Pardis Parker » building

Hollis and Morris

pardis — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:35:01 +0000

Interesting design proposal to replace Victorian Apartments on the corner of Hollis Street and Morris Street downtown. Everyone’s up in arms because of the red balconies, which are in fact intended to be red tinted glass, but I’m hopeful that’s not legitimate grounds for rejecting a development proposal. There’s also concern that it’s slightly taller than the current Halifax By Design guidelines are supposed to allow. I dunno. I can’t think of a reasonable argument for why Halifax is a better city with this not built than with it built – it seems like an obvious improvement.

Triangle Lands property

pardis — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:52:33 +0000

This is the old design for the so-called “triangle lands” – the property just after Cogswell at the end of Granville Mall:

This was designed by Halifax’s WHW Architects, a prominent local firm who, I believe, are best known for their design of Clayton Park’s “flagship” Keshen Goodman Library:

It turns out that Crombie, the owners of the Triangle Lands, decided to ditch hometown WHW in favour of Toronto’s Zeidler Partnership Architects, a firm that is perhaps best known locally for their design of the Halifax Seawall’s Master Plan, and internationally for designing Toronto’s Trump International Hotel and Tower. This is what they came up with for the Triangle Lands:

Not bad, you say?

I agree. Definitely better than what WHW came up with – although, to be fair, WHW’s design was from the 90s…the 1890s!

Oh, [wiping tears from eyes] some jokes write themselves, don’t they? (correct answer: yes)

But, yeah, generally speaking, I think this would be a pretty sweet addition to the downtown core. And, thankfully, the development was approved in the 70s, so there’s no fear that it’ll get held up by NIMBYs or the Heritage Trust. [sigh of relief]

Now, if only some of these projects got built…imagine then.

Oh, snap!

pardis — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 21:23:07 +0000

Someone involved with the construction of the Courtyard Marriott hotel in front of Maritime Mall, responding to criticism about the building’s design and the suggestion that the developer didn’t try hard enough to challenge HRM on their design requirements:

There is no such thing as trying hard enough when it comes to viewplanes – they are the sacred cow of Halifax, never to be interfered with. Suggesting otherwise indicates a complete misunderstanding of the development guidelines / hurdles that property Owners face. It would be a wiser use of money to pile it up and burn it rather than pose an argument with HRM council on viewplanes – at least then you’ll get some heat.

Awesome new building proposal

pardis — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:20:31 +0000

This would be to the left of the Park Vic on South Park St., just a block from the Spring Garden intersection. It’d be developed by W.M. Fares, using a design by Duffus, Romans, Kundzins, Rounsefell. The lot’s small, just a little over a half acre, but it’s a great use of space and a great addition to the area and the skyline. Hope it gets approval quickly.

This is a mock-up someone did showing how the building would fit into the neighborhood:

19 story tower in Halifax

pardis — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:15:12 +0000

Apparently some dude named Joseph Metlege is going to build a 19 story tower on the current Trinity Anglican Church property at the corner of Brunswick and Cogswell streets, in front of (behind) the Staples on Gottingen St.

Pretty cool. And because it’s as-of-right, I guess they’re going to try to start construction this fall. Apparently this kid is 25 years old, and it sounds like this would be his third project after The Harwick just off Oxford St. and Palace Royale in Clayton Park. His father is Andrew Metlege, who’s developed quite a bit in Halifax, and no word yet on how these guys are related to Tony Metledge, if at all, but regardless of where he’s getting his money from, it’s good to see that he’s putting it to good use.