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We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
Visitors looking to stay overnight in the booming East Village have another 320 hotel rooms to potentially choose from, after the EV Hilton Hotel beganto accept reservations last year. The 14-storey mass hosts the Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Downtown and Homewood Suites Calgary Downtown under one roof, with a design by Marshall Tittemore Architects emitting a modern look. But as construction wrapped up on the project, our observant Forumers noticed some key differences between the original renderings and the final product.
One of the most discernible changes is the largely achromatic exterior expression. While the motif in the grey and white aluminum panelling along with the building's fenestration generally match the drawings, the initial rendering portrayed a staggered set of orange fins making their way up the corner feature on the east elevation. Photos from the site show that these have not been implemented. They have however been employed on the south side of the building, so it's always possible they will be installed at a later date.
There's another apparent deviation centred on the indented corner element: the top four floors were almost entirely glazed in the illustrations and framed horizontally by awnings. Instead, the top six floors — not four — are glazed. There is a slight cantilevered parapet, though the bottom overhang is missing. In the same vein, a protruding box was shown to highlight the penthouse of the darker component on the north elevation. This feature is absent from the completed development and the amount of glazing at the top also appears to have been magnified. Furthermore, three horizontal white bands have been fashioned onto the north exterior just below the penthouse. The hotel branding, as opposed to the flashier logos initially represented, align with the hue and aesthetic of the building.
The projecting boxes missing up top have seemingly been transferred to the base of the building. White cladding frames the floor above the steps to the main entrance, two elements that were not shown in the rendering. The east and south elevations had been separated by glass in the illustrations, but this buffer space is instead clad in panelling. Variously sized slits in the south facade, which almost appeared to be illuminated in the drawings, were not carried through to realization. Despite the exterior changes eliminating some of the building's oomph, the hotel's straightforward geometry and clean lines bring consistency and restraint to the design.
We will return in the near future with another comparison!
