The Great Canadian Skyline thread for CMAs 1 million and under

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Victoria is a lovely city.
In terms of height as far as I'm concerned nothing even comes remotely close to London.
Downtown London has nearly 30 building over 10 stories.
The latest to go up is the recently completed huge 25 story Rennaisance apt tower. They were going to start construction on the second building in about 3 years but it is already 100% occupied and they have just announced that it will go ahead 2 years early and will have condos in it as well and will also be 25 stories.

Actually, 28 floors.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

This building (Part of the Renaissance project in London, Ontario) will soon be getting a twin (28 floors). Site preparation has begun.


media.emcad

[vid]

If London didn't exist, Thunder Bay's architecture would look even worse.

Our new waterfront hotel and one of the condos:



Hotel and underground garage could begin within seven months, the first condo shortly after that once at least 50% of the units are sold, the second condo begins sales once the first is sold out and its construction begins once 50% of its units are sold. The units range from 1,100 to 2,000 sqft with one to three bedroom units, three penthouses on each condo (apparently), and will cost between $350,000 and $600,000. They haven't said who will run the hotel chain but it's supposed to be high end. I am guessing Delta, which just expanded into Sault Ste. Marie when they bought and renovated their waterfront Holiday Inn in January.

"Only the super rich will be able to afford them!! " Oh, we are so naive! Kenora has condos going for over a million.

The height for that building in London is great, but please don't tell me Auburn is building it, and that they're building it in stucco.

[aastra]

In terms of height as far as I'm concerned nothing even comes remotely close to London.
Downtown London has nearly 30 building over 10 stories.

Nearly 30? That can't be right. Even in height-phobic Victoria there are at least 30 buildings in the downtown core that are 10 stories or taller (not including the cathedrals and churches).

Edit: I just had a look at some aerial pictures of London. Oddly enough, there seems to be about the same number of tall buildings in the downtown area as there are in Victoria's downtown, even though you're allowed to build much taller in London.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by aastra

Nearly 30? That can't be right. Even in height-phobic Victoria there are at least 30 buildings in the downtown core that are 10 stories or taller (not including the cathedrals and churches).

Edit: I just had a look at some aerial pictures of London. Oddly enough, there seems to be about the same number of tall buildings in the downtown area as there are in Victoria's downtown, even though you're allowed to build much taller in London.

Why and what are the height regulations in Victoria?

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Cambridgite

The height for that building in London is great, but please don't tell me Auburn is building it, and that they're building it in stucco.

Stucco or just plain concrete commie blocks. Nobody said our skyline is pretty (it sure ain't!). The fugliest buildings are the London courthouse building (my eyes cannot take another posting), plus those TD-Canada Trust towers (fugly!!! see them below) plus that unbelieveably fugly highrise apartment building to the east with the transmission tower (2/3 to the right in picture below).

Prettier than our mayor (but that ain't saying much):

london.ca

She's ready for Halloween: behold the wicked witch of dufferin avenue:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Stucco or just plain concrete commie blocks. Nobody said our skyline is pretty (it sure ain't!). The fugliest buildings are the London courthouse building (my eyes cannot take another posting), plus those TD-Canada Trust towers (fugly!!! see them below) plus that unbelieveably fugly highrise apartment building to the east with the transmission tower (2/3 to the right in picture below).

Prettier than our mayor (but that ain't saying much):

london.ca

She's ready for Halloween: behold the wicked witch of dufferin avenue:

I don't mind the TD towers too much. They're okay (in a mediocre kind of way). I remember having a hotel room (guess which hotel) facing them some years back. But you're sure as hell right about the courthouse and that apartment building, lol!

You're pretty mean to your mayor, haha. But it seriously does look like she just smoked a bowl before delivering her speech in that picture.

[ssiguy]

That's a great skyline shot of London!. Never seen a shot from the east before.
Ya, I don't know what it is about London and concrete. Even if they painted the concrete it would look better. I'm surprised they don't use glass towers like most new buildings as they are more attractive and, I thought, cheaper.

[someone123]

Little blurry but still an interesting new aerial of the Halifax area:


Source

[Dmajackson]

Also from the Halifax area I took two photos over the weekend. One is of the southern Downtown skyline (improving at a fast rate), and the other is of the fastest and newest skyline on the Basin (none of this existed 5 years ago);

[aastra]

Why and what are the height regulations in Victoria?

Backlash against 1960s-1970s highrise apartments and hotels. Most of Victoria's highrise buildings were built between 1964-1979; the reigning tallest (Orchard House apartments - 22 stories) was built in 1969.

After the backlash the height limit was set at 43 metres. It seems like an odd figure so I assume they took their inspiration from the line (but not necessarily the highest peak) of the Empress Hotel's roof, or maybe the point atop the BC legislature's dome, or maybe both. The towers of Christchurch Cathedral are also about that same height.

Interestingly, the spire of St. Andrew's Cathedral was well in excess of the current height limit when it was built back in 1892, as was another 19th-century building (the Willows Exhibition Centre, now long gone).

You can see a sliver of Orchard House on the right edge of this picture:

picture by YYJ_colin at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebugs/4444308701/

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Cambridgite

I don't mind the TD towers too much. They're okay (in a mediocre kind of way). I remember having a hotel room (guess which hotel) facing them some years back. But you're sure as hell right about the courthouse and that apartment building, lol!

You're pretty mean to your mayor, haha. But it seriously does look like she just smoked a bowl before delivering her speech in that picture.

London Hilton, or Delta Armouries?

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

London Hilton, or Delta Armouries?

The Hilton. Not exactly an architectural gem in itself, but it's not bad from the inside looking out.

[Dwils01]

I stayed at the Hilton to in 98 with my grandparents. London was the first city that I went to (that I can remember) that had a lot of highrises. Thats when I got into skyscrapers. My first time in downtown Toronto was in 2001. Since then, I have followed any news about highrise construction projects in Canada.

Niagara Falls

From hwy 420



Speaking of underwhelming powerline shots





The best one I managed to get



Fort Erie

You might be saying to yourself, "Whoa, that is one mighty skyline for such a little town". Well, I'm not lying. This is a shot of Fort Erie. And it's skyline is not much taller than the parking lot you see in the foreground.



Note for those who are a little slow: That's Buffalo NY in the background.

[MolsonExport]

The light standard is kinda tall.

[vid]

Looks pretty 420, but it's no Dick Bong Bridge (closed due to heavy smoke since 4:20).

Originally Posted by vid

Looks pretty 420, but it's no Dick Bong Bridge (closed due to heavy smoke since 4:20).

Yeah, that new Hilton hotel reaches pretty high into the sky. So high you can see it from the 420.

[Dwils01]

The Niagara Falls shots are really nice. Too bad about the weather. I haven't been to Niagara Falls in over a year. I guess I will have to take a road trip to get a few pics. At least the drive is only a half hour from Hamilton.

From the former Glenridge Quarry in St. Catharines:

Niagara Falls



Brock University



Hamilton, hidden by the Niagara escarpment