CanadianNational said:
Another clunker from SRM Architects. They already have three other towers in downtown Kitchener that dominate the skyline, with another one currently under construction halfway between Kitchener and Waterloo.
I don't know what strings they've pulled, or if they're just reliable and cheap, but Kitchener desperately needs to find itself different architects when it comes to its new major towers.
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While SRM isn't the best they do have the ability to produce designs that don't look horrible when they are asked too, for example 63 Scott in Kitchener, it's not award winning by any means but it doesn't look horrible. I don't have a photo of it so I grabbed one from Google Maps, but it at least isn't a spandrel mess, the yellow isn't jarring and is miles better than blue and grey.

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Also the other towers that dominate the skyline in Kitchener are for the most part not SRM, Sure you have Duke Tower and TEK which are both SRM but you also have Charlie West (ABA), Station Park (Kirkor and Turner Fleischer), 100 Vic/Garment St (ABA and EDGE) and Young Condos (BDP Quadrangle) which are all not SRM. Eventually we will have more SRM buildings in the skyline when you get TEK 2 and 3 built. However those should be balanced out with Q Condos (ABA), Station Park T4/T5 (Kirkor/Turner Fleischer), 417 King (Kirkor), 10 Duke (Kirkor), 332 Charles (NEO), 1001 King (NEO), The Metz (Turner Fleischer), 51 Church (Kirkor) and 459 Mill (NEO). Sure none of them are going to be Gehry buildings but at least Kirkor, ABA and NEO all produce buildings that aren't completely horrible. 1001 King is NEOs first jaunt into high rise (assuming Vive hasn't changed architects), so how good they are with highrise is still up in the air but so far their midrises have turned out pretty good. So sure SRM will have multiple buildings but there will also be enough other architects to make things half decent.
 
ZEBuilder said:
Also the other towers that dominate the skyline in Kitchener are for the most part not SRM, Sure you have Duke Tower and TEK which are both SRM but you also have Charlie West (ABA), Station Park (Kirkor and Turner Fleischer), 100 Vic/Garment St (ABA and EDGE) and Young Condos (BDP Quadrangle) which are all not SRM.
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Thanks for the correction on Young Condos: it looked so similar to the other nearby SRM's that I guess I forgot it wasn't one of theirs.
It's good we have so many other names involved. Let's hope better details and materials - plus some finesse - can carry the day. What I'd really like to see is Kitchener really go for something interesting, maybe even hold some design competitions. But I suppose I'm glad that Kitchener is getting housing built, period.
 
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