143 replies to this topic

[Barrister]

I assumed verve meant boring or a version of East German architecture.

[aastra]

^Something tells me the CoV's advisors re: architectural design might also be confused about the definitions of certain words.

[aastra]

Methinks it might be apt to revisit the Sussex building controversy at this time. For some reason it was one of the first modern buildings in many years that (some) Victorians actually dared to contemplate and evaluate based on its specific attributes (and also seriously taking into consideration what might have been) rather than simply reacting blindly either for it or against it.

 

 

Times-Colonist
July 20, 1996

Nothing succeeds like Sussex
by Gene Miller

...I know people who would consider the destruction of the rest of the city a small price to pay for reducing the Sussex to rubble.

Mind you, I also know people who are infatuated with the Sussex. One of its most besotted admirers has found dozens of dramatic views of the building and, with the obsessive admiration you would expect to be reserved for Mount Fuji, steered me to every vantage point at all hours...

People are not indifferent to the Sussex; it's a strong building that asks for and gets a strong emotional response.

It's an operatic building. No one, fan and critic alike, is blind to the drama of the Sussex...

...Architect Fligg recounts that in the original proposal the top three floors "did quite a number." But... the ornamentation was reduced, and then reduced again. Fligg observes that, "More height would have helped... one more setback... the whole top was planned to be finished in reflective glass... the building needed to be taller to really celebrate the spirit of deco."

I can understand his disappointment, but there's no reason for shame. The Sussex is a stunning building, just as it is. It has a massive permanence, a solidity, a monumentality unmatched by any other recent building in town. At the same time, even with much of its detail and some of its height reduced, it gives off a romantic, skyscrapery feel. Sit outside Starbuck's on Fort and Blanshard and compare the Sussex to the Commerce tower and the Rohani Building which are of commensurate height... Stand just to the east of the Sussex and walk to the right or left until you can see that the bricks on the facade have all been intentionally set at slight angles to each other which... gives  both a subtle depth and a lightness to the building. Notice how a simple decorative V-groove makes the upper-storey concrete beautiful.

In my opinion the real genius of the architects was to have achieved so much architectural romance with so reduced a budget. Perhaps what is most amazing about the Sussex is that one building can have so significantly changed not just Victoria's skyline but also shifted the city's sense of purpose. That skyline now feels more ambitious, vaunting, energetic; less self-effacing and mediocre...

aastra says: Methinks this 1520 Blanshard proposal could use some of that ambition and energy in terms of the overall architectural flavour. Coming in at 35 stories it's as if they abandoned any suggestion of being self-effacing with the sheer height but then became overly self-conscious and self-effacing with the design.

[Mike K.]

OMB has many buildings in Vancouver. Is there anything there that resembles this proposal, or uses similar materials? It may be helpful to view the building in person.

[Ryan Cook]

@mike k . it was orignally called the MacMillan Bloedel Building until a few years ago when Reliance bought it and change the name. 

[Mike K.]

Ah! Thank you.

[Barrister]

I am wondering about the demand side of the equation for a building like this at a time when the population is projected to be flat or declining while hundreds of purpose built rentals are coming on line?

[Mike K.]

@mike k . it was orignally called the MacMillan Bloedel Building until a few years ago when Reliance bought it and change the name.

If you note, the building has a slight flair at its bottom. Like a tree trunk.

[Barrister]

Does anyone know if they are proposing purpose built rentals or condos? I am guessing rentals because of the very generous CHMC financing courtesy of the taxpayer.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria city staff have already asked the developers to scale back their design, in both height and density.

 

Reliance Properties argues Victoria needs the density.

 

Stovell says it’ll be about a year before the project gets in front of city council.

 

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...island-1236102/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 January 2025 - 10:11 AM.

[Barrister]

I am wondering if we really need the density considering that all the projections are for the Canadian population to either stabilize or even slightly decrease over the next five years. We already have a lot of approved or started projects on the go.

It seems that the only new developments are the ones funded by CHMC which basically guarentee the developers and the bankers profit whether or not the buildings make commercial sense. 

[G-Man]

^ I guess we should let the private development companies know. I am sure that they were planning on spending hundreds of millions of dollars to not recoup the investment...

[aastra]

 

I am wondering if we really need the density considering that all the projections are for the Canadian population to either stabilize or even slightly decrease...

 

Check out the future density shown in this downtown model from the open house...

[aastra]

^Even the Johnson Street parkade has a ghost tower on it.

[Victoria Watcher]

Check out the future density shown in this downtown model from the open house...

 

Interesting.

 

 

Lots of tall buildings on the church parking lots on Caledonia, plus the Monday Magazine building and behind it. 

[aastra]

 

Lots of tall buildings on the church parking lots on Caledonia

 

On this very forum I seem to recall hearing a few hints and rumours about their long-term plans.

[Barrister]

G-man: exactly which hundreds of millions are you talking about that is actual capital and not simply money borrowed with CHMC guarantees? Certainly not for the last few years of rental buildings in BC.

[Ryan Cook]

The design will definitely be revised before it goes to council. 

 

In this interview the president of Reliance says the building will have: Retail / Co - working space / Artist Live - Work Space and Condos Above. Doesn't sound like any rental at this stage. 

 

https://omny.fm/show...g-one-victoria 

[Mike K.]

For sure confirmed as a condo now?

[Ryan Cook]

Stovell was asked twice in that interview and he only mentioned condo not rental both times. I don't think anything is 100% at this point though.