383 replies to this topic

[Scaper]

Songhees Hilltop will have, 3 towers, 10 - 13-storeys; first phase a 10-storey condo tower.

Does anyone have a rendering or a photo of the model for this?

[Mike K.]

No, no renderings have been release yet. Word on the street is Bayview went through several architects even after finalizing previous designs.

It's strange that so little info has actually made it into the public realm at this time.

[Mike K.]

I noticed yesterday that the Bayview publicity vehicle is buzzing around town. I didn't recognize the manufacturer but the rear of the vehicle had "Electric Car" written on the back.

It looks sort of like a small version of a VW bug and is on Bayview's adverts for their upcoming project.

[Galvanized]

^Interesting considering Reflections in Langford has the Reflections Hummer!

[G-Man]

Crane is almost complete!

[aastra]

Here's an old model/rendering from at least a year ago:

[Mike K.]

The second crane is now going up.

The design has changed quite a bit. It is now even bulkier :?

That video for Bear Mountain's Soaking Peaks and Highlander shows the first phase of Songhees Hilltop to scale. And it absolutley dwarfs everything around it.

[aastra]

What video?

[G-Man]

http://www.soaringpeaks.com/

weird how they have that but no Shutters or Dockside??

[aastra]

They left out just about every highrise in the city of Victoria. Can that be an accident? The only one they included is the Fannin building. No Laurel Point condos, no Harbour Towers, no Orchard House or Robert House or anything along the park, no Y-lot towers, no Executive House or Chateau Victoria...



If the Songhees building is going to be that wide then just hand Victoria the title for "fatscraper capital of the world". Why worry about the Capitol 6 project now? We've got Harbour Towers II coming!

Anyway, that rendering isn't accurate in any other aspect, so how do we know it's accurate with regards to the Songhees hilltop?

[aastra]

No Dallas Road highrises, no CIBC, no Sussex, or anything else downtown...

But they did include a couple of non-existent large buildings at Ogden Point, curiously enough:

[G-Man]

I have seen the model down at the display site and this truly is the Mother of all fatscrapers. I mean PM was going off on the impact of Shutters you won't even notice it in comparison to this monster.

[aastra]

The mayor and council lamented (in an old TC article) about how their hands were tied re: the hilltop projects. The zoning was in place, blah blah blah.

If you didn't want to see a massive building then your hands were definitely NOT tied. All you had to do was encourage the developer to build something slim by giving him a few more stories in height. If you enter any negotation with a developer with the mindset that you have to try to get a concession from him or chop him down to size or something along those lines then you've already blown it.

Work WITH the developer!!!! Work TOGETHER to get the best result!!!

This adversarial nonsense has screwed Victorians time and time again.

[aastra]

Damn, I'd like to get my hands on that 3D model of the city.

[VicHockeyFan]

There is an awful lot of phoney green-space in those slides...

[Mike K.]

It looks like downtown has suffered an algae bloom.

[Mike K.]

Here's an image of the massing as approved back in 04. Phase one will redefine the term fatscraper, unfortunately.

[aastra]

I sure wish we could see a good rendering of this one. If Pam thinks the design is out of date then what on earth could that mean? Part of me suspects she might be right, but then part of me remembers she also hated Shutters, which is probably the most modern design in Victoria.

[Mike K.]

Am I the only who sees the irony in a heritage advocate and faux heritage architectural style champion complaining that a building design is "decades out of date?"

That quote is a keeper.

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya, that is funny.

That building she always champions for it's density down on Government at Humboldt is decades out of date, don't you think?