Centropolis (Kent & Gladstone) | ? fl | ? m | Completed

[rocketphish]

Introducing... another project by Tega Homes: the Centropolis Condos, at the corner of Kent and Gladstone.

http://tegahomes.com
http://centropoliscondos.com

There's not much information to go on yet, but we do have an initial rendering:

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

So is this going on that corner of Kent and Gladstone with the gas station?

[Ottawan]

Of course, the name of the development is by no means a play on Central, which is a full entire block away.

[jcollins]

Like the design a lot, the height on the other hand, four floors? A little low. They should be going for 8.

[m0nkyman]

No retail on Gladstone? Boo. This needs to help develop the retail nature of Gladstone.

And seeing as how 8 stories would kill some of my sunlight (I'm catercorner from this site) I'm kind of OK with it being low, although I wouldn't fight tooth and nail unless it was ugly. I'll be looking at it for the rest of my life.

[m0nkyman]

Oh and looking out my window I see what looks like a sales trailer on the lot

[AuxTown]

Kind of a busy design. Too many different construction materials for a building only 4 storeys high. Kind of reminds me of Opus in that way.

[Ottawan]

The design is not bad (other than the crenellation - poorly imitating a castle doesn't seem like a plus in my books), but I agree wholeheartedly that there should be retail on Gladstone, and that ideally the proposal would be for a somewhat taller building.

[adam-machiavelli]

Due to the fact that the building is only 1 floor higher than the maximum height of a wood-frame building and minimum height requiring an elevator, I bet the units will be pretty expensive.

[Dado]

I'm fairly sure that you can build to four storeys with wood frame construction, and in B.C. it's now possible to go to six (though I have no idea what sized lumber would be in use on the lower storeys - 2x8s, 2x10s?). Even if they could only build three storeys, they could always build the first out of concrete and build wood above, but I'm pretty sure this building would be all wood above grade.

If they can build to four with wood, doing a 1+4 arrangement with the first floor out of concrete for retail etc. would be a neat way to go. Either that or steel for the first floor.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Ottawan

The design is not bad (other than the crenellation - poorly imitating a castle doesn't seem like a plus in my books), but I agree wholeheartedly that there should be retail on Gladstone, and that ideally the proposal would be for a somewhat taller building.

I kind of like the quirkiness of the crenellation - it made me smile (I wonder if the developer will supply a French sentry a la Monty Python?)

[eemy]

I can't really tell if the ground floor units are walk-ups or not. I certainly hope they are. Other than that, I don't think you would want to push the height beyond 6 stories. I think 6 stories is about the maximum you can have before the building becomes too overpowering and it requires setbacks.

As for the limitations of wood-frame construction: I don't think the Building Code has a strict limitation per se, but I am by no means an expert on it. Practically, I had always heard that wood/masonry buildings have a limit of about 6 floors though.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

It doesn't look to me as though the ground floor units are walk-ups on either facade, and that's a big mistake. This project has a chance to really be the glue between the first and second blocks of Gladstone from Bank Street, where retail already has a good foothold and feeds off its proximity to Bank. As eye-pleasing as this project may be, at the ground level it cements the discontinuity that exists with the former gas station.

[Ottawade]

I agree with O-Town about the design. Feels like its going to come out looking like the Opus: an awkward collage of some flat components. The building can't really decide if its a castle or a condo. I also the feel that there are going to be too many of these look-a-like buildings; we are witnessing suburban cookie cutter replication on a condo sized scale. A little bit of texture or colour can go a long way.

[umbria27]

I like the crenellation, but much will depend on the construction. They better not look flimsy or lame. I want to be able to hide behind them during a siege. They ought to be stone rather than brick.
Is this intended as a reference to the neo-gothic stylings of the Museum of Nature?

Agree too that it needs two more storeys, but more than that it needs ground floor retail.

[rakerman]

Anything is better than a gas station, and it will be great to get more people along Kent, but seriously, what the hell is that mess of architectural styles? It looks like some random jumble someone stuck together with Legos.

Also they really need ground-level retail. It's great to have more people, but we need more retail too in order to support pedestrian traffic particularly on a car-busy and not-so-pleasant street (off-ramp, really) like Kent.

[c_speed3108]

My understanding is that 4 floors is the limit on wood frame construction in most jurisdictions. BC allows 6 in order to support their lumber industry...

Not sure on minimums on elevators, booster pumps, etc...

[jcollins]

Why the need to do wooden framed construction though?

[blackjagger]

Originally Posted by jcollins

Why the need to do wooden framed construction though?

Why the need?? Do you mean why do wooden framed over concrete or steel frame? It would pretty much come down to cost, you have to add roughly $100 a SF for concrete construction over wood frame. It’s one of the reasons I always laugh when the city cuts a builders proposal from the 8-10 storey mark to 6-7 storey. 6-7 storey still means concrete with elevator with no additional floors to help with the increased costs.
I don’t know how I feel about 6 storey wood frame though like they have in BC, it would help lower the cost for the increase density and would still require an elevator, but the sound deadening is just not there with the wood frame and increased insurance costs for units.

Cheers,
Josh

[ajldub]

Don't know how I feel about this one. The rendering is awkward to say the least, which is usually a good predictor of the final product looking like junk.