Just build it
Active Member
I think it's going by to turn out okay. It's not going to be earth shattering from an architectural point of view but it will be good enough. It'll also add some variety two East Village.
ALT Hotel | ?m | 11s | Groupe Germain | LEMAYMICHAUD
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
DiscoStu
Active Member
I actually prefer something experimental like this (even if in just construction process) in the East Village over a basic bland box like The Hat.
In general, I was hoping East Village would be pushing residential design boundaries a little bit more than it has.
In general, I was hoping East Village would be pushing residential design boundaries a little bit more than it has.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
Exactly. East village was starting to look like a cluster of glass and gray spandrel towers, this will be a nice refreshing change.
outoftheice
Active Member
No photo but one of the pods on the south side of the building was placed with the black framing around the windows already installed. It's definitely a big improvement over the frameless windows that we've seen in the pictures posted so far. I think once the cladding and framing have been installed on all the pods the appearance will be greatly improved although I do think that without some colourful accents the appearance of this building is going to suffer.
AJX
Active Member
The black mullions look better no question. I would have liked to have seen how it looked with silverish metallic mullions.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
I agree, but that is what happens when you get developers like Cidex building in, what is supposed to be, the "new urban heart" of Calgary. I actually find the first few towers (all three of the Evolution block and First) to be some of the nicest residential towers in the province. That certainly isn't a high bar, but at least it's a step up for Calgary and Alberta.
Beltline_B
Senior Member
There’s a splash of orange in the podium and the logo is colourful. Overall, that’s not a lot of colour but it might be just enough.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
It will be interesting to see if East Village can truly develop a heart, all signs have been very promising so far. Design quality has been quite high; I'll leave the aesthetics out of it, but just the building forms (various heights/densities/scales) and the streetscapes/pathway/plaza designs have been very good by Calgary standards. Hotel uses are a great win, will add substantially more activity/retail demand than condos alone. My concerns over population homogeneity (rich downtown workers) and gentrification will likely remain.
Speaking of the area around ALT Hotel (although this would apply everywhere in the EV & Downtown), I would love to see a better transition from the river pathway into the street network there. I think EV does a pretty good job by local standards of course, but still maintains an old-school Calgary myth that pathways and roadways are for completely different things rather than function like one integrated public space/transportation network. Even in EV the roads are over-built, curve radius' too generous to allow for higher speed turns, and all light signals are pro-car: wide cross-sections, long signal phases, advanced greens for cars etc. These factors make the connections are awkward to travel through the community (or to others nearby like Victoria Park) and undercuts a bit of what is otherwise a great implementation of a contemporary, high-density urban neighbourhood.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
I share those concerns, but N3 and its second phase give me hope for a more mixed population. Also, the price point of Alt and the Hostel will ensure a more mixed visitor population.
Don't forget that there are another round of buildings going up between the river and the current built/UC buildings. XYZ, Riverhouse, Evolution 4, and M Block.
I have the same concerns about EV, but I think it will be fine in the end, and it will have a heart, but it'll be a different kind of heart so to speak.
I look at it as an apples to oranges comparison to organically evolved neighbourhoods like Inglewood or Kensington. It won't be like those but it will be a solid neighborhood with some plusses (proximity to downtown, Library, river path, etc..). It'll be good out of the gates, and evolve nicely over time. My biggest wish would be having a couple of the blocks subdivided into smaller parcels so that development isn't one big podium on every block. One thing I like about INK is that it's a smaller building that fits in between a couple of other smaller buildings. smaller buildings would allow for architectural diversity and some usage diversity.
I had a chance to spend some time at Docklands Victoria (urban development project in Melbourne) and it reminded me so much of East Village, and while not the same as some of Melbourne's other cool neighbourhoods it had a good feel to it.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
I just really want to see what's going to happen with the two central blocks of the neighbourhood!
Rollerstud98
Active Member
Along those lines, the lot that was used as the lay down for building the NMC, is anything happening with that?
https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0452...4!1stDePtYTLoF1_A9Ios-r7LQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Heard that it's set aside as an expansion option for the NMC for a ~750 seat performance venue.
The Familia
Active Member
Well if first impressions are worth anything, this looks like a bag of smashed assholes!