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+--- Thread: General University Area Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=5)
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-14-2018
(03-14-2018, 08:24 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Kaufman Lofts have so little window available per unit, so their bedroom walls don't go all the way up, which is how they get around the natural light/ventilation required to call something a bedroom.
This is pretty typical in loft conversions, whether two levels (with un-enclosed bedrooms upstairs) or one level (second bedroom set back from the windows but with glass and an air space above the walls). Both Seagram Lofts and Arrow Lofts fit this model, too.
New builds usually don't have ceilings high enough to do this, though.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 03-14-2018
(03-13-2018, 05:10 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:(03-13-2018, 04:29 PM)jamincan Wrote: I think the objective of parking minima is to avoid people using the street for personal parking. I don't think that's necessarily unreasonable.
That’s a perfectly reasonable objective, which can be obtained by parking restrictions. It’s not appropriate to distort the entire economy just so a few neighbourhood streets can avoid having people parked on them.
Agree 100% on this. Restriction and monitoring are the only way to do this.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - MacBerry - 03-15-2018
(03-13-2018, 10:14 PM)KingandWeber Wrote:(03-13-2018, 04:19 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that the unit occupants would be violating fire code and skirting parking requirements? It’s really not the developer’s fault if people do either of those.
To be clear, as to fire code, I actually think there is something to discuss. Fire code assumes that the building designer knows where people will be sleeping, which implies either knowledge they cannot have about how people will use the space, or an implicit intrusion of the state into the bedrooms of the nation to forbid sleeping in certain parts of ones house. On the other hand, the purpose of fire code is to keep people alive rather than dying due to fire. Modern fire codes have been very successful at this and this is clearly a legitimate societal interest, so it’s not appropriate to dismiss fire codes as an unwarranted intrusion on personal liberty.
By contrast, as to parking minima, this just illustrates one of many reasons why parking minima should not exist. They assume we know how people are going to use their space, and/or they require people to use it in the prescribed fashion, which is hardly appropriate in a free country. And the result of parking minima isn’t to keep people alive but rather to entrench a car-centric urban form, which is not a legitimate societal interest.
Oh yes, I agree it's ultimately on the occupant's shoulders. That being said, I would be incredulous if the developer doesn't expect some (or even many) people to use these bedroom-sized rooms (with doors in many cases) and accompanying full bathrooms to house an extra roommate, especially in a student area like this.
As to the fire code, I was just saying I'm not sure about how important the window-in-bedroom rule is in buildings like this where I assume there are sprinkler systems. Obviously it's less safe, I just don't know much in the general scheme of fire safety. But the rule must be there for a reason.
I believe all these new units have required fire protection systems (sprinklers). Does that make any difference? I know very little about the technical requirements.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - rangersfan - 06-26-2018
A few small updates:
- Factory Square is now 2/3 leased
- The former BlackBerry building that is home to Axonify has had an exterior makeover, and looks really nice
-The former home of Raytheon Canada 388 Phillip St is now home from Prica Global Enterprises.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 06-27-2018
(06-26-2018, 09:41 AM)rangersfan Wrote: A few small updates:
- Factory Square is now 2/3 leased
- The former BlackBerry building that is home to Axonify has had an exterior makeover, and looks really nice
- The former home of Raytheon Canada 388 Phillip St is now home from Prica Global Enterprises.
Prica is a property developer so I expect this is just the first step ...
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - urbd - 06-27-2018
(06-27-2018, 02:02 AM)tomh009 Wrote:(06-26-2018, 09:41 AM)rangersfan Wrote: A few small updates:
- Factory Square is now 2/3 leased
- The former BlackBerry building that is home to Axonify has had an exterior makeover, and looks really nice
- The former home of Raytheon Canada 388 Phillip St is now home from Prica Global Enterprises.
Prica is a property developer so I expect this is just the first step ...
Yeah, they developed many of the Northdale buildings (including The Hub which is adjacent to Raytheon)
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - bgb_ca - 06-27-2018
(06-26-2018, 09:41 AM)rangersfan Wrote: A few small updates:
- Factory Square is now 2/3 leased
- The former BlackBerry building that is home to Axonify has had an exterior makeover, and looks really nice
-The former home of Raytheon Canada 388 Phillip St is now home from Prica Global Enterprises.
The building with Axonify was renovated last year, so that's not really new.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - Pheidippides - 09-15-2018
I looked around, but didn't see anything posted previously about a new building on UW's east campus for autonomous vehicles.
"That the Building & Properties Committee approve a $3.9 million project budget for the construction of the Autonomous Vehicle Research building to be located on the gravel parking lot on UW’s east campus."
"The University is proposing to construct a one-storey 7,100 square foot structure on the gravel parking lot on east campus so that the research activities can be relocated from Colby Drive into a fully functioning advanced research facility. The general property area is designated for a parking structure in the campus master plan and the building has been oriented so that the parking structure can be located immediately east of the building. A preliminary site plan is attached."
Kind of disappointing to put such a low density building right next to a transit terminal. Is that this first formal plans we've seen for a parking garage location at UW?
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - ijmorlan - 09-15-2018
(09-15-2018, 01:00 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: Kind of disappointing to put such a low density building right next to a transit terminal. Is that this first formal plans we've seen for a parking garage location at UW?
Agreed about the low density. The only thing I will say in its defense is that it’s a one-story research facility; in the future if redevelopment is needed, it’s fairly easy to knock down and build something else. There won’t be anything hard to move and, comparatively speaking, not much invested in the building itself.
I believe parking garages have been mentioned on various campus master plans, but only as tentative locations, similar to the way the plans imply locations for future buildings without any specific design.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - KevinL - 09-15-2018
The research building (with the diagonal hashes on that diagram) is one storey. They don't say how many levels the parking garage (to its east) will have.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 09-15-2018
(09-15-2018, 06:29 PM)KevinL Wrote: The research building (with the diagonal hashes on that diagram) is one storey. They don't say how many levels the parking garage (to its east) will have.
And it's a small footprint, too.
Given that the research goal is autonomous vehicles, it makes sense that they want to be on the ground floor.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - panamaniac - 09-15-2018
(09-15-2018, 09:36 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(09-15-2018, 06:29 PM)KevinL Wrote: The research building (with the diagonal hashes on that diagram) is one storey. They don't say how many levels the parking garage (to its east) will have.
And it's a small footprint, too.
Given that the research goal is autonomous vehicles, it makes sense that they want to be on the ground floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLpUatutZDw
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - artsietoo - 09-29-2018
The Nodes and Corridors policy / bylaw has produced canyons and wind tunnels in the University area and on King Street. Developers seem to be calling the shots in recent years.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - Canard - 10-07-2018
Anyone know what's up with this?
Jamincan mentioned it's Phosphoric Acid. Wikipedia says it can be used to treat water...
I just don't like seeing big dangerous chemical signs near my ducks.
RE: General University Area Updates and Rumours - goggolor - 10-07-2018
(10-07-2018, 06:38 AM)Canard Wrote: Anyone know what's up with this?
Jamincan mentioned it's Phosphoric Acid. Wikipedia says it can be used to treat water...
I just don't like seeing big dangerous chemical signs near my ducks.
I've been told it's related to an experimental research project for the UW School of Architecture and will be there over the winter.
Fun fact - in order to build this, they dropped a large shipping container onto one of the key bike/pedestrian paths in R&T Park and left it there for five days, and when path users complained, R&T Park management had no idea who was working there or why. They could have built this off-site and moved it into place, or left the materials in a nearby parking lot or road, but they chose to block the MUT instead.