584 replies to this topic

[RFS]

I really like the podium

[Mike K.]

I actually quite like this design!

 

The unit count has fallen from 118-units to 113 (plus a unit described as a "business core suite), and unit sizes have fallen from a maximum of over 1,000 square feet to just under 900 square feet. The project now includes studio apartments and junior 1BD's, plus 11 live-work units on the second floor.

[Jackerbie]

I agree that the podium especially is attractive. As for everything above the podium, the design is neither amazing nor terrible, but I don't like the building massing. The architect didn't really have much of a choice though, I think. This is one of the countless examples in Victoria where the allowable FSR and maximum height just don't work well together.

[jonny]

*Citizens of Vibrant Victoria shriek in terror as the anti-height laser beam strikes again and chops off the top 1/3 of yet another building in downtown Victoria, BC.*

[RFS]

I agree that the podium especially is attractive. As for everything above the podium, the design is neither amazing nor terrible, but I don't like the building massing. The architect didn't really have much of a choice though, I think. This is one of the countless examples in Victoria where the allowable FSR and maximum height just don't work well together.

It is rentals after all

[jonny]

Other than I think it'll end up looking too squat like the 834, I quite like this. I love the bottom and quite like the top. Whether this ends up being just OK or great will come down to textures and finishing materials. I quite like the charcoal spandrel, which adds a bit of depth and dimension to the design. 

[Nparker]

I don't dislike it, but man-on-man* innovative design sure is discouraged in this city.

 

* edited to adhere to VV community standards 

Edited by Nparker, 18 April 2018 - 01:19 PM.

[Mike K.]

Man on man, hey?

[Nparker]

Man on man, hey?

LOL!

[Jackerbie]

Traditional man on man design

 

[Nparker]

Traditional man on man design...

To be fair, it's hard to tell if the figures on the top are men. This is starting to veer off-topic so I am going to stamp this one myself

 

[aastra]

Really don't like it. Chard's building is going to be dark and heavy on the Johnson side, this building is going to be dark and heavy on the Johnson side... are we trying to create a really scary and gloomy block there between Blanshard and Quadra or something?

 

 

....the building is now a fairly nondescript box...

 

Absolutely. Blocky, nondescript, almost like a residential version of the CIBC tower or something. Like a hotel tower from 1975. So much repeating drabness on the tower levels.

 

 

The stained glass inspired touches are gone.

 

All of the flavour and uniqueness is gone. From distinctive to drab. This project is like a case study in how to take a design in the wrong direction. It's baffling, honestly. How does this sort of thing happen?

 

edit looking back in 2019: some better images came later, and after seeing them I didn't mind the redesign nearly as much as I did when I posted the above. The brick-veneer on the tower portion seems like it could work, and I also like the windows on the tower and how they're different from the windows on the podium. But I still worry about the heaviness and potentially "faux" nature of the podium. and I still can't fathom the process by which the design changed so completely from the original concept.

Edited by aastra, 26 September 2019 - 02:11 PM.

[Jackerbie]

At least they managed to get rid of the utility pole in V 4

 

[Nparker]

...All of the flavour and uniqueness is gone.

Yup.

[Jackerbie]

Fun game: take the four proposals, and ask someone without any knowledge of the application to put them in order from first submission to the final design. This game is even more fun with Northern Junk!

[aastra]

That's a good point. Most people would look for some sort of progression re: sharpening and refinement, and thus arrange them in reverse order. The newest version actually looks like an altogether different project (awaiting its own process of refinement).

 

As always I await a better rendering in full colour that might change my impression, but the quality of these images seems to be sufficient to get the gist of it.

 

It becomes all the more frustrating when you check out other residential buildings by the same architects.

[RFS]

I find the latest rendering the most handsome and least generic of the bunch. Its darker materials for sure but it works and looks dramatic and urban. Could be taller but it looks great. Should be condos

[sdwright.vic]

^yeah because people who rent should have no place(s) to Live?

[Kapten Kapsell]

Nothing in the standard disclosure agreement from a condo developer would prevent buyers from renting out their condos...

[sdwright.vic]

Except for the fact that I would never rent from a private condo owner.