416 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

I'm pretty sure the height of the first tower, at 27-storeys, will be in the vicinity of 85 meters and will take the Island's Tallest title from Silkwind (77 meters).

[MontyBaby]

How can something be environmentally friendly when in order to build this monstrosity they have desecrated an entire mountain!
When is enough, enough? It is all about money, that’s it, making the rich richer.
I think it is disgusting, complete greed, killing entire ecosystems, driving animals out of their homes, and for what; high-rise buildings, a stupid golf course… It is really sad, that is the way Victoria and the surrounding community’s are heading. It is pathetic that anyone can be bought these days, is maddening.
It is possible to build and sustain the environment surrounding what you are building
It is horrible, pretty soon we will just be another big city, another Vancouver, Toronto.. who cares right....
Why is more always better, Bigger is not always better...
Sickening

[Mike K.]

Not that I support what's taking place on BM, but those of us who live in cities must accept that the land we live on, work on and transport ourselves on was at one point pristine and wild. Sometimes that is difficult for an individual to visualize as their area of residence is built out and urbanized (to varying degrees). But the whole point of this exercise is to use what's already paved and improve upon it, not rip up more natural areas, right?

There's little excuse to keep building atop mountainsides when we're sitting on so much under-used land in the urbanized areas of this city, but the residents of Victoria who continue to oppose development in the core areas must accept that they are also active promoters of development in outlying areas. Monty, you'd be surprised to hear how often some of Victoria's current councillors say "take it out to Langford" when a development proposal for downtown comes before them.

[G-Man]

^ So true Mike. While I am not a fan of Bear Mountain at all I have no problem with growth in Victoria. I just think that this growth has to be in the Core and not in the burbs.

Canada is a rich country and we should be taking on a larger part of the population burden on this planet.

[LJ]

How can something be environmentally friendly when in order to build this monstrosity they have desecrated an entire mountain!
When is enough, enough? It is all about money, that’s it, making the rich richer.
I think it is disgusting, complete greed, killing entire ecosystems, driving animals out of their homes, and for what; high-rise buildings, a stupid golf course… It is really sad, that is the way Victoria and the surrounding community’s are heading. It is pathetic that anyone can be bought these days, is maddening.
It is possible to build and sustain the environment surrounding what you are building
It is horrible, pretty soon we will just be another big city, another Vancouver, Toronto.. who cares right....
Why is more always better, Bigger is not always better...
Sickening

Maybe you should start a new forum "Caveman Victoria"

Nothing will get built if nobody is making money doing it - but that appears to be what you want.

Could you imagine the horror of it all - Victoria turning into a big city!

Not everybody thinks that golf courses are "stupid", not everybody chooses to live in a condo, on a bus route, next door to a market. Some people, the majority, like to live in a house with a bit of their own property so that they don't have to live on top of someone else.

Can better building practices be adopted, less intrusive ways of developing property be choosen - certainly. But that will happen slowly over time.

[rjag]

How can something be environmentally friendly when in order to build this monstrosity they have desecrated an entire mountain!
When is enough, enough? It is all about money, that’s it, making the rich richer.
I think it is disgusting, complete greed, killing entire ecosystems, driving animals out of their homes, and for what; high-rise buildings, a stupid golf course… It is really sad, that is the way Victoria and the surrounding community’s are heading. It is pathetic that anyone can be bought these days, is maddening.
It is possible to build and sustain the environment surrounding what you are building
It is horrible, pretty soon we will just be another big city, another Vancouver, Toronto.. who cares right....
Why is more always better, Bigger is not always better...
Sickening

What are you living in? Do you think that where you live is any different? What was there before? Why do you have the right to live there and deny others the right to live where they choose?

Give me a break!!!

While I dont like what I see going on at BM, I believe its creation and others like it out there are as a result of the basic N.I.M.B.Y.'ism that seems to have a special place in so many parts of Victoria.

So what gives you the right to live where you live and complain? What do you think the local natives thought when a Fort was built here 150 years ago? Did anybody listen then? Is anybody listening now?

