Westboro Station | ?m | 10fl | Completed (Phase I) | Completed (Ph. 2)
 

Westboro Station

Developer/Builder: Bourk Family Developments/Morley Hoppner Group

Architect: Barry J. Hobin & Associates

Landscape Architects: Corush Sunderland Wright Limited

Structural Engineer: Cunliffe & Associates

Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: Goodkey Weedmark

Civil Engineer: Novatech Engineering

Law Firm: Soloway Wright

Location: Richmond Rd @ Golden Ave. - 66 condo units

Scheduled completion - 1Q 2009

website: http://www.westborostation.com/

rendering:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2256/...c7c21f25_o.jpg

All hail the rise of Ottawa West! How many projects in this city can claim they have a BELL TOWER on them? Huh??

As much as I like this project, I'm worried that the big 'Westboro Station' sign might be a bit misleading, considering the actual transitway station of the same name several blocks away.

Hahaha, and it looks just like the London Underground logo.

I wonder if the bell really rings, or if it's decoration?

it does look like the London underground logo, I noticed that as well!

Geez, I suppose it will have that subway-themed wallpaper in the lobby like they do at Subway?

Let's hope the cafe on the ground floor won't be called "Cafe au Lait".

The rendering looks good, though. I hope the street landscaping doesn't make the sidewalk too crowded.

I agree the visual branding of the development is a bit confused. I think it is named after the original CPR Westboro Station which was close to where the Transitway footbridge is now, at the end of Roosevelt street. here's a photo, from technomuses.ca:
http://www.images.technomuses.ca/ima...att-3792_m.jpg
I guess this explains why all the suites are named after famous trains. The future phases of the project is supposed to include the rest of the block to Roosevelt. The resemblance of the logo to the London Underground's is a bit tacky, and I hope they change this or downplay it. I have doubts about the bell remaining, too, but anyone who knows about the bell saga in Westboro finds it amusing, a blatant attempt to connect to the village's history.

Nice picture of the old station! I caught the reference to the Westboro bell too. You can see it as a "blatant attempt" - or you can see it as a respectful nod. Don't we always ask developers to be more mindful of local history? I'm ok with the bell, it's a cool feature that will get people talking about why it's there and maybe learn the whole history that way.

Get rid of the bell tower and LU style logo and I'm sold.

I guess my issue with the bell is that that story belongs to the Town Hall a block away, and should be told there and not diluted elsewhere -- it's bad enough that the real bell is in Nepean. The development's reference to the old station is already reaching a bit too far, and the inclusion of the bell, which is unrelated to the train theme kind of puts it over the top. I do think this was a preliminary conceptual embellishment (pardon the pun) much like the compass point pavement on the street (the city avoids puting paving bricks on the road because of snow removal issues)

There is a treasure trove of history in this area that they could use if they wanted to connect to the village's history. I think they should have played more on the streetcar theme as the south side of the property actually includes the old ROW for the Britannia A-line. There are wonderful photos from this location of the streetcar going up and down the hill on Byron. Another is the numerous industires that used to be in the area. It's too bad that the last factory in the area, Ketchum's which operated up to 2005, is not marked or celebrated in the architecture of the Exchange. It would have been cool to have a piece of public art or building decoration that used livestock tags as a theme to remind people what used to be made in that location.

In this neat brief history of Westboro you can find tons of other historical tidbits.

Does anyone have any idea when construction's supposed to start on this puppy? They're way past the minimum comfort level in terms of sales. I'm guessing they were caught by surprise with the speed at which they sold all those condos. They haven't updated their sales data in a while - does anyone know how they're coming along?

I think they have leases on the existing stores that need to run out. I don't think they'll start well into the second half of 2008.

Thanks.

I stand corrected. It looks like they will be starting sooner, as they are preparing to put up some hoarding.

In connection to this project, there was a heated meeting in Westboro regarding the closure of Golden Avenue between Richmond and Byron, at the western edge of this site. The proposal is a disgusting attempt at deception, which has pitted some residents of Golden against each other. While the proposal is being sold as turning that portion of Golden into a "pedestrian walkway", what was not really properly shown (conveniently hidden behind greenery in the rendering) is that much of the easement would actually be used for a ramp into the underground parking garage. Imagine of a small scale version of what happened on Metcalfe street downtown where the builders of the World Exchange Plaza hoodwinked the city into allowing them to use part of the street to build their ramp instead of accommodating it entirely within their property.

I heard about that. It's totally unnecessary to close that street, I know people who aren't too pleased with the idea because they use Golden and they shouldn't be made to feel like planet killers because they do. From another source, I hear that the councillor is starting to come around and will oppose closing Golden. Another fun test of "Show us your common sense, City Hall".

Last weekend at one of our mandatory monthly MEC visits, I noticed that there were a bunch of those hoarding boards in a pile at the parking lot of the site. Could see some action soon, I'm guessing.

recently granted some minor variances
project description (click for full CofA pdf)

http://wwuploads.googlepages.com/wes...tationcofa.jpg




site plan (click for pdf)
http://wwuploads.googlepages.com/wes...onsiteplan.jpg



http://lovewestboro.blogspot.com/


Golden Avenue closure news and community views

The site's been cleared for excavation. They'll be hammering though the bedrock pretty soon and I'm dreading the noise. My dentist is just across the street, and it will be excruciating for anyone having their teeth drilled. :D The topsoil is very thin here, about a metre or so and you hit rock, one of the reasons why the Exhchange has covered parking, not completely below grade. You can see the almost complete Amica building in the background.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/...803bb33d_o.jpg

The view from those balconies on the Exchange will be short-lived.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2164/...0acb392a_o.jpg

Richmond Road is filling in quite nicely, and having more shops on the other side will complement the streetscape.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/...b32cdc70_o.jpg

from http://lovewestboro.wordpress.com/

old and busted

http://wwuploads.googlepages.com/wes...onsiteplan.jpg


new hotness


http://wwuploads.googlepages.com/wes...ion_phase2.jpg