I was very leary about how they would incorporate the facade back into the mall, but I think this looks pretty decent. Had they bricked over it, it would've looked ugly, but since its glass, the brick leads your eye to the facade directly without taking into account the glass enclosure behind it. I think its very fitting and they'll even bring back the flagpole the fronting piece infront of it over the 3rd floor. I liked the old look, but as 5 floors it would've looked out of place. Restoring it to 1906-1907 completely will be awesome. We've all seen the current looking building for so long, now lets see it as how it was intended to look when it was first designed. Something no-one has seen in years. (I'm sure everyone who knew it till 1915 is gone now). So congrats to Rideau. The refurb will look pretty cool. I'm impressed, though the pedestrian over-passes should've been removed and moved underground. So ugly, and now, will Frieman mall get a slight refurb to match across the street. That brick is ugly from where they filled in Mosgrove Ave. They'll need to update also. Also, putting Simons on the corner, a home grown store, is fitting to what was there before. Ogilvy's was also a home grown company. I was so scared that H&M would get that corner. A store like that doesnt deserve a Heritage Facade. So I'm glad that what I heard a few months back from a "bird"
about it being Simons is now confirmed. Very fitting. And the medallion on the corner being recreated with his initials is just fitting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by J.OT13
I feel the Ogilvy façade will be overtaken by the new, massive Rideau Centre. Seems that if they are building this tall, they could have kept the whole Ogilvy building, maybe use the Besserer façade for spare parts to restore it to it's 1940s rendition. It's gone now, so there is no use in arguing anymore. I also think the modern façades are too much of a mismatch of different materials (I'm guessing Richard Brisbin is the architect, as someone from the forum posted back in January).
On a positive note, on the final site plan they show the old registry office in it's current location. Weird that they won't build over the rest of Daly Avenue.
I realize it might have been a bit too small, but I preferred the 2006 renderings on the bottom of this page (it takes a few seconds to load), showing a nice, clean, modern façade;
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...M-APR-0079.htm
Anyway, before making anymore comments, I will wait until they come out with proper, more realistic renderings. |