AHC 6th Ave | 25m | 6s | Attainable Homes Calgary | Hindle Architects

Calgcouver said:
For the people here that seem to really hate this project: is the 6-storey scale you don't like? Do you just want a taller point tower? If a building of a similar scale were to be built here, what is an example you'd find acceptable?

Genuinely curious, not trying to argue.
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It's the scale and suburban monotonous look for me. I'd be ok with this scale though if the look was dramatically changed. Something like what you'd see in Vancouver's gastown I think would fit just fine here.
 
I really don't get the hate for this building. Is it the look or the height? We focus on NIMBYism that fights density in residential neighbourhoods. But North American downtowns have the opposite problem. They're filled with empty lots that sit there for decades due to lack of demand for high-rises. Allowing and incentivizing low- and mid-rise buildings in the downtown core is a good thing IMHO.
 
UrbanRED said:
I don't think @YourBoy007 is opposed to development at all. I don't agree with him on everything but he has been pretty strongly pro-development here. I do think that he brings up a very valid point that this development isn't suited to this neighbourhood, it would fit much better in one of the core-adjacent neighbourhoods. That's not NIMBYism.

Name calling isn't a strong argument.
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I wasn't necessarily calling him a nimby, just that "doesn't fit the neighbourhood" is a common argument from CA's who are opposed to everything.

I think architectural diversity is a good thing, not everything needs to match. Obviously the status quo for the area isnt exactly creating a vibrant neighbourhood, so maybe some change is needed. Or we can just keep buding the same type of building and expect a different result
 
I love this proposal. Its like a mixture of modern Dutch architecture with a nod to Calgary's suburban excesses. Almost an artistic statement in a way that I don't think is lost at all on the design team. Hindle is made up of a very talented group of people who have held very senior positions in RSHP and Foster Partners. Materiality choice is going to be really important here and it looks great from what is proposed.
 
UrbanRED said:
It's the scale and suburban monotonous look for me. I'd be ok with this scale though if the look was dramatically changed. Something like what you'd see in Vancouver's gastown I think would fit just fine here.
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Any project examples you can think of as a reference? I've always thought that Gastown-style redevelopments would be more at home in the Warehouse District of East Victoria Park, as heritage infill projects along Stephen Avenue ir near other brick & beam heritage assets in the Beltline.
 
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Variety in building size and scale downtown doesn't bother me. As someone pointed out, filling empty lots with something that's smaller than what we're use to (or desire) downtown is fine, because as long as the project has some quality it's a net benefit to the area.

This isn't exactly being built on 5th Ave in Manhattan, so I don't see a better use of the gravel lot in the near or mid-term future. In all actuality I think we have to remind ourselves of the footprint of our city centre compared to other similar population size North American cities. Its honestly impressive how wide spread our "city centre" (downtown, beltline, EV) is. I mean even Sunalta is reaching for the sky.
 
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Night rendering (think we haven’t seen it before)
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I’ve grown accustomed to it. I retract my previous comment. This area of town needs more architectural diversity, and this is it. Not a terrible addition. I hope they include some sort of community services or the like in the main floor.
 
I know this building isn’t to everyone’s taste, but it will be 100 times better than an empty parking lot, plus we could use more attainable/affordable housing in the city.
As far as the actual design goes, personally, I think it’ll be a nice contrast to the other buildings in the area.
 
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