The Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life (251 Albert St) | 7 fl | Proposed

[ac3r]

Post-modernism is back in a big way.

The Rohr Chabad Centre for Jewish Life - a local organization for Orthodox Hasidic Jews - is looking to redevelop their existing property at 251 Albert Street in Waterloo. They are seeking to replace the current building with a 7 floor mixed use project. The project is proposed to have 23 residential units for local members of the religious group. Also proposed are a synagogue, child care facility, classrooms, ritual bath area, a kitchen, play area for children, amenity spaces on the roof and unsurprisingly, a huge residence for the Rabbi which spans two floors...go figure, heh.

Not really an interesting project, but I had to post it just because the architectural design is...quite something. Apparently the designers took inspiration "contemporary architectural style of other recent developments in Northdale". Yeah, I can tell haha.

[KevinL]

It's certainly safe to say the current building no longer fits its surroundings, so they may as well.

[tomh009]

It's in Northdale, and yet it's not a monochrome box, I like it!

For reference, here is what they are replacing:

   

[ac3r]

Very few things in Northdale are monochrome boxes haha. Most of the buildings are extremely bizarre and look like they were designed by a classroom of kindergarten children using primary colours and basic shapes.

This stuff is offensive.

[tomh009]

I do think this one is significantly better than the "Northdale design standard".

[nms]

Since I can't tell how big the synagogue will be, I wonder what kind of catchment area they will be serving (Waterloo, KW, the Region, beyond?). Other than the 23 residential units, if any of the congregants are coming from further afield, finding street parking in the area may be a challenge. I understand that other religious organizations who outgrow their parking lots rely heavily on street parking in surrounding neighbourhoods while also attracting a great deal of foot and transit traffic.