31 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

I think wood frame building serve their purpose especially when you consider the increased cost for cement. It is good to have both available to the purchaser. I live in a wood frame townhouse and it is fine. YEs you can hear your neighbours but I still love it here. I guess it is up to what you will put yp with.

[Nparker]

I agree (as you might have guessed) G-Man. Woodframe makes an affordable alternative for low-rise construction. With some attention taken to insulate properly in the building process, woodframe can be almost as quiet as concrete. And let's face it, if you REALLY don't want to hear your neighbours, buy a detached house, in the middle of a piece of acerage, somewhere VERY rural...or maybe just relocate to a very small island in the middle of an ocean.

[rayne_k]

And let's face it, if you REALLY don't want to hear your neighbours, buy a detached house, in the middle of a piece of acerage, somewhere VERY rural...or maybe just relocate to a very small island in the middle of an ocean.

No. That idea only exists here in the land of "wood frame".

Look anywhere else in the world and it is perfectly reasonable that you can live a soundproof life from your neighbours in a building. Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East.

The cheap construction that we are used to seeing in condos and apartments contributes to their stigma and lack of desireability in our culture. People like privacy, and if we really want to make higher density living appealing then we need to catch up to the rest of the world.

It blows my mind that I can buy a condo in Mexico or Portugal or almost whereever (as long as it isn't the poorest end of town), and while I might *not* have an elevator I *can* have friends over dancing the night away in high heels without anyone hearing footsteps or feeling vibrations.. yet that is practically impossible here at home.

[G-Man]

^ I don't understand what you are saying. There are hundreds of concrete and steel condos on the market that people can buy.

Are you suggesting that we should make woodframe illegal?

They fill a valuable lower cost option to the market. If you want concrete then they are there for the purchase.

[Mike K.]

The majority of local builders cheap out with woodframe condos by using standard insulation typically found in single family dwellings. It meets local codes so builders use it.

To each his own, of course, but there are few individuals that I know who do not complain about noise in their woodframe units -- and they're not nit-pickers by nature.

[Mike K.]

Taken today:

[Nparker]

Personally I find this to be a VERY good redevelopment. It will likely bring more homeowners to the neighbourhood and hopefully spur on even more such projects up and down the Gorge.

[G-Man]

Also as I have said before this is not a new building. This is an old apartment building being refurbished exstensively.

[Coreyburger]

I really love the Selkirk Waterway, how it blends work, housing and shopping. Its major issue is that it is completely not connected to anything else. Hopefully this development will help that issue.

[rayne_k]

^ I don't understand what you are saying. There are hundreds of concrete and steel condos on the market that people can buy.

Are you suggesting that we should make woodframe illegal?

They fill a valuable lower cost option to the market. If you want concrete then they are there for the purchase.

First - this discussin probably no longer belongs here, I would be ok if it got moved to whichever thread it would be better suited to.

Ok, I have thought long and hard about this.

My response is that sound/vibration and privacy within a building envelope is a livability issue since it has the potential to restrict who the residents in the building are are. I believe that a building, any building regardless of construction, ought to be able to be livable home to people in all stages of life concurrently (from an 80 who has trouble sleeping, the 4 year old that can't stop running and the 1 year old that screams non-stop).

Residents should have just as much right to adequate sound/vibration barriers within a dwelling unit as they should adequate ceiling height.

If sound/vibration issues in a wood frame building cannot be adressed to the satisfaction of the median tolerance of society then buildings should be only built of concrete. If the sound issues *can* be addressed, as Mike K suggests it can, then fine keep the wood frame but chrissakes build it right.

I believe that in the big picture, if a shift in culture can be acheived (buildings lose their stigma, people feel they can actually raise families in buildings), then it will have been worth it becuase there will likely be more willingness/openness to density and supply will keep up.

Edit by Mod: Rather than move the wood-frame vs concrete debate I've copied the posts over to the Urban Design area on a new thread. so as not to disturb the flow of this conversation.

[rayne_k]

I really love the Selkirk Waterway, how it blends work, housing and shopping. Its major issue is that it is completely not connected to anything else. Hopefully this development will help that issue.

While I agree it would be good if it had more connectivity, I think that the relationship it has via the Galloping Goose to other "centres/developing areas" is potentially very interesting.

Selkirk to downtown is an interesting stroll, improving as dockside builds.. Selkirk to Saanich (on the Goose) has potential to become interesting depending on the direction Saanich/Victoria take with the land between Douglas and the trail.

Ok it's not instant gratification - but hey, I can be patient


hmm now you have me thinking....picture Gorge waterside walkway/boardwalk the whole way from Selkirk to another little mixed cluster maybe towards Harriet.. .

[Mike K.]

Is this project completed now?

[Edit] Yup.