Rock Bay - the next master-planned development
#21
Posted 31 October 2006 - 03:12 PM
#22
Posted 31 October 2006 - 07:40 PM
Last time I looked into it, which was over 5 years ago, they were bringing in 60 tonnes on those barges, and that material was being used in the core. Imagine 60 tonnes comming into the core from Langford by truck every day, and then multiply that traffic by all the half ton and one ton smaller loads tradespeople use. We'd need to upgrade the highways to handle that load. For the smaller construction and landscaping companies working around the core you'd also be adding the cost of the fuel and time to bring the materials in. I know from my MA research a lot of the smaller ones would not be able to absorb the cost, and would fold. The effect would be to alter the economic geography of Victoria in such a way that building costs would rise, while the building and landscaping sector shifted away from small companies and towards larger companies with the resources to handle the change.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
#23
Posted 31 October 2006 - 08:05 PM
I think at least some of those industrial properties need to stay... specifically the ones that receive material by barge and depend on the deep harbour.
Last time I looked into it, which was over 5 years ago, they were bringing in 60 tonnes on those barges, and that material was being used in the core. Imagine 60 tonnes comming into the core from Langford by truck every day, and then multiply that traffic by all the half ton and one ton smaller loads tradespeople use. We'd need to upgrade the highways to handle that load. For the smaller construction and landscaping companies working around the core you'd also be adding the cost of the fuel and time to bring the materials in. I know from my MA research a lot of the smaller ones would not be able to absorb the cost, and would fold. The effect would be to alter the economic geography of Victoria in such a way that building costs would rise, while the building and landscaping sector shifted away from small companies and towards larger companies with the resources to handle the change.
That seems exreme if all little and big companies lived under the same rules/resource suppliers. Name a LARGE landscaping company that does lots SFD is this town. Landscaping will allways be a small-company business, just like homebuilding or renovating companies are here.
#24
Posted 31 October 2006 - 11:36 PM
I have such high hopes for Rock Bay.
#25
Posted 01 November 2006 - 12:11 AM
I will try to dig up the actual employment numbers for that pocket of industry, I never did a full analysis which would have taken the number of primary, secondary and tertiary jobs that Rock Bay represents into account, but I did get at least the primary and the beginings of an impact analysis on some of the secondary.. which included 2-5 men companies who use Rock Bay as their main source of material. What I was hearing when I was doing the fieldwork was that yes, Victoria's landscaping, homebuilding and renovating companies are primarily small scale, but that this would shift towards favoring a larger scale if we did not have a source for materials in the core.
I'd be interested to hear from people in small companies in those fields if any read these boards to either back up or refute.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
#26
Posted 01 November 2006 - 10:37 AM
Buildings in the 6 to 8 storey range with large floorplates, so in the 6-7:1 FSR.
Also I don't think that this area needs to have a huge amount of public space perhaps a waterfront walk way and a small area by the water but not any more than 10% of the open space maybe less.
#27
Posted 18 November 2006 - 12:26 PM
Methinks the key is, it has to feel like downtown. It can't feel like a resort.
I think something akin to a higher density version of the Selkirk would be good. If the buildings were twice as tall with a fair bit more commercial space and the odd highrise here and there, I think you'd have a winner.
Agreed. I really like the look of Selkirk.. but it needs more diversity in terms use. Hopefully a new Rock Bay would have that.
#28
Posted 13 December 2006 - 03:53 PM
http://www.victoria.ca/common/pdfs/departments_plnblw_rckbyd2.pdf
#29
Posted 14 December 2006 - 12:03 PM
I want to see a building like this in Rock Bay: [url=http://www.archiseek.com/onsite/2006/11/new_green_building_for_miamis_design_district.html:b99dd]COR, a revolutionary Green building in Miami's Design District[/url:b99dd]. If anyone has PhotoBucket and can pull a picture of this thing onto this page, please do. Can you imagine a structure like this here in Victoria? Wind turbines and solar panels built into the exoskeleton? Gives "windmill" a whole new (stylish) meaning...
#30
Posted 14 December 2006 - 12:06 PM
#31
Posted 14 December 2006 - 06:53 PM
#32
Posted 14 December 2006 - 07:06 PM
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#33
Posted 14 December 2006 - 07:43 PM
Thanks for putting the photos up, Galvanized! There's something about this one, style-wise, that I really like. Maybe because it marries the form-and-function thing with an eye-catching bit of flash?
#34
Posted 14 December 2006 - 08:04 PM
#35
Posted 14 December 2006 - 08:11 PM
Well, if that's just plain old Swiss cheese, I'm a Salvador Dali wristwatch! :-DLooks like a giant block of swiss cheese to me.
#36
Posted 14 December 2006 - 09:19 PM
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891
#37
Posted 14 December 2006 - 10:44 PM
into a district where originality in architecture is a requirement.
#38
Posted 15 December 2006 - 07:09 AM
I mean Rock Bay and the surrounding area could easily become a very cool area with just a little help at the beginning. We need to give up something to get things like this though like density...
#39
Posted 15 December 2006 - 09:13 AM
It's all about residential, folks. If Victorians don't live in the area in question then the area in question will never change for the better.
The reference to motels on page six makes me cringe.
And what's with the "views" arrows on the Summary Map? Nonsense.
#40
Posted 15 December 2006 - 09:40 AM
The Douglas Street frontage serves as a gateway to downtown. It is important that careful attention be paid to the architectural image.
Does that mean we're going to continue with the heartbreaking-dreary-burg motif?
Heading into the city along Douglas Street from the north is nothing less than a horror show.
It should read, "It is important that careful attention be paid to improving the architectural image."
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