The Merit | 61 m | 20 fl | Completed - Page 9

bobcage · #**161** Posted **Nov 25, 2012, 7:56 AM**

nothing special about the 6th floor - all floor are same height until the 16th

it's an art deco building so lots of weird things on this building

bobcage · #**162** Posted **Nov 25, 2012, 8:06 AM**

potential to be an iconic building downtown -- I think it's a couple floors too short though you won't see much of it from the the 417 driving into Ottawa. you'll see it pretty well from Chateau laurier,Confederation square are ect..... I hope the lighted roof top is a few floors higher

bartlebooth · #**163** Posted **Nov 25, 2012, 10:20 AM**

I'm not a fan of this project at all. Though Charlesfort generally has better standards (materials, finishes) than most Ottawa developers, architecturally, there projects are awful. It makes no sense to me that they are developing an 'art deco' style building in 2012. What relevance does this expression have to our time? It is like they opened an art deco coffee table book, picked a bunch of details and told the architects to give them that.

Also, it seems most of there projects (Hudson, towers on Albert, Bronson) have no interaction with the street. No retail or townhouses, mostly dead street level spaces. There building facing Bronson Avenue is horrible. It could have really added life to that part of Bronson.

phil235 · #**164** Posted **Nov 25, 2012, 7:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

I'm not a fan of this project at all. Though Charlesfort generally has better standards (materials, finishes) than most Ottawa developers, architecturally, there projects are awful. It makes no sense to me that they are developing an 'art deco' style building in 2012. What relevance does this expression have to our time? It is like they opened an art deco coffee table book, picked a bunch of details and told the architects to give them that.

Also, it seems most of there projects (Hudson, towers on Albert, Bronson) have no interaction with the street. No retail or townhouses, mostly dead street level spaces. There building facing Bronson Avenue is horrible. It could have really added life to that part of Bronson.

Their are a couple of issues raised in your post. I completely agree with respect to the lack of street interaction. The building on Bronson should never have been allowed to put a blank wall to the street. But street interaction is just one aspect of the architecture of the building, and I don't think it's fair to call the projects "awful".

Their is nothing wrong with choosing a modern update of a historical style for buildings rather than adopting the style that happens to be popular at the moment, and art deco is particularly timeless. It's not like art deco has no history in Ottawa. The brick and stone that they are using offer a nice contrast to the typical glass-wall box that is going up almost everywhere else, and it certainly has a better chance of holding its own 20 years from now.

Now if you were to say - okay, we've seen that move, now what else have you got, then I'd agree.

Davis137 · #**165** Posted **Nov 27, 2012, 12:50 AM**

It's currently between it's 13th and 14th floor now...

bobcage · #**166** Posted **Nov 27, 2012, 3:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

i'm not a fan of this project at all. Though charlesfort generally has better standards (materials, finishes) than most ottawa developers, architecturally, there projects are awful. It makes no sense to me that they are developing an 'art deco' style building in 2012. What relevance does this expression have to our time? It is like they opened an art deco coffee table book, picked a bunch of details and told the architects to give them that.

Also, it seems most of there projects (hudson, towers on albert, bronson) have no interaction with the street. No retail or townhouses, mostly dead street level spaces. There building facing bronson avenue is horrible. It could have really added life to that part of bronson.

lol ---

bobcage · #**167** Posted **Nov 27, 2012, 3:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davis137

It's currently between it's 13th and 14th floor now...

they extended the crane higher this weekend and decorated the crane with REd Christmas lights

griffen · #**168** Posted **Dec 2, 2012, 1:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

I'm not a fan of this project at all. Though Charlesfort generally has better standards (materials, finishes) than most Ottawa developers, architecturally, there projects are awful. It makes no sense to me that they are developing an 'art deco' style building in 2012. What relevance does this expression have to our time? It is like they opened an art deco coffee table book, picked a bunch of details and told the architects to give them that.

Just goes to prove that there are tastes for everyone. I saw this for the first time today and fell in love with it immediately. The Art Deco they've used is beautiful and, if I had a spare two million lying around, I'd buy into this thing in a heartbeat.

I liked the Continental when they built it but it should have had more height and been a little closer to downtown... With the Merit, Charlesfort have just become one of my favorite builders...

