960 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

^ Excellent example. A great example where blowing the first floor ruins the presence of a building. The commercial is recessed from the street wall and then to top it off the glass is a dark blue so you can't see inside.

& trees on the fort & cook sides which could block light

[MarkoJ]

The Sidney example of a poor storefront is bang on....I've walked by it frequently and the interaction with street level is horrible.

This will be a concrete building I take it?

[Holden West]

They're not sure if it's going to be wood, steel or concrete. I guess at that height, it's a toss up, depending on costs at the time of decision.

I was looking for a "first floor" thread where we could expand on what makes a good ground floor pedestrian experience. The examples in aastra's post are some of the best you will ever see.

[pseudotsuga]

SE corner Douglas Pandora http://g.co/maps/zuhky has always struck me as being an example of "wtf were you thinking?" I suppose it doubles the retail frontage but lately much of it seems to be vacant.

Back on topic, the Fort/Cook corner is a prime spot for redevelopment but I've always liked the character of those shops along Cook. Great window shopping - probably something to do with the current setbacks as noted.

[Nparker]

SE corner Douglas Pandora http://g.co/maps/zuhky has always struck me as being an example of "wtf were you thinking?

Some of the worst designed retail space ever; neither floor benefits from it's (almost) street-front location.The only thing this building is good for is as an example of how NOT to design a podium.

[D.L.]

Here's some views from the video (http://vimeo.com/35526027)

[ZGsta]

Ugh, yeah that pillared part looks horrible to me.

[SamCB]

Ugh, yeah that pillared part looks horrible to me.

Those posts are great for collecting graffiti tags.

[Holden West]

A great feature are the bay windows along Fort St., which would give residents a good view down the street and would also help articulate the facade (keep it from looking flat).

[G-Man]

^ I agree that portion of the building just looks better all round to me.

[Holden West]

Ugh, yeah that pillared part looks horrible to me.

The best thing they could do would be to make them out of a dyed concrete like the base of the Dig This/OBB building pictured above. Then coat it in a slick, clear acrylic that's graffiti resistant. Painted concrete attracts idiot taggers like flies to you-know-what.

[Baro]

The architectural style is fine, but the ground floor setback needs to die as a practice. Also the U shape should be flipped so the recess is in the back not the front.

[Nparker]

Also the U shape should be flipped so the recess is in the back not the front.

If the "U" were to be flipped would that not put it open to Fort Street??? If so, ewwww!

[jklymak]

^ Yeah, I don't quite know what you mean Baro...

[Baro]

I was looking at it totally backwards!

[Nparker]

It was nice to this little blurb in the house move story:

Meanwhile, Abstract has other projects underway.They include a proposal for a six-storey mixed-use redevelopment of the southeast corner of Fort and Cook streets, still to go to a public hearing. Plans call for 9,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial, topped by approximately 90 condos.

I REALLY hope this project goes ahead.

[Holden West]

Two of the units, the former Polychrome Fine Arts and the Oriental Rug store are newly leased with fresh tenants. One's a car share and the other's a design store. This will take a while.

[Urbanistco]

These create a good starting point for a healthy pedestrian environment:

- Build to the property line
- Unseen parking
- Weather protection
- Daylighting/transmission
- Interactive frontages (eyes on the street)

The building has good articulation but seems to lack detail at the pedestrian scale. The use of high quality materials will improve it but the architect nailed the height for the overhangs for good interaction. Unfortunately, the concrete patios are very poor for light transmission so my view, it will end up a little dark and uninviting.

[Mike K.]

Updated renderings courtesy of DAU Architecture.

[Baro]

I like it, but the retail part feels a bit cave-like. There's currently some funky local shops that couldn't afford the leases on a new building like this, which I'm sure will be replaced with some boring sterile chains. But in terms of density and overall form I like it and it's a big improvement.