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  #21  
Old Posted May 29, 2020, 6:53 PM
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Originally Posted by FuzzyWuz View Post
Don't they at least have to have footings in?
Standards for this vary. But I have been setting threads to U/C when site prep happens. The thread can always be updated again to On Hold if there is a long period of inactivity.

Excavation work itself can be pretty complicated and expensive, and I've always found it a bit misleading when an article says "construction will begin in 6 months" and they mean heavy machinery will start working on the site immediately.
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  #22  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 12:24 AM
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This has a name and rendering! Excavation is also well underway. They also repaired the sidewalk situation. Robie Street now narrows to four lanes at the site to allow for a barricade sidewalk on-street.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)
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  #23  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 10:39 AM
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Where have I seen this design before? Looks very similar to some others.

I saw a TV show recently about the North in England and some of the things that have happened there in places like Manchester and Newcastle as they have redeveloped from an industrial economy. The architecture of some of their newer buildings is simply stunning and unlike anything we see here. Some of the usual-suspect architectural firms here need to study those designs.
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  #24  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 1:57 PM
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I agree! Most of the new buildings seem to be of similar design.
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  #25  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 2:03 PM
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Originally Posted by teddifax View Post
I agree! Most of the new buildings seem to be of similar design.
Most of the new apartment buildings in Moncton are designed by a company called "Spitfire Designs", and almost all of their projects are just variations on a theme. This has been duly noted by many people on the Moncton threads.
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  #26  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 2:16 PM
Summerville Summerville is offline
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
Where have I seen this design before? Looks very similar to some others.

I saw a TV show recently about the North in England and some of the things that have happened there in places like Manchester and Newcastle as they have redeveloped from an industrial economy. The architecture of some of their newer buildings is simply stunning and unlike anything we see here. Some of the usual-suspect architectural firms here need to study those designs.

Agreed.

I regularly watch a design show from the UK and they seem to be much more creative, especially where space is limited.

As well as in some eastern European cities surprisingly.

There tends to be a growing reliance on aluminum or steal cladding in Halifax developments. The drawings may look great, but the buildings could very easily blend in with everything else that is going up.
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  #27  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 4:01 PM
IanWatson IanWatson is offline
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I regularly watch a design show from the UK and they seem to be much more creative, especially where space is limited.
I would expect that a design show tends to show the unique stuff though. The "rank and file" buildings don't make for good TV. Besides, someone could easily do a spot on Queens Marque, and if that's all you saw of Halifax you'd get a very different impression of our architecture than reality.

As for the "all new buildings look the same", that's the way it has always been and will always be. Buildings reflect the trends and technologies of the time. But today's buildings do not look the same as the buildings 10, or even 5 years ago. Remember when seafoam green glass was all the rage?

That's not to say there are not a lot of "subpar" buildings in Halifax, but I'm much less cynical about the state of architecture in the city than many people.
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  #28  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 5:38 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by IanWatson View Post
I would expect that a design show tends to show the unique stuff though. The "rank and file" buildings don't make for good TV. Besides, someone could easily do a spot on Queens Marque, and if that's all you saw of Halifax you'd get a very different impression of our architecture than reality.

As for the "all new buildings look the same", that's the way it has always been and will always be. Buildings reflect the trends and technologies of the time. But today's buildings do not look the same as the buildings 10, or even 5 years ago. Remember when seafoam green glass was all the rage?

That's not to say there are not a lot of "subpar" buildings in Halifax, but I'm much less cynical about the state of architecture in the city than many people.
While I understand the point you are making, and generally agree, I think peoples' comments here are valid.

My opinion:
- Generally, the quality of new buildings appears to be better than those of the 1990s-2000s era, but of lower quality and less architectural interest compared to buildings from the 1960s and back. While buildings of an era tend to be built based on technology, building techniques and styles of the era in which they were built, there seemed to be more effort put into individualizing the appearance of buildings - which in all fairness was probably easier to do since there was less reliance on pre-fab materials back then, and more reliance on handwork.

- What I find disappointing in most run-of-the-mill current buildings is reflected in the point you made about seafoam green. I find many of the designs today, which all seem to be a slight variation on the same theme, seem to be trying to be 'cool' or 'relevant' for today (or 2 years ago... to be more succinct), but this also results in the building being more 'dated' in a decade or so. Today it may look trendy to have a bunch of blocks protruding here and there, clad in various colours, but this will likely fall to another trend in the near future which will make these look just like ugly buildings that we are stuck with. At least hairstyles and clothing can be tossed aside when they go out of style, but we are stuck with buildings for 50 or 60 years, so IMHO their designs should be more timeless.

- Surely there has to be a way for an ambitious architect to create unique buildings without playing follow the leader to everybody else. But of course that might increase project costs above the bare minimum, which could be the actual root of the situation.

Just my opinion, nothing more, nothing less...
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  #29  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 5:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
Where have I seen this design before? Looks very similar to some others.

I saw a TV show recently about the North in England and some of the things that have happened there in places like Manchester and Newcastle as they have redeveloped from an industrial economy. The architecture of some of their newer buildings is simply stunning and unlike anything we see here. Some of the usual-suspect architectural firms here need to study those designs.
I was in Newcastle last September. The decline in major streets is significant. Most of the city centre was designed by John Dobson but now the facades are despoiled by signage which is inappropriate for the historic district. Street people begging and shops full of cheap tat. The large mall across the river in Gateshead played a role in the decline. The riverfront is attractive; student housing abounds. The industrial economy has not been replaced.
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  #30  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 5:58 PM
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Originally Posted by IanWatson View Post
That's not to say there are not a lot of "subpar" buildings in Halifax, but I'm much less cynical about the state of architecture in the city than many people.
Another thing about Halifax compared to most or all UK cities is that it's growing much faster. There are a lot more new buildings, and they serve a varied market. Many European cities basically have enough old housing for the population and build the odd new showcase building (art gallery, trophy HQ, or high-end residential).

