Station Park | 18, 28, 36, 43, 50 fl | U/C

[REnerd]

If anyone is interested, SSP (Canadian City Proposals) has more concept renders for this project, along with some discussion, in today's posts.

Can you provide a link?  I don't know what SSP is to search for it myself.

[Lens]

http://hpaurban.com/portfolio-item/king-street-west/

[rangersfan]

Looks fantastic to me still, maybe not perfect in every way but very creative.

[Lens]

It has been mentioned before but I think moving some of the interior retail from the site so that it's built in to the retaining wall would be a good solution. You still have the same amount of retail but you break up the only really bad part of this design.

[MidTowner]

Lens, you're right, substituting a concrete retaining wall for some kind of use would be an improvement over the concept renderings we've seen. But I think an emphasis should be put on "concept": I doubt what we've seen on SSP will be much like what is eventually built.

[Elmira Guy]

Link to this topic on SSP.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthre...3&page=290

Some of the other threads can be fairly combative so be warned. There are a lot of geographically insecure people there.

[REnerd]

Personally, I think this looks like a condo crossed with a shopping mall crossed with a cruise ship.  It looks terribly dysfunctional from a streetscape point of view.  Also, the style doesn't fit our downtown at all - it seems like something from Vancouver.

Hopefully this gets some more revisions before construction starts....

[BuildingScout]

It looks terribly dysfunctional from a streetscape point of view.  Also, the style doesn't fit our downtown at all - it seems like something from Vancouver.

Hopefully this gets some more revisions before construction starts....

What is the "style" of downtwon kitchener, boarded up plywood? Seriously, I do not think this is out of place right right across the street to the modern looking new Google building, on the other side of the tracks to the equally modern School of Pharmacy and a few short blocks away from 1 Victoria, Kitchener City Hall and City Centre, not to mention the forthcoming Transit Hub there.

I like that is modern. mixed usage, and airy. The project has some flaws (e.g. the wall) but it is clearly an improvement over what was there and quite in line with the surrounding architecture.

[jamincan]

It does seem exactly like a cruise ship. And I strongly dislike it. My primary concern is that there doesn't seem to be a sidewalk connection through the site due to the access ramps off King forcing pedestrians to divert significantly into the site or onto that second level.

[BuildingScout]

It does seem exactly like a cruise ship. And I strongly dislike it.

Don't worry, by the time it's approved and built it will be as bland as the Northdale highrises and no one will complain.

[MidTowner]

I don’t mind the aesthetics. To be honest, I don’t really care: my tastes will change, and so will everyone else’s. Buildings hopefully stand for a while, and it’s impossible to know what people a generation from now will consider charming, or tasteless. This style would be new for Kitchener, but that’s not a bad thing.

It has very poor street presence, however. Can someone explain why it couldn’t excavated to avoid the need for a retaining wall? I’m not suggesting lowering a vast part of the site, but excavating near King to allow for something useful to front the sidewalk.

[panamaniac]

I suspect that the eventual development will address the retaining wall issue. As far as I know, what we're looking at so far is one of several concepts for the eventual development. What finally gets built may bear little or no ressemblance....

[insider]

I suspect that the eventual development will address the retaining wall issue.  As far as I know, what we're looking at so far is one of several concepts for the eventual development.  What finally gets built may bear little or no ressemblance....

No, this was the concept chosen among a few options by Zehr Group to develop on the site. But yes, expect significant changes as this goes through the approval process... and hopefully it's not watered down to the point of mediocrity as we've seen before with other projects.

[Markster]

My primary concern is that there doesn't seem to be a sidewalk connection through the site due to the access ramps off King forcing pedestrians to divert significantly into the site or onto that second level.

That is my single point of issue. I don't mind the retaining wall, if they can keep a direct, straight, barrier-free pedestrian throughway at the level of their shops.

[panamaniac]

I suspect that the eventual development will address the retaining wall issue.  As far as I know, what we're looking at so far is one of several concepts for the eventual development.  What finally gets built may bear little or no ressemblance....

No, this was the concept chosen among a few options by Zehr Group to develop on the site. But yes, expect significant changes as this goes through the approval process... and hopefully it's not watered down to the point of mediocrity as we've seen before with other projects.

I did not know that - has there been public confirmation of this somewhere?