[Halifax] Dalhousie University - Bold Ambitions | ? m | ? fl | Vision

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by RoshanMcG

The new SUB looks so much better than it used to, I can barely believe it's the same building from last year.

New atrium/food court area (formerly Chickenburger):




Grawood renovation:




Main lobby:

The Student Union Building (SUB) looks good.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I also found this nice quote in an article about the research library at UofT. I find this to be very true of Brutalism in general.

“Approach [Robarts] with an open mind and examine the intricacies of the composition and articulation of the form. The most difficult things in life are often the most rewarding. Brutalism can be one of them. It’s hard to get your head around, but once you’re there it may never let you go.”—Toronto heritage architecture consultant Thomas Wicks

Yep, but I'll add that Robarts really is sort of hard to love. The Killam is much more elegant, simple, impressively massive, and symmetrical.

Halifax has some crappy brutalist or monolithic modernist buildings (Dal's LSC, the Weldon Law Building, the provincial archives), but we're fortunate to have a few gems; it'd be dumb to reclad them in glass just because of current, fleeting fads.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I also found this nice quote in an article about the research library at UofT. I find this to be very true of Brutalism in general.

“Approach [Robarts] with an open mind and examine the intricacies of the composition and articulation of the form. The most difficult things in life are often the most rewarding. Brutalism can be one of them. It’s hard to get your head around, but once you’re there it may never let you go.”—Toronto heritage architecture consultant Thomas Wicks

Unfortunately, I've also spent considerable time researching in the Robart's library, and the only reason I found it may not "let me go" is because I'd sometimes get turned around, or confused about what floor I was, or which elevator I was supposed to use, based on the bad design.

Posters have, however, made a fair point about the design having to avoid large windows or glass cladding, to protect book collections. That was probably the thinking...

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Agreed. Most of my nine years spent at Dalhousie were in the Tupper Building and the hospitals, so I rarely visited the Killam. I have vivid memories however of the Killam wind tunnel effect, especially in the wintertime. The brutalist architecture of the place reminded me of a Soviet gulag. I rejoice in the "new" enclosed atrium.

BTW - I never found the Killam functional. In fact, the way the book collection wrapped around the central courtyard was more annoying than anything else. A truly functional space is square shaped, not donut shaped........

Exactly (esp the point about finding books! Certain "letter collections" are hidden in inexplicable areas!).

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Hali87

My understanding is that natural light was very deliberately limited to prevent UV from degrading the books/other print material. The NS archives building has a similar bunker-like exterior for the same reason, I think. I'm not sure what's changed since then but apparently this is less of an issue than it was in the past which is why they're considering re-cladding it in glass (don't know if they can treat the paper to make it more light-resistant, or if they have windows that filter UV or something).

I'm not sure if you mean nostalgia for the original, unenclosed design, but I used the Killam a lot over the last 10 years and really like it tbh. There are some obvious downsides (it takes a while to find most things) but I always liked how different it felt from most other spaces I've been in. The high modernist principles made it feel like stepping back into the 1960s or 70s. I agree that the cramped windowless basement is pretty terrible though.

The LSC is another building that feels like a time capsule of the mid-century but the "nostalgia factor" didn't come close to making up for its much more immediate shortcomings, especially in the wi-fi age (really hard to get signal in there).

Fair point about the functional need to protect books from UV; not sure what has changed today -- maybe better UV reflection in windows, as you say.

I don't think it was until the mid 1990s that the Killam's atrium was enclosed and it immediately made the Killam about 300% better. Instantly, there was a nice indoor commons to gather, beyond the decrepit SUB.

LSC is definitely bizarro; but fun to explore, I suppose. Just like the labyrinthine basement to the Killlam.

[musicman]

64 million in renovations and 2 new buildings are going to be built on the engineering campus off spring garden road. Everything is set to open in 2018.

[fenwick16]

Here is a link describing the new buildings to be built at the Sexton Engineering campus and it shows a few renderings - http://www.dal.ca/news/2016/09/30/a-...an--idea-.html. Unfortunately the renderings aren't very exciting (very institutional looking).

[Keith P.]

It galls me somewhat to see public money going to Dal for this since they are loaded and sit on a huge endowment. The way they waste money on unnecessary spending means they could easily pay for this themselves if they simply managed their expenses better.

[alps]

I don't understand why Dalhousie felt the need to buy the third "sister site". If they require so much space in this area then why is this new building only two storeys?

The building looks relatively small to me. I can't actually figure out the full extent because both the DalNews article and the Campus Development website lack a proper overhead plan. But it seems odd that this relatively small building would cost twice the price of Citadel High School, and even more than the Central Library.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by alps

The building looks relatively small to me. I can't actually figure out the full extent because both the DalNews article and the Campus Development website lack a proper overhead plan. But it seems odd that this relatively small building would cost twice the price of Citadel High School, and even more than the Central Library.

They say that the new buildings will total 86,000 square feet, which is in the same ballpark as some of the newer medium-sized Dal buildings along University Avenue. The management building is just under 120,000 square feet.

I have a feeling the building is bigger than it looks because the original IDEA building footprint started near the southern end of the library and now they are saying that it will extend all the way to Morris Street. The brick wall in the renderings is part of the 3 Dal-owned rowhouses on Morris. I hope those rowhouses are renovated as part of this; the upper floor reno they were subjected to in the 80's or 90's looks hideous.

It looks like they do plan to at least repave and landscape what is now the little parking lot next to Gerard Hall. Dal has improved a lot but it still has so many dumpy looking areas that could easily look a lot nicer than they do. Even a parking lot does not need to look hideous.

The cost also includes lecture facilities, labs, and equipment. I could see engineering equipment being much more expensive than similar costs to out fit a library or a high school.

The Sexton campus really needed an overhaul. A lot of the buildings there are cramped and outdated, and were built and cobbled together piecemeal. I do agree that Dal seems to be doing the institutional land banking thing with the third sister site though. The city should have insisted on a schedule for development and a buyback option, just as they do with private developers now.

[musicman]

Cost depends so much on what the building is used for, what is spec'ed for the building, is it a leed building, ect. Not to mention the rightful high emphasis on safety. Things that used to take an hour now sometimes take 2 or 3 hours with 2 guys instead of 1. Use of lifts onsite instead of ladders also adds to cost but are much safer to work off of than a ladder. Not to mention in this case we have no idea what the ratio is when it comes to the price of re-furbishing the older buildings V.S. building the new buildings.

[Jonovision]

We have a hole.

20161105_163859 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Jonovision]

20161108_122525 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Jonovision]

The addition on the SUB turned out really nicely!

20161109_110118 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

Crane up for Dalplex Expansion

20161109_110436 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

20161109_110456 by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[Jonovision]

20161214_112851_HDR by Jonovision23, on Flickr

20161214_112807_HDR by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[kph06]

The tower crane base for the Sexton additions is on site. It is sitting on the field, I couldn't tell if it is being stored here or will be set up here. I could see a base on the field reaching over existing buildings and able to service both new building sites.

[Jonovision]

Crane base

20170109_153336_HDR by Jonovision23, on Flickr

[kph06]

Irving has a crane ready on site, I presume the tower crane will go up tomorrow.

[beyeas]

Interesting that I understand this will all be marketed by Dal as part of a newly branded "Innovation District", one assumes modelled in a loose way on the MaRS Innovation District (although not with the albatross that is the MARS tower).

[kph06]

Today: