ALT Hotel | ?m | 11s | Groupe Germain | LEMAYMICHAUD

[Surrealplaces]

It's been around for decades. There are facilities throughout North America and this is the first high rise to be built in Canada. It makes sense for a hotel with 120 identical, roughly 200 square foot shoeboxes or kit houses. It stops making sense for high rise residential with customized floor plates specific to a particular development and with every suite on a floor having a different layout with 500 square feet or more. There are developments with twin towers. There aren't twin developments.

Maybe this method could be used for low cost or transitional housing.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

It's been around for decades. There are facilities throughout North America and this is the first high rise to be built in Canada. It makes sense for a hotel with 120 identical, roughly 200 square foot shoeboxes or kit houses. It stops making sense for high rise residential with customized floor plates specific to a particular development and with every suite on a floor having a different layout with 500 square feet or more. There are developments with twin towers. There aren't twin developments.

True, but there's a lot of hotels yet to be built on this continent.

 

[maestro]

Maybe this method could be used for low cost or transitional housing.

Depends how the savings in construction time translates to the pocketbook. Delivery of market and non market housing is less time sensitive than commercial developments. Commercial demands large column free spaces. Our cities are pretty open to occupying public spaces for years at a time for nominal costs as well. They don't like to have entire streets closed off for days at a time. I don't see a real incentive to capitalize on prefab's greatest advantage. High rise construction already comes at a higher price tag than low rise which is why so much non market housing on the continent is low rise.

Calgary having the first high rise built entirely of modular units is just a neat anecdote.

 

[maestro]

True, but there's a lot of hotels yet to be built on this continent.

Perhaps. It's common for hotel development to already use module units. Most hotels are built low rise in the suburbs. Inner city are too dense to allow for the much larger staging area needed to built a completely module high rise. For our cities, occupying a sidewalk or a lane of traffic for two years is not as big as a deal as shutting down an entire street for two weeks.

 

[Cowtown]

I tend to agree, in fact it was mentioned that this method isn't cheaper, but instead more expensive.

Depends how the savings in construction time translates to the pocketbook. Delivery of market and non market housing is less time sensitive than commercial developments. Commercial demands large column free spaces. Our cities are pretty open to occupying public spaces for years at a time for nominal costs as well. They don't like to have entire streets closed off for days at a time. I don't see a real incentive to capitalize on prefab's greatest advantage. High rise construction already comes at a higher price tag than low rise which is why so much non market housing on the continent is low rise.

Calgary having the first high rise built entirely of modular units is just a neat anecdote.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Right now it's more expensive, but I can't help but wonder if the modules were able to be mass produced if the modules could come down in price and the method could take off. Not just here in Calgary but across NA or the globe.

Depends how the savings in construction time translates to the pocketbook. Delivery of market and non market housing is less time sensitive than commercial developments. Commercial demands large column free spaces. Our cities are pretty open to occupying public spaces for years at a time for nominal costs as well. They don't like to have entire streets closed off for days at a time. I don't see a real incentive to capitalize on prefab's greatest advantage. High rise construction already comes at a higher price tag than low rise which is why so much non market housing on the continent is low rise.

Calgary having the first high rise built entirely of modular units is just a neat anecdote.

 

[maestro]

Sorry to repeat myself but, the other major hurdle which costs won't help is the space needed to transport and erect these large structural modules in the urban environments where most high rises are built. It requires road closures over road restrictions. So much is already being pre-packaged in transportable panels and smaller insert modules. Is it really necessary to take it to that next step?

 

[Surrealplaces]

Sorry to repeat myself but, the other major hurdle which costs won't help is the space needed to transport and erect these large structural modules in the urban environments where most high rises are built. It requires road closures over road restrictions. So much is already being pre-packaged in transportable panels and smaller insert modules. Is it really necessary to take it to that next step?

Not having any costs to go by I don't know if it's worth the next step. I'm not sure how much more it costs to do the modules, and if mass production would help, but I can't help but wonder if mass production and a more streamlined way of installing might make it feasible. In the Case of ALT only one road was closed and only at times, so road closure might not always be an issue. I'm not advocating for this method, only the possibility of it.

 

[Da_Master]

Few hours old:

 

[UrbanWarrior]

That looks so cool.

 

[DiscoStu]

I know that facade will be cleaned up quite a bit, but I really hope this thing visually retains some of it's prefab/industrial touch when it's done. It's what makes it interesting, and adds some much needed experimentation to EV.

 

[Beltline_B]

I even like the metal towers used for the lift.

 

[Oddball]

Yeah the exposed look is actually surprisingly good.

 

[Surrealplaces]

 

[googspecial]

I know that facade will be cleaned up quite a bit, but I really hope this thing visually retains some of it's prefab/industrial touch when it's done. It's what makes it interesting, and adds some much needed experimentation to EV.

The final cladding will make this looks very sharp I think. The old warehouse window style will help retain the industrial look.