[2F2R]

Great response rjag ... why do people think just because they live here nothing should change … I think this apparent hate of tall buildings or modern architecture is just a bunch of fear mongering by people looking to help there personal situation. Ever since Peter Pollen held up a picture of the Vancouver skyline and said … do you want Victoria to look like this … it has been the platform for many to advance there own situation. This goes all the way back to the Reid Center. One bad looking building … View Towers gave tall buildings a forever black eye. When they wanted to build the Eaton’s center it divided council … it was going to ruin Victoria, and cause a big black hole downtown … right! Then there was the McKenzie – Pat Bay Highway intersection … OH MY GOD, we will be another Los Angelis … How about widening the highway through Thetis … well that ruined the park forever. How can people move into a unit on the harbor then complain about the noise … I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong with a beautiful tall building … I would encourage through incentive to get one or two tall buildings in the 700 block of Yates on the side with the cowboy buildings … to breath life into the center of town … I would encourage through incentive to get several of the tallest, proudest buildings across the street from city hall in the blocks surrounded by Douglas, Pandora, Blanshard and Cormorant. I would give the old Crystal Pool building as incentive to somebody to put up some tall buildings on either end of it and have it turned into the downtown art gallery … or something. I have noticed that around the cluster of buildings in the Humbolt valley … there is always parking meters available. Not to mention the inner harbor and the surrounding parking lots and the embarrassing cruse ship terminal. If these people want to live somewhere that has nothing whatsoever going on there are lots of place very near by that they would like … like Port Renfrew. This stifling the growth of this city is like binding feet … And then there is the round house … sitting there rotting away like a monument to the inability of this city to get anything done …

[rchauhan]

Well said, rjag and 2F2R.

[concorde]

I'm sorry, but Victoria will never turn into a "big city".

[aastra]

Seriously, there are really only three legitimate "big cities" in Canada, and I'm probably being generous by including Vancouver in that list. Point is, nobody in Canada needs to worry about their city becoming "just another"...

Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are so different from one another anyway, why would people think a larger version of Victoria or Winnipeg or Calgary or Kelowna or wherever would suddenly come to resemble them?

Victoria will always be Victoria.

[UrbanRail]

heres the site plan from the Quigg website;
It is interesting to note, that this is a gated community.

Aaron

http://www.quiggcapella.com/pdf/floorplans/siteplan.pdf

[amor de cosmos]

heres the site plan from the Quigg website;
It is interesting to note, that this is a gated community.

Aaron

http://www.quiggcapella.com/pdf/floorplans/siteplan.pdf

Not only that, there's a gatehouse, which makes me think there will be someone standing guard. Other than that I don't see how it's much different than the gated cul-de-sacs in bear mountain.

[jack]

heres the site plan from the Quigg website;
It is interesting to note, that this is a gated community.

Aaron

http://www.quiggcapella.com/pdf/floorplans/siteplan.pdf

Not only that, there's a gatehouse, which makes me think there will be someone standing guard. Other than that I don't see how it's much different than the gated cul-de-sacs in bear mountain.

It is actually not gated. From what I have been told, the spa and restaurant are open to the public. As it has been explained to me the gatehouse is more of a greeting point for public and residences.

Do not grasp youe comment about it not being any different then any other cul-de-sac? Let's see, vineyards, high-rises, incredible views, restaurant, spa, the architecture, quality. Yes....seems like every other boring cul-de-sac to me

[G-Man]

a gatehouse has a significant psychological effect on people that says that those that belong can come in and those that don't stay away. If that was not the intention why build it?

[Mike K.]

Here are the renderings for the first tower, 27-storeys:

[aastra]

Mississauga, here we come.

Note to developers everywhere: if every floor looks identical from the bottom to the top, you end up with a very boring building.

[Holden West]

Not only that, the remaining buildings would seem to resemble the first. You must admit it's very efficient for an architect to design a single floor and know you've just done enough to complete an entire village and still have time for an afternoon of golf.

[valdez12]

^^ no Sh!t.

Wow, just checked out their website, it seems like a 60s styled master planned community's vision of the future....




^^ Hmmm Really looks like a Star Trek like rendering


^^ Ditto



It is just a bit too "fake" for my taste.
They could have chosen a more "westcoast" yet modern look without being so "bland" and generic.
I like contemporary achitecture, but this seems a throw back to the 60s and somewhat "brutalist" in architecture with all these large concrete looking overhangs, large concrete stairs, architectural detail, etc...
From the renderings, I get the feeling these buildings will be very austere and meant to impress a different sort of scale on the visitor and not "warm" and inviting.
I just question their choice of architecture, not the projet in itself.

[zoomer]

I like contemporary achitecture, but this seems a throw back to the 60s and somewhat "brutalist" in architecture with all these large concrete looking overhangs, large concrete stairs, architectural detail, etc...

kinda like SFU by Erickson, in particular the low rise structures. So was that ever great architecture? Is it great now?

As for the high rise, the worst part is the roof details, which are tacky. The rest is not that exciting either; ok, but boring and generic.

[Mike K.]

Makes our councils rigid approach to all significant proposals a wonderful thing.

Do any communities on the westshore have design panels?