[Halifax] St. Patrick's Rectory | 27 m | 9 fl | Proposed

[Dmajackson]

I'll post more information once it becomes available.

"Public Information Meeting - Case 20417
Wed, 30 November, 23:00 – Thu, 1 December, 01:00

Saint Joseph's-Alexander McKay School, 5389 Russell Street, Halifax, NS, Canada (Gym)

Case 20417 Application by Studioworks to enter into a development agreement to allow a 13 storey, 49 unit building as an addition to the existing rectory at 2267 Brunswick Street, Halifax."

This would be located in the rear of the recently renovated St. Patrick's Rectory building;


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Jonovision]

I've excited to see this one. They did such a great job with the restoration of the rectory.

[Dmajackson]

Details have been posted at Halifax.ca. No colour renderings though which makes it hard to picture. I can see a fight brewing about the 0.14 parking ratio.

Case 20417 Details

[IanWatson]

AllNS had colour renderings this morning. The back side seems to look good, but I'm not thrilled about the Brunswick elevation or the north side elevation.

[planarchy]

[Good Baklava]

Originally Posted by planarchy

Interesting... reminds me a bit of the ALT hotel by the airport.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by planarchy

For my tastes it doesn't blend very well with the neighborhood, kinda sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

I'm also curious at the apparent lack of windows. It would appear that the units wouldn't exactly be flush with natural light. Perhaps the white/green 'pixelated' area is actually comprised entirely of glass?

Looks like a nice Mustang on the street, though...

[yal]

Originally Posted by planarchy

Come on! They can do better than this!

[TheGreenBastard]

Kind of short, ugly, doesn't fit with the original building's design.

As for not fitting the area, I'm sure large buildings like Ocean Towers didn't "fit" back in the day they were built.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I'm also curious at the apparent lack of windows. It would appear that the units wouldn't exactly be flush with natural light. Perhaps the white/green 'pixelated' area is actually comprised entirely of glass?

I'm gonna guess they're not. That side appears to be right up against the property line; the building code would dictate that it be a solid fire wall.

[someone123]

The pattern on the blank wall side looks kind of interesting. It is more surprising to me that they have such tiny windows on the Brunswick Street side. The south and east elevations have larger windows.

I have never really understood the notion that new buildings should fit into Halifax neighbourhoods that already have a mix of buildings and styles from many different periods. I'm not sure this perspective exists in person either. Maybe from St. Patrick's school? In person, walking along Brunswick, the lower floors of the rectory will be much more prominent and the street's character probably won't change as much as the rendering suggests. I'm not sure it would be possible for a large tower to look like the rectory or the other small houses nearby, but the added density will be good for the area. It seems like an OK trade-off. If this were a really nice modern tower it would be a great addition.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by someone123

I have never really understood the notion that new buildings should fit into Halifax neighbourhoods that already have a mix of buildings and styles from many different periods.

I always took those clauses as code that meant "short".

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

The pattern on the blank wall side looks kind of interesting. It is more surprising to me that they have such tiny windows on the Brunswick Street side. The south and east elevations have larger windows.

I have never really understood the notion that new buildings should fit into Halifax neighbourhoods that already have a mix of buildings and styles from many different periods. I'm not sure this perspective exists in person either. Maybe from St. Patrick's school? In person, walking along Brunswick, the lower floors of the rectory will be much more prominent and the street's character probably won't change as much as the rendering suggests. I'm not sure it would be possible for a large tower to look like the rectory or the other small houses nearby, but the added density will be good for the area. It seems like an OK trade-off. If this were a really nice modern tower it would be a great addition.

Just my opinion, based on the rendering. To my eye the new part looks kind of "cheap" compared to the materials of the buildings immediately surrounding it. Build it tall, use high-quality materials, don't try to make a statement with some odd pixelated pattern on the side - in this location, and I'll gush over how great it looks. In this case... meh.

I realize that bedbug apartments in purple and white are just down the street and Spice, which still has me scratching my head over their choice of cladding, is just down the hill. However, I'd like to see an improvement rather than settling for the low bar already set a few lots up.

Bing maps for perspective: https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?osi...=2&form=S00027

Again, just my opinion... I'm not asking anybody to agree.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

I'm gonna guess they're not. That side appears to be right up against the property line; the building code would dictate that it be a solid fire wall.

Didn't look like glass to me, just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So it has to be a solid fire wall in case somebody builds right up to it?

Just curious, as the St. David's Hall project further south on Brunswick will be building very closely to the glass wall of the existing building. It's probably not right up to the property line, though.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64444...7i13312!8i6656

[OldDartmouthMark]

Duh... finally looked at the elevations, and can now see that they are solid panels (fibre cement or concrete panel or similar).

Interestingly, the lower portions are "Masonry: stone or shouldice or similar", which should, IMHO if done well, 'blend in with its surroundings'.

As usual, I can't really form a 'real' opinion until I see it in person, as renderings are usually not all that indicative of how the final product will actually look and fit in with its environment.

The green pattern will take some getting used to, I think.

As a side note, from looking at the floor plan the green/white area is where the stairwell will be, so the lack of windows makes sense.

[Jonovision]

Not quite what I was hoping for. The elevations for the sides not shown in the rendering look a little more promising, but overall not the best.

I do appreciate though that it is a relatively skinny building. Too many of our new buildings are so fat they they just completely overwhelm.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by TheGreenBastard

Kind of short, ugly, doesn't fit with the original building's design.

As for not fitting the area, I'm sure large buildings like Ocean Towers didn't "fit" back in the day they were built.

I'd argue they still don't.

As for this one, I might just have to wait for a new rendering to form an opinion. Not sure about the dark grey panels; a bit too imposing.

Someone123 is right though--this won't change the street's characteras much as this rendering would have one imagine. (Unless you're hovering five storeys in the air).

[Dmajackson]

Context photo with St. Patrick's Rectory on the far right. "Ocean Towers" is immediately out of shot on the left (100m or so north of the proposal). This is taken from the middle of St. Pat's school site so presumably this vantage point will not be permanent.

Public Information Meeting is 7pm tonight at St. Joseph's - Alexander McKay on Russell Street.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Dmajackson]

This is moving forward to Halifax Planning Advisory Committee next week.

http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/D78P...9d78pac911.pdf

[Dmajackson]

This proposal is now nine storeys. New renderings are included below.

https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default...hwcc1319_0.pdf