[someone123]

I wanted to take some pictures of construction sites but I ended up wandering around randomly in the semi-fog:

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631128/original.jpg

I did get a picture of the new building on Barrington. It should look okay when finished but I still think brick would have been much better:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631131/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631181/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631178/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631448/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631451/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631183/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631166/original.jpg

The new walls surrounding the Government House grounds are done. They are apparently overhauling the property:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631168/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631171/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631173/original.jpg

Here is an example of a street sign on the corner of a building. This was a common practice in the 18th and 19th centuries and there are still a few left, including some with old street names that no longer exist:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631175/original.jpg

It is nice to see this corner commercial space finally in use:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631185/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631444/original.jpg

You can see a bit of the brick cladding underneath the scaffolding on the new apartment building on South Street:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631455/original.jpg

I also took a few pictures of the Public Gardens:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631139/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631142/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631146/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631159/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631149/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631152/original.jpg

The goose sleeping beneath the hibiscus bush:
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631155/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631162/original.jpg

They have renovated this building, which was built around 1840, not long after the gardens first opened. They've also put in new washrooms, etc. Point Pleasant Park needs similar work.
http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631157/original.jpg

[ErickMontreal]

Some pretty sweet pictures !

Thanks you

[Serge]

Very nice.

How bad the building next to the youth's hostel on Barrington... a suburban style (this one is ugly) like this with cheap material, right there... The city missed it or what? What will they accept now after this? Try to build something uglier, white windows? OK, I can't believe it anyways.

Nice photography, Halifax is so urban for its size... I will not go back this summer but probably next year.

[someone123]

I agree that the building on Barrington is not great. I see three major problems:

-precast concrete cladding.
-low ceiling heights on the bottom floors (the ground floor will be retail).
-setback is different from all the older buildings.

There are several buildings like this being built around the downtown area. Letson Court is another example:

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631444/original.jpg

The average price of a condo in this building is around $450,000, and it has precast cladding and what looks like a plastic roof.

Salter's Gate is another example. They have done a pretty good job of the Lower Water Street side but the Hollis Street side (not pictured) is not very good:

http://www.pbase.com/image/80667424/original.jpg

The problem is that very little emphasis is placed on the design of the building. 90% of the time people complain about height, increased traffic, etc.

[someone123]

This Tuesday at council there will be a public hearing for a development across the street from the new building pictured above. It will be mostly glass instead of precast:

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/78700733/original.jpg

[Serge]

Thank's a lot Someone123.

^ this is another huge building. I wish the opening will allow (invite) people to walk through the block. Developpers tend to create private courtyards to sell their units but Halifax is a really beautiful walkable city... Big developments like this can sterilize the core if they become too private... and empty gardens if you understand my point.

[someone123]

The interior part of the lot will be open to the public. There's going to be an apartment building on one side and hotel on the other:

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/78700736/original.jpg

It would be better with a smaller footprint, but I think it will be an improvement.

A better plan would have been to take both the Bishop's Landing site and this one and add two regular downtown blocks to be developed separately. The current Salter Street lot is almost as large as three original city blocks.

This development also originally included a 150 metre observation tower, but they removed it from the proposal so that the other components of the development don't get caught up in appeals.

[Wishblade]

Are there any actual renderings for this project out there? Im really interested in the design as it seems to break away from the usual around here.

[someone123]

There is a detailed physical model of the development and a large photo of it was hosted at one point on AllNovaScotia.com but I can't find it now. It included the tower portion that has since been removed.

This small photo is up on the WDC website:
http://wdcl.ca/uploads/salterimage.jpg

[MTLskyline]

Nice pics! There is such an interesting mix of architecture there.

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631131/original.jpg

That new building on Barrington looks like it came straight out of 1994... The yellow pre-fab surface is definitely an eye-sore. If it was done in brick, like you mentioned, it would actually look pretty good.

http://www.pbase.com/image/80667424/original.jpg
This one just looks like an attempt to look fancy, ending up looking cheesy. The Pre-fab could have been worse though (aka Barrington building).

[theshark]

Nice pics! There is such an interesting mix of architecture there.

http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631131/original.jpg

That new building on Barrington looks like it came straight out of 1994... The yellow pre-fab surface is definitely an eye-sore. If it was done in brick, like you mentioned, it would actually look pretty good.

http://www.pbase.com/image/80667424/original.jpg
This one just looks like an attempt to look fancy, ending up looking cheesy. The Pre-fab could have been worse though (aka Barrington building).

---ya kinda look like an old hospital that got recycled--

[bluenoser]

Awesome photos - thanks a lot!



http://www.pbase.com/halifaxphoto/image/80631451/original.jpg



Landsbanki - I was wondering where they set up shop. They're a pretty big Icelandic bank that have opened North American branches in New York and Halifax, and soon Winnipeg. My girlfriend will be working for them for a couple of weeks starting this month - in Iceland!

Good stuff.

[Canasian]

Icelandic banlk in Canada- weird. Cool pics, though!!!