302 replies to this topic

[zoomer]

I don’t mind the new proposal, it certainly appears to have way better street level interaction potential than the art gallery proposal. That was a total glass box! A cold wall of glass. In winter and especially summer I’d be happy hanging out on that corner cafe than standing outside a glass box that I’d have to pay to enter once every few years for an art exhibit. That said we do need a decent gallery downtown. That previous proposal was never it.

[aastra]

Concert's building seems to address the fundamentals much more successfully, I agree with you. Methinks the ideal project for this site would combine this version's solid fundamentals with some of the original concept's oomph and flair.

[Bingo]

173-units of seniors rentals and condos to rise at Douglas and Belleville streets

http://victoria.citi...701-belleville/

 

Handy to the lawn bowling greens.

[Nparker]

...Methinks the ideal project for this site would combine this version's solid fundamentals with some of the original concept's oomph and flair.

There's no reason to believe the "art gallery version" couldn't have been slightly modified to include more ground-level interaction, including a cafe or such. Instead, we get this version that was apparently modeled with LEGO blocks.

[jonny]

Saying a building is "just a box" is pretty lazy analysis, IMO. That describes 99% of buildings.

The Tapestry renderings we have seen look pretty good. As with most buildings, this will either be just OK or really good depending upon detail and finishings. I agree that the street level interaction in this design is excellent.

[Mike K.]

Concert has not built a single building in Victoria that has disappointed. Their buildings may not be odes to architecture like the buildings James Cheng designs, but they serve their purpose and they serve it well.

 

Speaking of Cheng's buildings, all three in Victoria (Parc Residences, Shutters and The Falls) have had ongoing issues and even lawsuits thrown about. I can't even recall if any of the three project's water features operate any longer or what their repair status is. I recently saw Shutters undergoing some form of remediation and the Falls had notable issues for years, and perhaps still does. I guess where I'm going with this is there is something to be said about simplicity.

[Nparker]

...I guess where I'm going with this is there is something to be said about simplicity.

Yeah, it's safe and it's boring. I think that might actually be part of the official CoV motto: Tutum Nisi Odiosis.

[aastra]

Concert's buildings have been great for Victoria. I hope they keep them coming. I just wish their towers were a bit more distinctive.

[jonny]

Look, builders construct buildings that building owners want to own and maintain. More complicated designs can result in challenging floor plates and more maintenance.

[jonny]

Yeah, it's safe and it's boring. I think that might actually be part of the official CoV motto: Tutum Nisi Odiosis.

It's kind of funny that you live in a very short, safe and boring building.

[Nparker]

It's kind of funny that you live in a very short, safe and boring building.

In the context of 4-storey, wood-frame condos, built in the early 1990s, Park Place is anything but safe and boring. This fact was driven home when we faced leaky condo remediation back in the early 2000s. We don't have 4 outside walls, we have about 44 outside walls, only about 8 of which culminate in 90-degree angles. 

If my budget ever allows for it, I'd love to live in the CoV's most avant-garde, high-rise, residential tower; as soon as it is designed and built of course.

[Bingo]

Boy it sure looks dated...too much green space...needs a couple more stories and a rooftop garden.

[jonny]

Where's the water feature? Why's it so short?

[Rob Randall]

Photobucket ended free file hosting so I will repost some old pictures of the cancelled James Cheng concepts from around 2008:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attached Images

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Edited by Rob Randall, 23 October 2017 - 02:43 PM.

[Nparker]

[Rob Randall]

Some really interesting designs in there. If you had found the current Tapestry model mixed in with the Cheng models you would have said, "how did that thing get in there?"

[Nparker]

For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.

- John Greenleaf Whittier

[LoneAxiom]

It’s nice to finally see this project moving forward. No more eyesore of a dilpidated Crystal Court Motel!!

[Gary H]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AllseeingEye]

In the context of 4-storey, wood-frame condos, built in the early 1990s, Park Place is anything but safe and boring. This fact was driven home when we faced leaky condo remediation back in the early 2000s. We don't have 4 outside walls, we have about 44 outside walls, only about 8 of which culminate in 90-degree angles. 

930 (1).JPG

930 (2).JPG

If my budget ever allows for it, I'd love to live in the CoV's most avant-garde, high-rise, residential tower; as soon as it is designed and built of course.

My cousin and I lived in the end unit on the eastern corner of that building, which he owned, to about 1992; I can tell you this since we lived through a minor shaker in about 1991-ish: that building won't do very well in anything resembling a major earthquake. The minor tumbler we experienced resulted in a major crack from the foundation all the way up to the third level in that unit. Sure was an interesting neighborhood though. The street-level entertainment was pure gold....