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[Fairfield] Mount Edwards Court | Low Barrier Housing


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#401 Mike K.

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 08:00 AM

The issue is that those efforts must be taken by private homeowners and developers when dealing with heritage properties, and this (among other aesthetic limitations) has been an expensive demand enforced by the City.

So to see the City be so meek in this regard is disappointing when homeowners are taken to task over far more minor issues.

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#402 Nparker

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 08:18 AM

Surely no one is surprised by this double standard. Keep in mind these are the same folks who declare a "climate emergency" then rack up more frequent flyer miles than any other small city in the country.


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#403 IPH

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 08:36 AM

Oh come on. WTF are vinyl windows on a large building an issue? Seems to me modern, energy efficient windows are more important than some barely visible aesthetic difference on the THIRD FLOOR. Did anyone actually notice or care?

Wow, why don't you just advocate for slapping up some exterior insulation and vinyl siding while your at it if its more important to have modern energy efficiency over heritage. There are a limited number of heritage buildings left in Victoria and its not just an aesthetic issue. its about preserving some of the historical fabric this city was built from.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for modern energy efficiency in new builds, but this is a heritage building and they agreed to preserve & repair the existing windows and replace those that were too far gone with matching wood windows in the heritage alteration permit they negotiated with the City. If a private developer had blatantly ignored his own permit, the City would issue a stop work order, cancel his permit and make him apply for a new permit with a bond to insure that he complied.
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#404 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 08:47 AM

If a private developer had blatantly ignored his own permit, the City would issue a stop work order, cancel his permit and make him apply for a new permit with a bond to insure that he complied.

 

i don't know is the dominion rocket not black anymore?


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#405 Mike K.

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:13 AM

And City Hall is red.

I don’t think paint is quite as a big a deal.

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#406 IPH

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:35 AM

True, the Dominion is still black but there are some differences.

The Dominion developer didn't rip the historic brick off the building, he painted it. The historic fabric is still there. unfortunately, current paint stripping technology (physical, chemical, heat) is either not effective on brick, or will damage the brick which is the historical fabric intended to be preserved. The hope is that future technology is developed that will be effective at stripping the paint without damaging the brick. This is far preferable to ripping the brick off and replacing it with new brick or some fake imitation.

Painting the brick was likely not done as a cost saving measure, where as ripping all the windows out here and replacing with vinyl was clearly a cost saving measure and in fact this was mentioned during the COTW meeting.

Minor differences, but these were part of the argument for leaving the Dominion black once it was done. At Mount Edwards it appears the only real argument for leaving the windows was cost, and not wanting to upset or inconvenience the City's "partner" BC Housing.

#407 IPH

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:41 AM

And City Hall is red.

I don’t think paint is quite as a big a deal.


According to one of the heritage consultants I'm working with on a project, City Hall was always painted because it was built in stages and the brick courses don't line up. So paint is not as big a deal and in the case of City Hall is actually part of the historic fabric. Go figure!

#408 Nparker

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:50 AM

....ripping all the windows out here and replacing with vinyl was clearly a cost saving measure ...At Mount Edwards it appears the only real argument for leaving the windows was cost, and not wanting to upset or inconvenience the City's "partner" BC Housing.

When it comes to spending my taxpayer dollars, I can't entirely argue against cost-saving measures. Perhaps $5000 of ping-pong table expenses might have been better spent preserving the original windows at ME.


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#409 Mike K.

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:52 AM

Right, exactly.

Many of our old buildings were also adorned with massive painted advertisements that would make Times Square blush.

Others were painted in very bright and eccentric colours that highlighted individual building elements. You can see some of these colours reproduced along lower Johnson.

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#410 IPH

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 09:58 AM

Yes, similarly some of Chris Lefeve's restorations on lower Yates are painted, either because the brick was already painted or too far damaged and painting was a way to partially stabilize and preserve the original fabric of the building.

#411 aastra

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Posted 17 August 2019 - 01:44 PM

 

Oh come on. WTF are vinyl windows on a large building an issue? Seems to me modern, energy efficient windows are more important than some barely visible aesthetic difference on the THIRD FLOOR. Did anyone actually notice or care?

 

Sometimes I wonder if expedient rationalizations for violating supposed principles of heritage preservation aren't Victoria's biggest heritage asset.


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#412 tedward

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 08:47 AM

Sometimes I wonder if expedient rationalizations for violating supposed principles of heritage preservation aren't Victoria's biggest heritage asset.

 

Can you explain to me why these particular windows are historically significant?  Seeing as how they are the third floor how do they detract from the "heritage" appearance?

I don't know what, "principles of heritage preservation " using modern windows violates, but I believe there are plenty of examples of windows from that era for historical research and educational purposes. So long as they don't change the look of the building I don't care. And that goes for any project, public or private. 


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#413 Mike K.

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 12:04 PM

So long as they don't change the look of the building I don't care. And that goes for any project, public or private.


I believe the issue is they change the look of the building.

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#414 Jackerbie

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 12:17 PM

New, faux-heritage windows

vka-edwards-2516-jpg.jpg

 

Old heritage windows

Capture1.PNG


Edited by Jackerbie, 20 August 2019 - 12:18 PM.

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#415 Rob Randall

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 12:39 PM

It's like having a classic automobile. If you start swapping out the original parts for fiberglas replicas you might still have a cool car but it's not eligible for the Concours d'Elegance competition.



#416 aastra

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 12:48 PM

Next thing you know we'll have complete buildings that are just replicas.



#417 Rob Randall

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 03:27 PM

https://en.wikipedia...Ship_of_Theseus



#418 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 20 August 2019 - 03:30 PM

they don't look too far off.  last time i walked by they did not stand out to me as odd or out of place.  


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#419 Mike K.

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Posted 21 August 2019 - 05:32 AM

The panes are much more prominent than they were before. They’ll stand out more once the columns between the windows are painted.

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#420 tedward

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Posted 21 August 2019 - 12:46 PM

I believe the issue is they change the look of the building.

 

 

The panes are much more prominent than they were before. They’ll stand out more once the columns between the windows are painted.

 

OK, now you are just pulling my leg. Looking at the photographs, as I suspected, I'm not sure anyone could tell the difference from three floors away. 

They don't change the look of the building and the windows themselves are not historically significant. I don't see how this is any different than using modern paint instead of lead-based, or adding fiberglas insulation to a heritage structure. 

 


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