Tall Buildings: How Tall is Too Tall?

[rakerman]

OttawaDNA event May 24, 2012

http://ottawadna.ca/event-tall-buildings.php

[McC]

meanwhile, in the suburbs of Vancouver:
http://www.vancouversun.com/business...655/story.html
The proposals in Burnaby shouldn't be too surprising, but 26 storeys in Abbotsford got my attention!

(and their answer to the question posed in the thread title is 50; after 50 storeys, the economics get disrupted by requirements for more wind and earthquake proofing, more elevators, more more more)

[eternallyme]

IMO, in the downtown, there should be a moratorium on new buildings taller than the Peace Tower clock, which should have been preserved all along.

However, outside that area (which I define as the K1N, K1P, K1R, K1S and K2P postal codes), there should be no restrictions - 50 or more is fine with me, especially in the urban subcentres.

[Davis137]

Even some more buildings in Ottawa south that are 12-20 floors would be great to see happen...

[S-Man]

Build baby build! No one can see the Peace Tower from the mid or lower parts of Centretown. You couldn't even see the tip of it from my friend's 13th floor apartment on Gladstone and Metcalfe. But at least the wall of buildings blocking it was flat as a ruler.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by S-Man

Build baby build! No one can see the Peace Tower from the mid or lower parts of Centretown. You couldn't even see the tip of it from my friend's 13th floor apartment on Gladstone and Metcalfe. But at least the wall of buildings blocking it was flat as a ruler.

The height cap downtown is more about protecting the iconic views of Parliament Hill, rather than having it get lost in a sea of taller buildings.

I agree with the earlier poster: cap downtown (including swathes east of the canal), and build baby build anywhere else anyone wants to, unless there are very compelling reasons not to. And for bloody hell's sake, start worrying about how the buildings function at street level, instead of 25 or 30 floors up, where they function exactly the same as they do at 5.

[Harley613]

i was in toronto for work today and i got depressed (as usual). they have soooo many 40-50 story condos in scarborough, vaughan, willowdale, north york...hell, everywhere! 50 stories there is just the norm, no matter where you look. in ottawa it would be 'iconic' haha.

[Postmaster]

You can't really undo the damage done by poor planning in this city. Decades of exceptions to the height rule have eliminated its reason to be in the first place. We need a concept like Paris' La Defense if we are to fix our issues. My fingers are crossed that the government will not ruin the Tunney's plan and keep lots of space for future expansion.

[RTWAP]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

The height cap downtown is more about protecting the iconic views of Parliament Hill, rather than having it get lost in a sea of taller buildings.

They should identify the views they want to protect. Figure out what that means in height for the each block south of Parliament and then call it a day. For any other blocks there shouldn't be a rigid height limit. Just the limitations around traditional street styles, transitions between short, medium and tall, and a bias toward buildings that don't completely fill in their footprint all the way up (unless that is the prevailing layout on that block).

[McC]

Originally Posted by RTWAP

They should identify the views they want to protect. Figure out what that means in height for the each block south of Parliament and then call it a day. For any other blocks there shouldn't be a rigid height limit. Just the limitations around traditional street styles, transitions between short, medium and tall, and a bias toward buildings that don't completely fill in their footprint all the way up (unless that is the prevailing layout on that block).

aren't you basically describing the current policy situation (which, obviously, doesn't always translate accurately when the rubber meets the road)

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by RTWAP

They should identify the views they want to protect. Figure out what that means in height for the each block south of Parliament and then call it a day. For any other blocks there shouldn't be a rigid height limit. Just the limitations around traditional street styles, transitions between short, medium and tall, and a bias toward buildings that don't completely fill in their footprint all the way up (unless that is the prevailing layout on that block).

Done. Next?

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

IMO, in the downtown, there should be a moratorium on new buildings taller than the Peace Tower clock, which should have been preserved all along.

However, outside that area (which I define as the K1N, K1P, K1R, K1S and K2P postal codes), there should be no restrictions - 50 or more is fine with me, especially in the urban subcentres.

Originally Posted by S-Man

Build baby build! No one can see the Peace Tower from the mid or lower parts of Centretown. You couldn't even see the tip of it from my friend's 13th floor apartment on Gladstone and Metcalfe. But at least the wall of buildings blocking it was flat as a ruler.

eternallyme: I'm shocked at reading something like that.. it makes no sense for the exact reason that S-Man pointed out.

If you're walking at street level of any street .. whether there's a 5 stories building there or a 40 stories building there.. you won't see what's behind it end of the line.

What should be the rule or bylaw or law or whatever you want to call it is: Any thing directly in sightline front (so from elgin to say o'connor) should actually be very low and in my opinion the grand metcalfe boulevard from wellington down to the nature museum would be the ideal .. giving the hill and the peace tower a real showcase feel.. anything behind the hill and peace tower should be the same but we don't have to worry about that because there's a river. Anything left of elgin (city hall, the pocket of residential next to the elgin strip, rideau, market, etc..) should be continued as is meaning mostly low rise with the occasional high rise ..but nothing would go beyond elgin again further re-enforcing the showcase status of the hill and the peace tower .. anything right of o'connor should be fair game..build 70 stories if you want but don't go beyond o'connor or wellington .. wellington should be a grand showcase boulevard as well.