Edmonton Warehouse District - Ideas/thoughts/Plans

[Coldrsx]

Area: 103st to 109st from Jasper to 104ave

Importance: High - It currently is a disconnect between CBD, Grant Mac, Legislature, and Oliver

Current state: generally underdeveloped or inappropriate levels of use.

Ideas, plans, concepts, thoughts? Post them here. Let's get some creative juices flowing and perhaps have some of this will excite developers, planners, and institutions to make this a focus of the next 10 years.
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(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...tos/aerial.png)


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...os/midview.png)


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...photos/low.png)

[Coldrsx]

Would love to see stuff like this:







I love this condo in the Distillery District of Toronto.


(http://www.condosintoronto.org/image...y-district.jpg)

and the life something like this would bring to a corner



Parks like the one on Richard's Street in Vancouver, so simple, so perfect


(http://activerain.com/image_store/up...8328777109.jpg)

[Hallsy's Toupee]

The biggest priority there is the BP lands. That massive expanse of dusty parking lot needs to be developed.

[Coldrsx]

Patios and ambiance such as this (P.S. this is Cleveland)


(http://z.about.com/d/cleveland/1/0/d.../warehouse.jpg)

A year round PUBLIC market like the St.Lawrence in Tor or this one in Milwaukee


(http://www.marketventuresinc.com/pix...gn-night-4.jpg)

creative use of space such as perhaps this, the finest example of everything IMO in Canada


(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2332/...e24ea2c4_o.jpg)

Infill like Melcor is proposing:


(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...Picture2-5.png)

or condos/worklofts like this


(http://www.condominiums.com/canada/b...owmanLofts.jpg)

[ue]

Insert Pearl District, Portland, Oregon here.

So much damn potential (and it's more of a blank slate than the Quarters, and has already begun) it's not even funny. This district could be even better than Whyte avenue (although I doubt it will have Whyte's independent scene).

[Calgarian]

Don't go overboard with the brick like we did here. Red brick can be very nice if used sparingly, forcing every building to use it with a modern tower looks awkward, see Arriva, Keynote, Vetro / Sasso and Nuera in Calgary.

[0773|=\]

If it can look anything like Winnipeg's Exchange District, that's what we should aim for (yes, I know that most of their buildings are old, but we can at least make sure that buildings are as close to streetfronts as practical).

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Don't go overboard with the brick like we did here. Red brick can be very nice if used sparingly, forcing every building to use it with a modern tower looks awkward, see Arriva, Keynote, Vetro / Sasso and Nuera in Calgary.

Does not have to be red...swap that to black or grey and it can look very modern paired with some nice glass.

but yes, there is a fine line between faux podium and character of the area.

Icon's podiums are not terrible but not great either

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Does not have to be red...swap that to black or grey and it can look very modern paired with some nice glass.

but yes, there is a fine line between faux podium and character of the area.

Icon's podiums are not terrible but not great either

Terrible may be a strong word, but I would be leaning more that way when talking about Icon's podium.

Like I said, it can be great when used sparingly, but there is nothing saying you have to use it at all. Build modern, don't try to replicate the past like we are doing all over the place here, much to my dismay. Diferent coloured brick can be good, but so can different materials too.

[ue]

here are some specific Pearl examples in style to Cold's above examples

first, a beautiful overview of it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3502122...59281/sizes/l/

mix of old and new, beautifully (this is NW 13 ave, may remind you of hamilton in vancouver, bc)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3502122...42164/sizes/l/

shops that bring people in and that are styled well to the pedestrian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxfan/4126503980/sizes/l/

nice public art fixtures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thespea...84463/sizes/l/

nice materials for pavement and stylish street furnishings

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nieton2...13129/sizes/l/

beautiful URBAN (not natural style) plazas and parks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tprouty...52779/sizes/l/

life!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3502122...14763/sizes/l/

good looking MODERN (not faux-historic please!) architecture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalydal...34009/sizes/l/

[espalorius]

man that first portland shot is really ideal

[canucklehead2]

Complementary mixed-use architecture (retail/entertainment with offices/residential above) and affordable/innovative housing is what the area needs... Less Quest's would also be a good idea, but I do see more high-rises being built because of the cost of land...

Same goes for The Quarters... Having them connected with the proposed Streetcar/LRT would also make them great and hopefully lively places...

[Cleisthenis]

I love the potential of this district. Here's some historical context.

Would've been nice to leave room for a central rail station on one end of the old rail yard, but we can always divide and conquer with Strathcona JCT south of whyte & Yellowhead JCT on the north west edge of the ECCA re-development...

[SHOFEAR]

whoa....whats that building on the end of 102 street???

[bigcitydude]

Originally Posted by SHOFEAR

whoa....whats that building on the end of 102 street???

i remember it. can't remember the name, but it sure is ugly isn't it?

[Shodan]

Block(s) long, permanent open air market similar to the Forks in Winnipeg:


www.flickr.com/photos/bryanscott/1460234579/


travelpod.com


www.dance-travel.com


virtualtourist.com

[ue]

toronto has a lot of infill all over the place that we could really look up to


http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwalker...27493/sizes/o/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeint...08837/sizes/l/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtianyv...96497/sizes/l/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/seangm/2635271603/sizes/o/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/livingi...42840/sizes/l/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mendel/2432481679/sizes/l/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanneor...49648/sizes/l/

[Coldrsx]

umbra is uber cool... but please, this is not anything to ironically look up to.

[ue]

^not every single building needs to be world class, and these buildings aren't no, but they look quite decent. i'd rather look up to those than ICON, quest, legacy, grand central manor, heck even illuminada, uptown, etc. or almost all new condos in edmonton.

[Coldrsx]

same shit, different pile of 'nowchitecture'