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The Summit at Quadra Village
Uses: rental, civic
Address: 955 Hillside Avenue
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Urban core
Storeys: 4
The Summit at Quadra Village is a four-storey, 320-bed long term care facility. The Summit will replace Oak Ba... (view full profile)
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[Quadra-Hillside] Summit at Quadra Village seniors residence | 4-storeys | Under construction


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#81 Rob Randall

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Posted 11 June 2016 - 11:15 PM

I get that but it is also true that to build on a prominent location in a village centre, it cannot be a fortress.



#82 AllseeingEye

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Posted 11 June 2016 - 11:23 PM

I get that but it is also true that to build on a prominent location in a village centre, it cannot be a fortress.

And hence my comment that I "get" the point of the Blanshard location conversation given it is a prominent site....

 

That said I would hardly call Carey Road a "fortress". The buildings are very well laid out, in fact Carey Road is considered a model for provincial long term care facilities since it incorporates all the health sector has learned over the past 20 years re: dementia care. OTOH neither does it pay much if any attention to esthetic's such as landscaping or street interaction since its primary function isn't to win architectural awards but care for those who can't care for themselves.



#83 Mike K.

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Posted 12 June 2016 - 07:48 AM

99% of nearby residents absolutely despise the Carey Road facility, though*.

*usual

The rest of the world manages to build rather nice end-of-life or palliative facilities. We can do far better than the fortresses (great descriptor) the CRD is putting up.

That being said, the Hillside facility will not be a place where people are expected to pass right away, it will be housing for fully functional seniors who would love a few amenities and a decent building aesthetic.

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#84 AllseeingEye

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Posted 12 June 2016 - 10:15 AM

99% of nearby residents absolutely despise the Carey Road facility, though*.

*usual


The rest of the world manages to build rather nice end-of-life or palliative facilities. We can do far better than the fortresses (great descriptor) the CRD is putting up.

That being said, the Hillside facility will not be a place where people are expected to pass right away, it will be housing for fully functional seniors who would love a few amenities and a decent building aesthetic.

Source? I routinely bump into neighborhood locals and have never heard a disparaging comment re: the Carey Road design.

 

Offhand to cite a couple of examples just off the top of my head the Priory in Colwood is certainly no 'fortress' and blends in beautifully with its neighbors including Royal Colwood Golf Course. It looks and feels like any townhouse development anywhere else. Ditto for Brentwood House and Sluggett House respectively, which are lovely smaller facilities that both adhere to the "house hold model" of long term care; Brentwood House especially is designed deliberately to look like an old-style Brentwood Bay farm house. With the exception of the wrought iron fences around each facility you would never guess they are care facilities of any type. The Kiwanis Pavilion has co-existed just fine with the Cedar Hill-Finlayson neighborhood for 40 years without complaint. Same for Mt Tolmie, which I lived up the street from for over 25 years. All fine, no issues and certainly not from immediate neighbors.

 

You really ought to shy away from blanket statements that clearly aren't true gents....



#85 aastra

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Posted 12 June 2016 - 11:55 AM

 

Without question for those residents and particularity their families it is *all* about the quality of care and the security/privacy of your loved one - period, end sentence. All other considerations aren't even secondary, they frankly aren't considerations at all. To quote my late dad neither the resident (especially if they suffer from Alzheimer's!) nor the family could give a "tinker's damn" about "street interaction".

 

As someone who went through all of what you're going through now about ~20 years ago, I honestly don't get what you're saying. You could use the very same argument to justify inappropriately designed and/or inward facing developments of literally every type: hospitals, residential buildings, office buildings, schools, hotels, shopping centres... you name it. Quality of service and security and privacy are paramount, and that's why we didn't give a hoot about fitting in with the neighbourhood.

 

In this case all they needed to do was present a face (or even a partial face) to Hillside that actually fit the location. Relate to and acknowledge the neighbourhood, instead of contradicting it or shunning it (Jubilee Hospital, cough). Doesn't it seem odd that we're getting some rather urban buildings on north Shelbourne and in Langford but on Hillside near Quadra we're going to get a big suburban special? It's that anti-Victoria ethic that grinds my gears. Why do some Victorians always want to invert and subvert and otherwise overturn the essence of their city?



#86 Mike K.

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Posted 12 June 2016 - 12:30 PM

The patient care centre at Jubilee is ugly, there's no denying it. The Carey Road facility is just as ugly -- and I'd be the first to find a fan but I haven't yet. The Hillside facility won't be any better, but while officialdom moans and groans about every private development that comes knocking they're willing to put blinders on when another branch of officialdom wants to squeek through with minimal effort?

Now, before we hop on the "government must be frugal" train, remember these guys had no qualms over spending $60 million on a sewage treatment plan with absolutely nothing to show for it and they pumped huge money into a nice headquarters in downtown Victoria.
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#87 aastra

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 09:01 AM

 

...officialdom moans and groans about every private development that comes knocking they're willing to put blinders on when another branch of officialdom wants to squeek through with minimal effort?

