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[Downtown Victoria] Ballantyne Building Office Tower | 9-storeys | Canceled in 2007


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#21 aastra

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 10:31 AM

But what about the mishmash of styles? And is it even practical to try to use that frontage for the entrance to an office tower?

Regarding vehicle access off of Douglas, there's already that little lane between the church and the shops, right? Once again I'm wondering why they couldn't have a dedicated entrance ramp on one street and a dedicated exit ramp on the other street. I'd much prefer such an arrangement because you'd have two small, widely separated parking gates instead of one big one.

#22 Holden West

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 11:22 AM

I don't think they'd put the office entrance on Douglas because it would be too far from the tower core.

As for separate one-lane parking entrance/exits, I don't recall ever seeing such a beast. Are they allowed to do something like that?
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
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#23 G-Man

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 11:56 AM

^ The library has a second car exit.

As for the Mish mash of styles. I think you can come up with something sympathetic think about the Sussex building. Anyways I think you keep the Ballantyne as is in that it would reamain storefronts. There is plenty of room on Courtenay for both the office entrance and the parking entrance. The Kirk Hall property is quite large it just usually goes unnoticed.

No one has mentioned that we will be losing the performance space. It isn't used too much but there certainly isn't anything else in this area similar to it.

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#24 Holden West

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 12:07 PM

^There's a full elementary-school-size gymnasium in there. It's funny how such a huge space can be totally invisible in Old Town.

The library lanes are double wide, though aren't they?
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#25 aastra

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 12:32 PM

Yes, they're in/out on both sides.

Anyway, parkades do do it so I'm sure an office building can do it. Remember how the Johnson Street parkade used to have an entrance but no exit on the Pandora side?

#26 Holden West

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 12:39 PM

Yes, that was a single-lane exit, IIRC. Still, I think moving an office building's worth of traffic onto/out of Douglas at rush hour is dumb.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#27 aastra

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 04:58 PM

Here's a pic of the old Union Club on the site of di Castri's building:



#28 m0nkyman

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Posted 10 July 2007 - 08:29 PM

^There's a full elementary-school-size gymnasium in there. It's funny how such a huge space can be totally invisible in Old Town.


Yup. I only know it's there because I vote. ;)

#29 Baro

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 09:11 AM

what the hell is with Victoria during that era replacing grand old buildings that were actually dense enough for their days with horrible downgrades ?
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#30 aastra

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 07:04 PM

Tnano's aerial photos offer some enlightenment on the particulars of this site:



#31 D.L.

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 07:05 PM

If this thing is approved for 12 floors I'll be really cheezed that Sussex Place was downscaled to 11 floors.

#32 aastra

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 07:08 PM

Here's another good angle:



Can't say I'd be a fan of something like this:



Maybe this? Whenever modern buildings are inserted in close proximity to historic ones, I think the modern should be daring/striking modern as versus safe/bland modern. We don't want the commercial equivalent of a Y-lot condo tower on this site. There's some very flavourless, dry stuff around there as it is, what with the parkade, the large office block across the street, the smaller office block across Douglas from the church itself, and (how could I forget?) Nootka Court.



#33 m0nkyman

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 10:26 PM

Can't say I'd be a fan of something like this:



That would make me reach for my revolver.

Like I said upthread. I dont care if it's one or twenty-two stories of ugly, I'll oppose it.

Knowing that it's Westbank makes me a bit more comfortable however. I've yet to see an example of an ugly building by Westbank.....

#34 Holden West

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Posted 11 July 2007 - 11:03 PM

Ahh it's those model train set photos. They weird me out! :-D

Westbank does good work, but James Cheng has been their go-to architect. There's no guarantee Cheng will be involved with this project.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#35 Mike K.

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Posted 21 July 2007 - 10:10 AM

I thought Cheng was the only architect Westbank has worked with over the last decade, give or take. It would be nice, though, to have an architect from a multi-national architectural firm take on a landmark project in Victoria (say, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, for example).

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#36 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 22 July 2007 - 08:29 PM

Here's someone stepping out with a clear opinion (which means she can't possibly be on city staff or on council, I guess!): [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/letters/story.html?id=07598007-d669-4945-b247-272f468fea1f:b808e]Downtown buildings not worth saving[/url:b808e], in today's T-C "letters to the editor" section:

Downtown buildings not worth saving
Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, July 22, 2007

OK, call me an architectural philistine. But somebody has to say it: that mini-strip mall beside St. Andrew's Church downtown has to go. John di Castri's buildings, heritage or not, are ugly.

My first exposure to di Castri's work was the University of Victoria Student Union Building, before it had add-ons. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

[...]
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

Good old editors at the T-C, calling it "buildings," when it's just one building. Well, who (at our biggest daily) cares about reality, anyway?
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#37 aastra

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Posted 23 July 2007 - 10:37 AM

The church hall building is physically separate from the building with the shops, yes? That might have been why they made it plural.

I'm pretty much on board with her re: the strip mall comment. The problem I have with buildings like this one is that they were part of a larger misguided effort to suburbanize downtown Victoria, and to dilute its urban feel. It may be a fairly funky and interesting little building, but it never should have been built in the first place. It doesn't belong there, so I won't be sorry to see it go.

Unless, of course, the replacement is an even worse fit.

#38 Holden West

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Posted 23 July 2007 - 11:22 AM

That's the concern. Yes, the storefronts are somewhat claustrophopic in their current state but as we know all too well (and without naming names), there are many new retail frontages downtown that are worse--bleak, empty, too far set back, boring, flat, cheap.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#39 Mike K.

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Posted 04 November 2007 - 07:22 PM

Has the DRA been approached with new info on this project?

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#40 Rob Randall

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Posted 28 November 2007 - 04:26 PM

Westbank is no longer a partner in this project and will develop the Ballantyne's building on their own.

The church is developing a new tower proposal on the Kirk Hall site. They would share a parking entrance on Courtney Street.

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