The Georgie (16-20 George St N) | 5 fl | proposed

[bravado]

It looks like this project fell through the cracks years ago when it was proposed and stuck in OLT hell for a while. I noticed that the former heritage homes have been demolished and fencing is up.

"The Georgie"
16-20 George St N, Cambridge
5 floors, 
https://www.thegeorgie.ca
https://www.instagram.com/TheGeorgie2023/
https://www.facebook.com/TheGeorgie2023
Built by Crescent Homes

1 + 2 bedroom condos, unknown total units. By browsing local news online, it looks like local residents were able to reduce the scale of the original proposal back in 2019/2020 until a stalemate at the OLT.

[panamaniac]

OMG! And not in a good way.

[ac3r]

What a hideous, tacky looking building but seems suitable for Cambridge. There's a strong NIMBY population there so the architect offering up a faux-historical look was probably easier to get approved even though it's incredibly kitsch.

[bravado]

This was an earlier rendering of one of the options that got shot down by local losers:

[cherrypark]

Looks like a tall banquet hall. Not great.

[tomh009]

As hideous as it is, thanks for posting about this! (I did change it into "proposed" as there doesn't appear to be any actual construction going on yet.)

[SF22]

Okay, help me out here - what makes this design so ugly to everyone? Sometimes I see a building and am disappointed that it's plain, but ... at least this one isn't plain? I am running strictly off whether a rendering tickles my lizard brain or not; what do folks with architectural backgrounds think?

[ac3r]

For me it's the fake mansard roof, tacky arches above the window frames, the fake stone work on the ground floor and all the other little flairs. It is trying to look like architecture from the early 20th century but because it obviously isn't, the whole thing just looks kitsch.

A while back a developer proposed The Isabella, an 11 floor condo in uptown Waterloo that also had a fake historical look and people didn't like that much either.

[westwardloo]

For me it's the fake mansard roof, tacky arches above the window frames, the fake stone work on the ground floor and all the other little flairs. It is trying to look like architecture from the early 20th century but because it obviously isn't, the whole thing just looks kitsch.

A while back a developer proposed The Isabella, an 11 floor condo in uptown Waterloo that also had a fake historical look and people didn't like that much either.

I really liked The Isabella Proposal. I am disappointed that nothing came of it. This cambridge one is horrendous though. The "stone" on the main floor clashes with the beige Stucco (worst building material ever!). Once again another example of architects in this region not understanding how to incorporate a mansard roof into their design. I think they just think "well it works for Paris, it must work here".  Personally i think Paris is about the only place a Mansard roof works.  I also don't understand why they would have windows with a half moon top on the first and fifth floor, but not the whole building?

[bravado]

What’s annoying is that Queen’s Square in Galt across the street has plenty of real stone architecture and human-scale buildings you can copy - not some kind of Disney-town kitsch.

[tomh009]

For me it's the fake mansard roof, tacky arches above the window frames, the fake stone work on the ground floor and all the other little flairs. It is trying to look like architecture from the early 20th century but because it obviously isn't, the whole thing just looks kitsch.

A while back a developer proposed The Isabella, an 11 floor condo in uptown Waterloo that also had a fake historical look and people didn't like that much either.

The Avenue M proposal (now dead) on Margaret Ave was much more reasonable, not trying to be a replica of something from the 1800s in Europe.

[ac3r]

Yeah that one managed to do it without looking too bad. It attempts to have a classic look but with a very clear modern touch.

This one in Cambridge looks bad though. You know those weird cities the Chinese build that try to look like old world Europe? The fake French and English towns and cities they built but nobody wants to actually live in so they just become wedding photo backdrops. This building looks like the kind you'd find in those places, with a fake classic aesthetic that just looks uncanny.

[dtkvictim]

Without meaning to defend the building (it is a bit kitsch): I'm surprised to see the amount of hate for the architecture, while the same level of disdain isn't shared for the 99% percent of other buildings with contemporary architecture. Then when we lament how ugly our cities are, it's like the architectural equivalent of suburbanites vacationing in Europe and loving it, but deciding the urban planning principles used there could never work here.

So I give it credit for at least trying to be something.

[SF22]

For me it's the fake mansard roof, tacky arches above the window frames, the fake stone work on the ground floor and all the other little flairs. It is trying to look like architecture from the early 20th century but because it obviously isn't, the whole thing just looks kitsch.

A while back a developer proposed The Isabella, an 11 floor condo in uptown Waterloo that also had a fake historical look and people didn't like that much either.

The Avenue M proposal (now dead) on Margaret Ave was much more reasonable, not trying to be a replica of something from the 1800s in Europe.

I was SO disappointed when this got cancelled. That would have been a great addition to the streetscape along Margaret.

[bravado]

I genuinely thought this was DOA, but construction/site preparation is actually happening. Somehow they got permission to close George St, which is an important one.