[Halifax] RBC Waterside Centre | 37 m | 9 fl | Completed

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by haligonia

This is a really great building for Halifax and what we need to focus on - simple, modern infill.

Simple, yet sexy.

I love when older buildings are integrated with modern ones such as this, especially when the new portion contributes a generous amount of glass surfacing. It becomes a sort of architectural amethyst.

[kph06]

Glad to finally hear some good news about it. I drive by here every day, I can give updates, but pictures might be a little risky or at least unsteady. I have to laugh though, that article is classic Sloane, she fought against it, but now that she lost, she is the one "presenting" it to the public like she's been working with them on it.

[-Harlington-]

A good compliment to across the street

and thank god it wont look like we blew up anymore !

[halifaxboyns]

I'll believe the drawing when I see construction begin.

[pblaauw]

Does anybody know what the interior of Baton Rouge is like, as far as that wall against the Waterside site is concerned? Is there space for an interior entrance, from Waterside?

Just a thought I had when I saw that drawing.

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by pblaauw

Does anybody know what the interior of Baton Rouge is like, as far as that wall against the Waterside site is concerned? Is there space for an interior entrance, from Waterside?

Just a thought I had when I saw that drawing.

Baton Rouge is very nice on the inside. They really did a great job preserving the heritage and in particular the structure of the building. I was only there once, but really enjoyed the atmosphere and food.

As to a link to Waterside.. I dont think its easily doable, at least from what i saw. The kitchen is along that back wall on the left side and i believe there is a bar on the right side along the same (back) wall.

If it made sense financially, im sure it could be done, but it wasnt designed for it and would require a bit of moving things around to accomplish.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

Not sure if this has been posted yet but here is an elevation of the building from hpwatersidecentre.ca:



This is a great example of reuse that I mentioned a while ago in another thread. The Imperial Oil building is worthy of preservation, but it does not necessarily make sense to keep it completely intact as a two-storey building in the heart of the downtown core. By building offices on top we get the best of both worlds.

It will also be nice to have the empty lot filled in, and this will pair nicely with some of the work that has been done on the Morse's Teas building. If the Waterside Centre is built this will be quite a nice block.

I am very impressed with what Armour is doing with this reconstruction. They have a great website also; here are the floor plans - http://www.hpwatersidecentre.ca/building#floors. I think it is truly amazing that they are turning this into a Leeds Gold building. Also, the fact that they will be adding parking in the newly constructed basement to this group of historic buildings will be an architectural/engineering achievement. I think this will an award winning building when complete.

Here is a link to a story from 2 years ago that describes all the construction challenges - http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=844.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by kph06

I have to laugh though, that article is classic Sloane, she fought against it, but now that she lost, she is the one "presenting" it to the public like she's been working with them on it.

She is such a tool. Hopefully the re-districitng that takes effect in this fall's elections gets rid of her.

[fenwick16]

I can't blame the Councillors who voted against this project (October 21, 2008) since it included a request by the developer to demolish the Imperial Building (I think it will turn out to be a great project though). It is interesting to read the comments of the various Councillors when it was presented before Council for the vote; here is a link to the deliberations - http://www.halifax.ca/council/documents/c081021.pdf (starting on page 5)

It is interesting that some of the ones who voted against are typically considered to be pro-development, whereas McCluskey voted in favour (McCluskey recently voted against the 307 Prince Albert Road highrise).

Here is the way Councillors voted on the Waterside Project:

The vote resulted in a tie with 9 in favour and 9 against the motion.

MOTION PUT AND DEFEATED.

Those Councillors voting in favour of the motion were: Streatch, Snow, McCluskey, Younger, Karsten, Uteck, Walker, Deputy Mayor Adams and Councillor Rankin.

Those Councillors voting against the motion were: Hendsbee, Barkhouse, Wile, Murphy, Sloane, Hum, Harvey, Outhit, Meade.

Those Councillors absent for the vote or not eligible to vote on this motion were: McInroy, Smith, Fougere, Mosher, Johns and Mayor Kelly.

It is good to see that the Councillor (Sloane) for the downtown district is now working with discussing the project with the developer and is providing information to the general public to see that it moves forward. (I edited this, maybe my wording gave the wrong implication - I am just happy to hear that work could be starting again in a week's time)

[sdm]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

I can't blame the Councillors who voted against this project (October 21, 2008) since it included a request by the developer to demolish the Imperial Building (I think it will turn out to be a great project though). It is interesting to read the comments of the various Councillors when it was presented before Council for the vote; here is a link to the deliberations - http://www.halifax.ca/council/documents/c081021.pdf (starting on page 5)

It is interesting that some of the ones who voted against are typically considered to be pro-development, whereas McCluskey voted in favour (McCluskey recently voted against the 307 Prince Albert Road highrise).

Here is the way Councillors voted on the Waterside Project:


It is good to see that the Councillor (Sloane) for the downtown district is now working with the developer to see that it moves forward.

I didn't get the impression Sloane was working with the developer.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Interesting rendering, credit: www.hpwatersidecentre.ca

[RyeJay]

Though I think the proposal is attractive, I do wish the glass was to be red. Primary colours do well together; imagine The Vic next to the bold 1801 Hollis.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I think something more in the blue spectrum would be good, especially if its good glass. The green in the above rendering doesn't look promising, but the other renders display a clear glass.

[Haliguy]

Looks like there is finally some action here. They have all the sidewalks a lanes closed off around the site.

I think we may want to change the status of this development to under construction.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Looks like there is fianlly some action here. They have all the sidewalks a lanes closed off around the site.

I think we may want to change the status of this development to under construction.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully we will be seeing some construction soon.

[someone123]

I standardized the title and set the status to "under construction".

Not sure what the official height is. I couldn't find elevations, but the NSUARB decision mentions a 120 foot viewplane height restriction so I set the thread title height to 37 m.

[Pete Crawford]

Nice to finally see the U/C letter beside this one... or beside any CBD project for that matter.... hopefully a few more on the way :/

[someone123]

TD could be starting up relatively soon. I think the original plan was for construction to begin in the spring of 2012..?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Thanks for the update. Hopefully we will be seeing some construction soon.

From what i can see this is it as once side walks are closed. This comes at a cost, so i suspect activity will be increasing day by day, with a crane likely in place in the next 2 months.

[haligonia]

Very very exciting news! Can't wait to see a crane downtown!