Barra on Queen | 7 fl | Complete

[westwardloo]

I'm strongly in the camp that architecturally interesting is nowhere close to the top of my list on criteria for judging a building. Materials are important in so much as it doesn't look decrepit in 10 years. Street-presence is important. Does it have facilities for people who don't use cars? Is there mixed-use, especially in urban areas? Fundamentally a building needs to be functional before it's beautiful. I think it can also look nice without being ground-breaking or innovative in design. There's a wide range between poor design and innovative design and I think it's reasonable to expect satisfactory, which this surely is. I'd even go so far as saying it's good.

So it checked off one of item of your list the brick will definitely last longer than 10 years. Doesn't look good now so I can't see it looking good in 10 years, but it will not look decrepit like the stucco along the side. Street presence is non existent. It is has a large set back, 6m wide drive way garage entrance along queen, no commercial use. I guess there will be some people that don't use cars living in this building(any building in this location would have that) but they have built more than enough parking spaces for every residents.  It doesn't have to be an innovative ground breaking design to look good.  This building looks dated before it even finished.  If i have to take a positive away from this project, more people downtown is a good thing.

[panamaniac]

I said it feels very 90's, but either way. It looks like they just used concrete blocks as an exterior cladding.

They are not concrete blocks, I think you'll be able to see that from the photos. It looks like some type of large brick, but this is not my area of specialty.

Grey manufactured stone of some sort, I would have guessed.

[taylortbb]

Polocorp says they've received occupancy permits for the first four floors. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_f...7?sfnsn=mo

[tomh009]

Getting ready for the first residents.

   


From the original Barra Castle, I presume.

   

[Acitta]

I saw somebody moving in today.

[Bytor]

Do we know how much they ended up costing, the individual units?

[tomh009]

Do we know how much they ended up costing, the individual units?

1BR range was $300-335K, 2BR $375-635K. Townhouses $535-585K.

[Spokes]

Can we mark this one complete?

[tomh009]

Almost! I'm walking by every few days, will mark it once they remove the construction equipment.

[Momo26]

So how does it look very much up close in person?

[tomh009]

I haven't been inside to see a real unit, but I do quite like how it came together. Not cutting-edge or adventurous architecture, but it reflects the look of its neighbourhood and yet looks to be decently finished. A small part of me wonders whether buying a unit might have been good after all. But $635K for a 1380 sqft unit looked rather expensive at the time!

[Spokes]

Almost! I'm walking by every few days, will mark it once they remove the construction equipment.

Thanks Tom!

[Momo26]

$635k is high for sure. With that kind of money one can look at Caroline Luxury Residences and other options too.

The one bedrooms were starting around $349k also which was high for 2 years ago.

[tomh009]

There are not a lot of options for 1200+ sq ft units, though.

[tomh009]

It’s a different coloured brick, is it not?  The current taste seems to require multiple external claddings on new buildings, for some reason.

The top floor near Queen St uses a light-coloured brick. The portions (of the top floor) further back, on the walls of the top-floor terraces, look like EIFS based on this photo of the part that is still under construction.

So, I was wrong. Top floor does not use EIFS, it looks like alumium cladding. Just needed to use a proper camera (instead of a phone) to get the detail. Kudos to the developer for choosing a durable material.

(Pinkish colour is due to the early-morning light.)