (and every other major development recently).

[OTA in Winnipeg]