Davis137 · #**169** Posted **Dec 2, 2012, 9:26 PM**

As others have mentioned, it's going up fast now, as you can see it from Mackenzie King now, and other vantage points.

KHOOLE · #**170** Posted **Dec 2, 2012, 10:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

I'm not a fan of this project at all. Though Charlesfort generally has better standards (materials, finishes) than most Ottawa developers, architecturally, there projects are awful. It makes no sense to me that they are developing an 'art deco' style building in 2012. What relevance does this expression have to our time? It is like they opened an art deco coffee table book, picked a bunch of details and told the architects to give them that.

Also, it seems most of there projects (Hudson, towers on Albert, Bronson) have no interaction with the street. No retail or townhouses, mostly dead street level spaces. There building facing Bronson Avenue is horrible. It could have really added life to that part of Bronson.

I agree with you that just about any building west of Bank St in the downtown area do not speak to the streets. Lots of people working and living in vertical ghettos while the streets are bare and sterile and function only for car and bus transit. There is very little sign of human presence on those streets in the evening and I hope that Cathedral Hill will change that ???

On the other hand, I welcome the refreshing use of Art Deco and hopefully the Merit will be a step toward more imaginative use of architectural forms by local architects and a move away from visually boring boxes like Claridge's at LeBreton Flats.

Mille Sabords · #**171** Posted **Dec 6, 2012, 2:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bartlebooth

Also, it seems most of there projects (Hudson, towers on Albert, Bronson) have no interaction with the street. No retail or townhouses, mostly dead street level spaces. There building facing Bronson Avenue is horrible. It could have really added life to that part of Bronson.

I agree with you on that point. Albert, Bronson and Richmond are all streets that would have merited an active ground floor. Kent also could've used it, even though it might sound counterintuitive to many. Ironically, The Merit has a retail space at grade... on Lisgar!

ThaLoveDocta · #**172** Posted **Dec 19, 2012, 4:35 PM**

Some Progress Shots -
10 pts if you can guess where these were snapped....

Not you blackjagger...

kevinbottawa · #**173** Posted **Dec 19, 2012, 5:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThaLoveDocta

Some Progress Shots -
10 pts if you can guess where these were snapped....

Not you blackjagger...

Looks like it's from the top of the courthouse.

ThaLoveDocta · #**174** Posted **Dec 19, 2012, 7:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

Looks like it's from the top of the courthouse.

Bingo, here's the view the other way
No cranes in that skyline unfortunately

Edit: correction, you can sort of see what i think is 90 Elgin

Harley613 · #**175** Posted **Dec 19, 2012, 8:47 PM**

I really wish the Merit was being built 40 stories. That kind of funky neo-art deco style lends well to height. I find the Merit kind of squat, begging for more floors between the setbacks.

KHOOLE · #**176** Posted **Dec 20, 2012, 4:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThaLoveDocta

Bingo, here's the view the other way
No cranes in that skyline unfortunately

Edit: correction, you can sort of see what i think is 90 Elgin

Didn't know the Courthouse had a garden roof.
Any sunbathing babes in the summer?

Davis137 · #**177** Posted **Dec 20, 2012, 2:24 PM**

Though I wish it were at least 25-30 floors, once they get the last 4 floors up, as well as the roof and mechanical and whatnot done, it will be pretty tall in comparison to the other buildings on it's block and surrounding area...

harls · #**178** Posted **Jan 3, 2013, 7:58 PM**

amanfromnowhere · #**179** Posted **Jan 4, 2013, 2:06 PM**

this thing is massive! Great pictures as usual, thanks harls!

bartlebooth · #**180** Posted **Jan 5, 2013, 3:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by phil235

Their is nothing wrong with choosing a modern update of a historical style for buildings rather than adopting the style that happens to be popular at the moment, and art deco is particularly timeless. It's not like art deco has no history in Ottawa. The brick and stone that they are using offer a nice contrast to the typical glass-wall box that is going up almost everywhere else, and it certainly has a better chance of holding its own 20 years from now.

I agree that there is nothing wrong in particular with drawing influence from history but I find this example and much of Charlesfort's work to be very superficial in its references to the past. I think some of their earlier projects (the Glassworks project on Main is the one I think of most) to be better. It is much cleaner and contemporary while still referencing history. Definitely more subtle (though it still has really bad street level interaction). The Merit just doesn't do it for me.