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PROPOSED
Residences at the Empress
Uses: rental, commercial
Address: 700 Douglas Street
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Downtown Victoria
Storeys: 8
Bosa Development has plans to erect an eight-storey rental building with ground floor commercial space southea... (view full profile)
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[Downtown Victoria] Residences at the Empress | Rentals | Proposed


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#201 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 07 June 2017 - 10:01 PM

The name of the architect does not change my impression though.
  • Nparker and kafkaesque like this
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#202 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 07 June 2017 - 10:52 PM

Also The Falls has a very pathetic rusty, bent cable waterfall at ground level. I don't think anyone that looks at that feature would be wowed.
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<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#203 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 07 June 2017 - 10:55 PM

Cheng also did Shutters here which proved very problematic to build to his design. And thus had/has all kinds of problems.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#204 G-Man

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 05:47 AM

I like a lot of Cheng's buildings. The Falls and Shutters I think are two of Victoria's most dramatic. To be honest a mini Falls here would be amazing. Maybe this is an FU from him for not allowing the art gallery building he designed to be built across the street here?
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Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#205 aastra

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 07:23 AM

 

...you usually don't have these on apartment buildings. Much more common on condominium buildings.

 

I'm going to play the "this is an exceptional site" card. We're talking about a rental building on the Empress Hotel property, after all.



#206 aastra

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:03 AM

I pity anyone who has to wade through all of the vagaries and mixed messages in Victoria to try to come up with something. Heck, even a casual session over coffee to float ideas and hear input would probably leave you with frayed nerves.

 

Starbucks?? I said I wanted coffee!

 

Tim Hortons?? I said I wanted coffee!

 

An independent?? I said I wanted coffee!

 

Booster Juice?? Close, but still way off!

 

The Keg?? So close! But still way off!

 

etc.



#207 aastra

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:10 AM

The rendering itself isn't great so hopefully we'll see better images before too long.



#208 Nparker

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:22 AM

The rendering itself isn't great so hopefully we'll see better images before too long.

Agreed - of an entirely new proposal.



#209 Mixed365

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:30 AM

Cheng also did Shutters here which proved very problematic to build to his design. And thus had/has all kinds of problems.

 

Correct. However, that isn't necessarily the architect's fault. There are countless consultants on every job. 


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“To understand cities, we have to deal outright with combinations or mixtures of uses, not separate uses, as the essential phenomena.”
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#210 Jackerbie

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:35 AM

Something more glassy would have been a good juxtaposition, I think. The brick upper stories and stone tile base are so heavy and, frankly, institutional. I agree wholeheartedly that it looks like a museum or university building. It's not a bad design per se, it's a bad design for a residential building in the downtown core.

 

This is what Bosa is building down in Bellevue, WA

one88_banner1.jpg


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#211 Nparker

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:35 AM

Correct. However, that isn't necessarily the architect's fault. There are countless consultants on every job. 

Agreed. That is why engineers are involved to interpret architects' designs to ensure that what gets built is structurally sound, meets all codes and won't develop a host of problems as time goes by.



#212 Rob Randall

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:36 AM

I think the consensus is Cheng's designs here are successful and that any flaws aren't due to his vision.

I think this building will work as long as every square inch shouts permanence and quality.

#213 Nparker

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:37 AM

Something more glassy would have been a good juxtaposition, I think...

Precisely. Something entirely unlike the Empress is a better direction to take, IMO.



#214 Nparker

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:38 AM

...I think this building will work as long as every square inch shouts permanence and quality.

...and the amount of brick is reduced; glazing is increased and the entire ground floor re-worked.


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#215 Jackerbie

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 08:42 AM

It actually strongly reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on what it is. Something at UVic, maybe? It's bugging me, I can see it but I can't pin it down.

 

It looks very similar to the recent proposal over in Ottawa, the residential addition to the Chateau Laurier. Coincidence? Probably not.

 

renovations-are-being-proposed-for-ottawas-chateau-laurier111.jpeg



#216 aastra

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 09:14 AM

There's just nothing romantic about it, at least not on the sides that we've seen. I don't know where/when Victorians came up with this idea that tourists expect or desire a stuffy/institutional atmosphere. Tourists love the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. I'm not saying the Oak Bay Beach Hotel should be standing beside the Empress Hotel, I'm just saying the Oak Bay Beach Hotel has some of that magic that people are after. The first concept for Wharf/Government also had a bit of that magic.

 

Lest we forget, a very stuffy/institutional retirement residence is going to be happening on the motel site. And Parkside is right there, too, looking much too stuffy & institutional for what it is.

 

Would anyone bother to pause and take a picture of this building?


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#217 Nparker

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 09:29 AM

There's just nothing romantic about it, at least not on the sides that we've seen...

I am not sure it needs to be "romantic", but it certainly needs to be more interesting than what we have seen in this proposal.



#218 johnk

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 10:37 AM

Also The Falls has a very pathetic rusty, bent cable waterfall at ground level. I don't think anyone that looks at that feature would be wowed.


A mini-wow, to be sure. "The Falls" is more like a dribble from a bathroom leak on the floor above.

#219 johnk

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 10:39 AM

It looks very similar to the recent proposal over in Ottawa, the residential addition to the Chateau Laurier. Coincidence? Probably not.
 
attachicon.gifrenovations-are-being-proposed-for-ottawas-chateau-laurier111.jpeg

Looks like the Bar-Code Hotel.

#220 aastra

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Posted 08 June 2017 - 11:45 AM

 

"The Falls" is more like a dribble from a bathroom leak on the floor above.

 

Yeah, but it's a pretty sweet bathroom.



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