1216 8th Street | 85.04m | 25s | Great West Life | Zeidler

[Cowtown]

Edit: Beaten by Surreal.

Can't find much to complain about. Reminds me a bit of Portfolio. A decent middle of the road forgettable design that activates the streetscape and provides residents in a core area.

Totally. It's as if they borrowed the plans for Portfolio and changed a couple of things.

 

[Chinook Arch]

I think it's okay. Most people found Redstone unoffensive, and this is better than Redstone.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

A bit higher resolution of a render here...

 

[gsunnyg]

I don't mind the tower at all, a great filler. However, the ground floor could have been done much better if they cared about enhancing the pedestrian experience on a retail street. A small setback with a nice brick podium would have gone a long way.

 

[MissingMiddle]

I agree, there's lots of great buildings with history and character a block north that they could have taken design queues from. That said, this doesn't feel out of place at all.

I don't hate anything about it, but there's nothing that I really love other than the density.

 

[ActiveTruth]

A bit higher resolution of a render here...


View attachment 299729

Calgary needs more of these

 

[adamyyc]

Good, not great.

 

[1875]

its got no cover in that location. better not be a dog.

 

[JTron]

Not too bad.

 

[MissingMiddle]

Reminds me of The MacLaren in Edmonton, minus the heritage/brick

 

[Surrealplaces]

Portifino and The Mclaren married and this is their child. Lol

 

[Beltline_B]

Portifino and The Mclaren married and this is their child. Lol

Yes, it looks like a cross between the two. I agree with everyone else, it's not great but not bad either. It'll be a good addition to the Beltline.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

This project got me thinking just now... does Calgary zoning law just not allow for decent podiums? Looking at Versus, 11 & 11, the Mark, Park Point, and a ton of others including this one... and only one recent project in this city has a decent scaled podium, Park Central. I wonder what is stopping the city or whatever, maybe developers, from allowing more podium then tower on top. It increases the amount of possible units, makes it more pedestrian scaled, and minimizes the psychological impact of the tower. I just don't understand it. Even Edmonton does podiums better than us generally.

 

[haltcatchfire]

This project got me thinking just now... does Calgary zoning law just not allow for decent podiums? Looking at Versus, 11 & 11, the Mark, Park Point, and a ton of others including this one... and only one recent project in this city has a decent scaled podium, Park Central. I wonder what is stopping the city or whatever, maybe developers, from allowing more podium then tower on top. It increases the amount of possible units, makes it more pedestrian scaled, and minimizes the psychological impact of the tower. I just don't understand it. Even Edmonton does podiums better than us generally.

Good question. Is it a function of the FAR (floor area ratio) and developers don't want to blow their wad at lower floors where a higher $/sqft for rentals or sales could be commanded on higher floors?

 

[outoftheice]

I swear I've seen a City of Calgary planning document where two story podiums with setbacks beyond that are encouraged but for the life of me I can't remember where though. Does it ring a bell for anyone else?