 

Yeah, that's an annoying aspect of it, and because their projects also tend to be extremely large it makes all of that fretting about other projects seem that much more insincere. The community's built form is sacrosanct, except when it isn't.

 

I think my point above is that institutional buildings are just as much a part of the community and its built form as any other buildings are. I know what ASE means when he says design issues aren't at the forefront of our concerns when we're visiting a bedridden loved one. Of course that's true. But the building is going to be there in the community 24/7 for many decades. Even if our close personal interaction with it lasts a few years, that's still relatively brief compared to the lifetime of the building.

 

Consider this: when you're visiting a divorce lawyer in an office building you also tend not to care so much about all of the stuff that we talk about on this board. Much of what goes on in a large office block isn't fun and games. But we'd never let a developer use that as an excuse for designing something lousy.


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#88 thundergun

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 09:05 AM

The patient care centre at Jubilee is ugly, there's no denying it. The Carey Road facility is just as ugly -- and I'd be the first to find a fan but I haven't yet. The Hillside facility won't be any better, but while officialdom moans and groans about every private development that comes knocking they're willing to put blinders on when another branch of officialdom wants to squeek through with minimal effort?

Now, before we hop on the "government must be frugal" train, remember these guys had no qualms over spending $60 million on a sewage treatment plan with absolutely nothing to show for it and they pumped huge money into a nice headquarters in downtown Victoria.

 

^ Let's be careful of lumping the city government's embarrassing capital planning division (see sewage treatment, JSB for recent track record) in with the provincial government who handle large projects much better with value for money in mind.



#89 Coreyburger

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 09:18 AM

^ Let's be careful of lumping the city government's embarrassing capital planning division (see sewage treatment, JSB for recent track record) in with the provincial government who handle large projects much better with value for money in mind.

 

I have heard some horror stories about just how badly built the PCC at Jubilee is. Also, most of the buildings at the hospitals around the region are owned by the Capital Regional Health District, not VIHA.



#90 thundergun

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 09:23 AM

I'm no expert in this area but I'm pretty sure the Ministry of Health and the Authority are the leads (or at least heavily involved) on capital planning even though the regional district may own the building.

 

Not defending the project but can you imagine what the PCC would be like if the city built it? I'm guessing it would be partially completed, without designs for the upper floors and well over budget with years to go.



#91 Coreyburger

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 09:34 AM

I'm no expert in this area but I'm pretty sure the Ministry of Health and the Authority are the leads (or at least heavily involved) on capital planning even though the regional district may own the building.

 

Not defending the project but can you imagine what the PCC would be like if the city built it? I'm guessing it would be partially completed, without designs for the upper floors and well over budget with years to go.

 

AFAIK, CRD (well, the health district) is leading the construction. They have a construction manager, they are the ones posting the tenders up (which they are, FYI), etc.


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#92 Mike K.

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 11:36 AM

I'm not sure of this facility is at all under the direction of the province. It could be though, but the CRD is definitely taking charge here.

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#93 jonny

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 12:41 PM

I'm apparently in the minority, but I don't mind the patient care center and the old folks home on Carey Road. Sure, they could have been more modern, but they're miles better than the myriad of butt ugly circa 1960's medical and professional buildings around town.


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#94 aastra

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 01:14 PM

To my eye the Jubilee looks like a slightly contemporized version of a circa 1960s medical building, which is why I don't like it.

 

ylmb_vgh2.jpg

 

royal-jubilee-patient-care-centre.jpg


Edited by aastra, 13 June 2016 - 01:26 PM.

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#95 Nparker

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 01:15 PM

It seems a LOT of folks have their knickers in a knot about the design of this project. Other than the basic "XX" shape shown earlier in this thread have any detailed renderings been made public? Massing? Scale models? Do we know for a fact that this place will be butt ugly?



#96 aastra

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 01:25 PM

The new building at the Jubilee could have been worse, for sure. But these days new hospital buildings tend to be much more interesting than that. It's like a throwback.

 

 

Do we know for a fact that this place will be butt ugly?

 

I'm hoping it won't be, because if it's ugly and the format is all wrong then Victoria will have made yet another unbelievable blunder.



#97 Nparker

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 01:34 PM

The new building at the Jubilee could have been worse, for sure. But these days new hospital buildings tend to be much more interesting than that. It's like a throwback....

Agreed. I guess I am thankful RJH didn't turn out worse than it is.

 

I hold out hope that the "Summit" project won't be hideous. It certainly doesn't have much aesthetic competition from its nearest neighbours.


Edited by Nparker, 13 June 2016 - 08:03 PM.

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#98 Mike K.

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 02:56 PM

I've just been tipped off by a VV follower that DHK is behind the Summit on Hillside.

 

All hope is not lost yet :)


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#99 Bingo

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 04:27 PM

I think the Pentagon design on a smaller scale would be more in keeping with Victoria, and the center courtyard would keep the folks in and the riff raff out.

 

The_Pentagon_January_2008.jpg



#100 Nparker

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Posted 13 June 2016 - 04:31 PM

I think the Pentagon design on a smaller scale would be more in keeping with Victoria...

Until someone flies a jet into it of course. Oh come on, someone had to say this.



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