NicolBolas
Active Member
I would rather have a gravel parking lot then this building. It's just going to be a ghetto dump in 10 years and it will serve to cheapen the area
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archited
Senior Member
^ Amen to that!
David A
Senior Member
Yes, if those are the only choices I would go with the parking lot too. It is hard to get rid of a bad building, at least a parking lot could have something nicer built later.
The biggest mistake Edmonton consistently makes as a city is in our haste or desperation to improve things, we do things that actually makes it worse.
biketime
New Member
Holy cow.
A mediocre building that gets built beats a beautiful one that doesn't, every time. We're talking about bringing 800-1,000 students into downtown — the lowest car-ownership demographic in the city — who fill the evening and weekend foot-traffic gap that downtown suffers from most, drive LRT ridership, and de-risk the next major mixed-use project and every one after it. Projects like this are easy for lenders to underwrite precisely because the impact is known and stable; one built development makes the next three financeable. Cities need to evolve incrementally rather than be engineered toward an ideal end-state — let the cycle work its way through and compound into real improvement, the way Strong Towns argues every healthy city has actually grown. And the ground floor here isn't bad: it incorporates historic brick, stays permeable with student access and third spaces, and is exactly the kind of streetwall a student housing project should have. Worth remembering too that student housing has to be built on a budget for good reason — every dollar spent gold plating the facade is coming out of affordable student rent.
Edmonton has spent forty years optimizing for surface parking lots and renderings that never get built. We can afford to optimize for residents now and build some actual momentum.
A mediocre building that gets built beats a beautiful one that doesn't, every time. We're talking about bringing 800-1,000 students into downtown — the lowest car-ownership demographic in the city — who fill the evening and weekend foot-traffic gap that downtown suffers from most, drive LRT ridership, and de-risk the next major mixed-use project and every one after it. Projects like this are easy for lenders to underwrite precisely because the impact is known and stable; one built development makes the next three financeable. Cities need to evolve incrementally rather than be engineered toward an ideal end-state — let the cycle work its way through and compound into real improvement, the way Strong Towns argues every healthy city has actually grown. And the ground floor here isn't bad: it incorporates historic brick, stays permeable with student access and third spaces, and is exactly the kind of streetwall a student housing project should have. Worth remembering too that student housing has to be built on a budget for good reason — every dollar spent gold plating the facade is coming out of affordable student rent.
Edmonton has spent forty years optimizing for surface parking lots and renderings that never get built. We can afford to optimize for residents now and build some actual momentum.
The_Cat
Senior Member
If it’s student housing, it could be on par with Lister Hall or Michener Park. Not necessarily a ghetto. The surrounding area will have some great options.
northlands
Senior Member
davcocom
Active Member
I honestly feel ya, but that’s a tad unrealistic. What actually needs to happen is putting safeguards in place so every development meets a baseline design standard. If they can’t afford the bare minimum, they don't get a permit. Period.
We just need to be way more demanding and strict about what those standards look like (bigger windows, better materials, etc.).
NicolBolas
Active Member
Ohman
New Member
Adding density and students to the area doesn’t have to take this form. If this is considered acceptable simply because it replaces a gravel lot, and if this is truly the best Edmonton can hope for, then I can reconsider my expectations for what is passable in this city.
MacLac
Senior Member
How NEW is the brand new green fencing going up? lol
IanO
Superstar
I believe some of these are new/updated.
www.factionprojects.com
Edmonton Student Housing - Faction Projects
The project consists of four six-storey mid-rise residential buildings, organized around two landscaped private courtyards and a central pedestrian public pathway. Architecturally, the development employs a rhythmic, contemporary design language that responds sensitively to its urban context...
www.factionprojects.com
NicolBolas
Active Member
Still looks like shit
JNO1
Active Member
Very institutional. Design should have been so much better. The half A$$ strikes again.
NicolBolas
Active Member
I really like how there is absolutely zero commerical on the ground floor.... How do we expect to drive foot traffic if there so no where for anybody to go.
Ohman
New Member
such a weird era of single-use poor product downtown versus other locations in the city getting mixed-use and better design. What a travesty