I think the five over one type building designs are fine as long as they’re not mostly full block buildings. Three smaller buildings of different styles on block makes a big difference.
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Flyover Block | 20m | 6s | RNDSQR | FAAS Architecture
- Thread starter MichaelS
- Start date
Silence&Motion
Senior Member
Any more monotonous than when Marda Loop was just block after block of identical square bungalows?
adamyyc
Active Member
Not yet, but it could be if blocks continue to be developed with the same form by the same developer.
A little more variation wouldn’t hurt.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
This is another reason why I am such a big fan of those more dense, middle-density townhome configurations we are starting to see. Offers yet more housing diversity, the townhomes and courtyard-style higher density version are trending towards smaller (i.e. more affordable), but still functional 3 bedroom units, mostly ground-oriented.
The low-rise apartment style such as Flyover is a still great density boost and badly needed in most areas of Calgary given our historical approach of building near zero apartments anywhere. However, a by-product of their economics, these low-rises also tend to be more standardized of 1 or 2 bedroom units. This in itself is not a bad thing; in many inner city areas these are exactly what's missing from the original monotonous SFH standard. Plus these buildings are often coming into areas that have zero purpose built rental or apartments of that size at all so its an enormous win for housing supply on a local context.
But diversity is the key to all this - we can't just add only 1 or 2 bedroom apartment units in low-rise apartments. We need lots of options everywhere, different sizes, qualities and ages - therefore those other styles are super important in addition to apartments.
The real trick will be if we can figure out a reasonable way to build standardized, affordable 3+ bedroom units in apartment style - this is likely the most common type of unit in cities everyone outside of North America. That unlocks the affordable development of the low-rise, with the unit size/flexibility to cover almost any life stage or family size. There's a myriad of hoops to jump through to get there, but we are inching our way there with every housing reform.
Mountain Man
Senior Member
One good thing about the city is they basically force you to break up large facades with different materials and articulation, so it's less likely to end up with a large monotonous block like the Dallas Example.
CT (Chinese_T)
Active Member
The area has really gone downhill recently...
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Final floor mostly installed…
Always_Biking
Senior Member
You can also see another building under construction in the background. Bridgeland is turning into a nice dense, little neighborhood..
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
Topped out…
The Familia
Senior Member
Will all come down to finishing materials and exterior cladding…windows look rather small.
By the way, what is that blue mesh hanging off the 4th Ave flyover?
By the way, what is that blue mesh hanging off the 4th Ave flyover?
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
I believe the windows are even small in the renders. Most of the lighting seems to be coming from LEDs imbedded in the lattice envelope. What has always been perplexing to me is building it as wood frame right next to basically a freeway and an elevated car sewer.
The design so far seems to be conforming to the renders so let’s hope that the exterior lattice thing happens. Either way, it’s a win on a challenging site. It has also redefined what is “possible” in a city like Calgary where developments have typically been very “safe” up until the Central Library.
The design so far seems to be conforming to the renders so let’s hope that the exterior lattice thing happens. Either way, it’s a win on a challenging site. It has also redefined what is “possible” in a city like Calgary where developments have typically been very “safe” up until the Central Library.