European cities also tend to build modern districts while in North America it's more common to mix together old and new buildings. I am not sure why that is. Maybe it's that the old European city centres were more consistently built up with medium-sized buildings that these days aren't considered candidates for demolition.

I suspect that the quality of new designs will continue to improve as long as there isn't some kind of economic depression due to covid.
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  #31  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 6:16 PM
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This building has a nice podium in the renderings on the previous page. The podium in the photograph above is far inferior.
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  #32  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 6:27 PM
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This building has a nice podium in the renderings on the previous page. The podium in the photograph above is far inferior.
That is true. Originally it had a brick-like texture with coloured insets. Now it's one big long metallic looking surface on each side.

This seems to happen over and over with projects in Halifax. Early renderings at the approval stage look quite a bit nicer than what is built. Although sometimes rendering quality itself simply varies; textures in particular can be presented differently in different renderings, and it is hard to tell what materials will be used. Not sure if the cladding materials are specified in the planning documents.
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  #33  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 6:30 PM
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Originally Posted by someone123 View Post
That is true. Originally it had a brick-like texture with coloured insets. Now it's one big long metallic looking surface on each side.

This seems to happen over and over with projects in Halifax. Early renderings at the approval stage look quite a bit nicer than what is built. Although sometimes rendering quality itself simply varies; textures in particular can be presented differently in different renderings, and it is hard to tell what materials will be used. Not sure if the cladding materials are specified in the planning documents.

Pointe North is a similar example.
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  #34  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 9:38 PM
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I thought building proposals always had to state what building materials were to be used and therefore should be held to that as it was all part of their approval.
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  #35  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by teddifax View Post
I thought building proposals always had to state what building materials were to be used and therefore should be held to that as it was all part of their approval.
They do have to state materials, but usually you can get away with a vague list - something like, "Dark-coloured aluminum architectural panel, masonry block, or similar". Even if there are major changes to materials, they're usually the lowest amount of procedure to change. For example, material changes are typically a non-substantive change in development agreements, and in downtown Halifax it's usually something the Development Officer can approve without going back to the Design Review Committee.
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  #36  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 12:45 PM
IanWatson IanWatson is offline
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Originally Posted by Summerville View Post
Pointe North is a similar example.
Same developer.
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  #37  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 4:33 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is offline
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Originally Posted by IanWatson View Post
They do have to state materials, but usually you can get away with a vague list - something like, "Dark-coloured aluminum architectural panel, masonry block, or similar". Even if there are major changes to materials, they're usually the lowest amount of procedure to change. For example, material changes are typically a non-substantive change in development agreements, and in downtown Halifax it's usually something the Development Officer can approve without going back to the Design Review Committee.
A good example of that seems to be Queen's Marque. The original proposal included bright coppery appearance 'Muntz Metal', which I thought gave the building a bright, fresh appearance that really added to its appeal. Then suddenly, it appeared, it was swtiched up with a material that has a darker, brownish appearance, that resembled tarnished brass or unpolished bronze, which IMHO makes the building look somewhat drab in comparison.

So... it must be quite easy to have major changes in building materials as this one seemed to completely transform the building with little fanfare.
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  #38  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 5:49 PM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
A good example of that seems to be Queen's Marque. The original proposal included bright coppery appearance 'Muntz Metal', which I thought gave the building a bright, fresh appearance that really added to its appeal. Then suddenly, it appeared, it was swtiched up with a material that has a darker, brownish appearance, that resembled tarnished brass or unpolished bronze, which IMHO makes the building look somewhat drab in comparison.

So... it must be quite easy to have major changes in building materials as this one seemed to completely transform the building with little fanfare.
Another good example is Lotus Point which looked fine in the drawings, but ended up a hideous mess.
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  #39  
Old Posted Jun 19, 2020, 5:52 PM
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So lame that they have those banners up around the site with their website address http://theelevation.ca that goes to nothing. At least they have a website (or supposedly will at some point). So many apartments (as opposed to condos) never put up a website. I mean, it's 2020 for pete's sake. People want to go online and see a few unit floor plans and renderings etc. These buildings cost tens of millions of dollars but they can't spend a few grand on a simple website? Sorry for the rant

Anyway the design may be derivative but it still looks 1,000,000,000 X better than Point North.
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  #40  
Old Posted Jun 19, 2020, 8:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Takeo View Post
So lame that they have those banners up around the site with their website address http://theelevation.ca that goes to nothing. At least they have a website (or supposedly will at some point). So many apartments (as opposed to condos) never put up a website. I mean, it's 2020 for pete's sake. People want to go online and see a few unit floor plans and renderings etc. These buildings cost tens of millions of dollars but they can't spend a few grand on a simple website? Sorry for the rant

Anyway the design may be derivative but it still looks 1,000,000,000 X better than Point North.
Yeah, I do hope it resembles the rendering. Btw - Is the Robie Street canyon emerging?

What will happen with the site along the former Piercy's / Rona?
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