[jlousa]

We've known about this one for a little bit now, Solterra the developer is not seeking a rezoning and will be just going ahead with a development application as the project is conditional under existing zoning. This will speed up the process significantly. The architect is Rafii. It will have retail units along Main and Keefer, the residential entry (~81units) will be off of Keefer, looks like the building will house a clock tower. The massing and design of the project looks good, dare I say better then the original proposal for the opposite side of the street which is being refined. Should be a very different Chinatown in even just 5yrs.

Notification Letter
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/notiltr.pdf

Context Plan
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/contextpl.pdf

Roof Site Plan
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/roofsitepl.pdf

Main Floor Plan
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/lvl1mfplanpdf.pdf

Streetscapes
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/streetscapes.pdf

North Elevation
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/nele.pdf

East Elevation
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/eele.pdf

South Elevation
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/sele.pdf

West Elevation
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/wele.pdf

Landscape Plan Ground
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/landscapegrlvl.pdf

Landscape Plan Level 1
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/lscapelvl1.pdf

Landscape Plan Level 3
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/lscapelvl3.pdf

Landscape Plan Roof deck
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/devapps/189keefer/roofdecklscapepdf.pdf

[hollywoodnorth]

can I get a ....... Go Chinatown Go anyone? ;)

I like it and think the "3 in a row corner lots" on mainstreet currently moving ahead (other 2 being by westbank and bosa) will really groundbreakingly change the area for the better in the next 5 years like you said. AWESOME! :)

[LeftCoaster]

Thanks for the info. I like the ground floor but i'm not huge on the roof/clock tower.

This isn't a bad place for a clocktower, but it just isnt a very good looking one IMO, and the mech penthouse looks like it needs a little more attention, seems like a bit or a sore thumb sitting next to the clocktower there. You shouldn't be drawing eyes up the the roof with a clocktower only to have an ugly mech penthouse sitting next to it.

[wrenegade]

I love the clock tower idea. I agree it needs a little work, it should be more prominent than currently shown. I think the facade treatment on Keefer is fantastic though. It's great to see different use of materials to break up the monotony.

[officedweller]

The City really needs to learn how to reduce file sizes.
There's no reason a one page .pdf of an elevation needs to 4.5 Mb that freezes your computer.

*****

I agreed that the Keefer elevation looks good - it plays off the historic form of Chinatwon facades fairly well (although the facade sections may be stretching the form a bit too tall).

On the Main St. side the clock tower looks odd because the walls/pilasters that "support it" visually do not continue to the ground in a linear fashion. Looks odd. i.e. compare to the clock at Granville & Broadway where there's a step-up to the clock.

Looks like it could be dumbed down to a "lantern".

[Built Form]

[QUOTE=jlousa;5620092]We've known about this one for a little bit now, Solterra the developer is not seeking a rezoning and will be just going ahead with a development application as the project is conditional under existing zoning. This will speed up the process significantly. The architect is Rafii. It will have retail units along Main and Keefer, the residential entry (~81units) will be off of Keefer, looks like the building will house a clock tower. The massing and design of the project looks good, dare I say better then the original proposal for the opposite side of the street which is being refined. Should be a very different Chinatown in even just 5yrs.


Here's the model, can't say I'm a fan. The architect has rehashed the same clock tower design from EDEN (corner of Davie and Richards) which is the same firm. It should be larger and part of a strong design element such as an art deco tower raising from the sidewalk up. Currently the proportion is just wrong.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060103.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060098.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060100.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060101.jpg

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060104.jpg
all pix by Built Form

[dleung]

I wish we had architects capable of designing buildings that evoke the flavor of Chinatown, without resorting to faux-historic / faux-small-scale facades.

[logan5]

I can discern the brick component of the building, which is fifty times better than glass, but what is the rest of the buildings exterior? Is it just painted concrete?

[red-paladin]

I wish we had architects capable of designing buildings that evoke the flavor of Chinatown, without resorting to faux-historic / faux-small-scale facades.

I'm not a big fan of this one either, but it does have those Chinatown-style recessed balconies.

[G.O.B.]

Haven't seen it myself but I'm told the old building has been torn down and the hole is being dug.

[entheosfog]

Yes, 'tis true:
http://imageshack.us/a/img27/5381/img1386ho.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img685/1431/img1385g.jpg

[Sir Conga]

http://i.imgur.com/XW2pqWc.jpg

[easy as pie]

[QUOTE=jlousa;5620092]
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/hirtus1/P1060104.jpg

hopefully that strip of grass on the corner sidewalk doesn't make it, seems a really odd suburbanizing landscaping feature to consider in such a high traffic area.

[s211]

[QUOTE=Built Form;5632385]

hopefully that strip of grass on the corner sidewalk doesn't make it, seems a really odd suburbanizing landscaping feature to consider in such a high traffic area.

Doggy bathroom. Yaletown's littered with mud pits intended to be grassy, that should have just been paved over a long time ago.

[WarrenC12]

[QUOTE=easy as pie;6057947]

Doggy bathroom. Yaletown's littered with mud pits intended to be grassy, that should have just been paved over a long time ago.

Yep.. even without the dogs I think most of those little patches would be ugly mud pits.

[officedweller]

The only ones that survive are the ones on "no stopping" streets like Smithe.

On Homer next to L'Atelier, they planted small shrubs (for lack of a better word) and also installed small boulders (which I think would wreak havoc with door dings).

[Sir Conga]

Just noticed the curious squares made from different brick. Would those have been windows?
http://i.imgur.com/zNru8a9.jpg

[officedweller]

Could be - Main Street may have been raised because it used to be a trestle across the False Creek Flats at one time.
The other aspect could be windows into an "areaway" - the basement rooms under the sidewalks in older parts of town (and for which some sidewalks have glass block to allow light down from above). In Chinatown they could (rumour has it) have been gambling or opium dens, etc.

[Sir Conga]

Excavation has begun.

[jsbertram]

Just noticed the curious squares made from different brick. Would those have been windows?
http://i.imgur.com/zNru8a9.jpg

coal chutes?