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09-28-2023, 09:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-28-2023, 09:23 AM by SF22.)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Heritage Permit Application HPA-2023-IV-007 proposes alterations to the existing A.R. Goudie Eventide Home at 369 Frederick Street as well as a four-storey addition to the existing building. The existing building is in the process of being designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The alterations include shortening of the entrance canopy of the existing building, retention of the northern curtain wall and relocating a portion of that wall as an interior feature, as well as the modification of the stair tower curtain wall on the west side of the building. These alterations are necessary in to order to facilitate the construction of the addition so that this site can continue to function as a long-term care home. In reviewing the merits of this application, Heritage Planning staff note that the proposed alterations will not have an adverse negative impact on the heritage attributes of the building and that the addition will be compatible but distinguishable from the existing building.
The subject lands are approximately 1.70 hectares (4.21 acres) in area with approximately 98 metres of frontage along Frederick Street to the north. The proposal is to sever part of the Frederick Street frontage from the area of the existing facility to facilitate the construction of a retirement home on the severed portion. Access to the A. R. Goudie Eventide Home and its proposed addition will be from Frederick on the new P-shaped lot.
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Construction fencing went up yesterday around the entire AR Goudie property. They've been getting some waste bins on site lately, but I assumed they were just starting on the original building expansion. Not sure if they're looking to run both projects at once - the expansion and the new building out front.
Sadly, all the mature trees on that front open space will have to come down, but the new proposed retirement home on the front part of the lot will have 148 beds in 5 storeys, which is amazing. I've always thought that this would be a great place for some infill (although I had hoped for a daycare). The addition to the existing building will add 128 new beds in a 4-storey building.
Robert Dyck has designed a bunch of retirement homes locally, so that gives us a good idea of the style he typically goes for: Emmanuel Village (Weber St), Terrace on the Square (Caroline St), Westhill (Westhill St), as well as the St Jacobs Best Western Hotel on Benjamin Rd.
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It's a shame they got rid of all the original buildings that were already here. They had some beautiful structures from the historical photos I've seen, the first dating to something like 1860~. Over time they got expanded/torn down/replaced. It's nice that they're expanding everything here though.
Oh man this will be an ugly place though. Not only do you have the outdated 1990s post-modern building (which I actually do like, but it needs some tender love and care). You've then got SRM designing an expansion and "modernizing" the existing building with their usual aesthetic of monochrome and cheap materials. But then you've got Robert Dyck doing the new building that will be a generic stucco fake brick mansard roof mess.
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Isn't there already a thread for this project?
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I thought so as well but I could only find a brief mention in the general thread while it was still in the early stages. I don't think anyone bothered to start one since it was mostly just heritage assessments available.
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09-28-2023, 03:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-29-2023, 08:00 AM by westwardloo.)
(09-28-2023, 01:22 PM)ac3r Wrote: It's a shame they got rid of all the original buildings that were already here. They had some beautiful structures from the historical photos I've seen, the first dating to something like 1860~. Over time they got expanded/torn down/replaced. It's nice that they're expanding everything here though.
Oh man this will be an ugly place though. Not only do you have the outdated 1990s post-modern building (which I actually do like, but it needs some tender love and care). You've then got SRM designing an expansion and "modernizing" the existing building with their usual aesthetic of monochrome and cheap materials. But then you've got Robert Dyck doing the new building that will be a generic stucco fake brick mansard roof mess.
Hahaha I didn't look at the renders until I saw your comment. What a joke of a design. Is the stone/ brick/ Mansard roof because of Heritage report? because I used to live in the area and I can't think of many buildings that look like what is being proposed. I don't like the 1990's building, but at least its hidden by Trees. This new retirement home is going to be very prominent on frederick.
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(09-28-2023, 03:24 PM)westwardloo Wrote: (09-28-2023, 01:22 PM)ac3r Wrote: It's a shame they got rid of all the original buildings that were already here. They had some beautiful structures from the historical photos I've seen, the first dating to something like 1860~. Over time they got expanded/torn down/replaced. It's nice that they're expanding everything here though.
Oh man this will be an ugly place though. Not only do you have the outdated 1990s post-modern building (which I actually do like, but it needs some tender love and care). You've then got SRM designing an expansion and "modernizing" the existing building with their usual aesthetic of monochrome and cheap materials. But then you've got Robert Dyck doing the new building that will be a generic stucco fake brick mansard roof mess.
Hahaha I didn't look at the renders until I saw your comment. What a joke of a design. Is the stone/ brick/ Mansard roof because of Heritage report? because I used to live in the area and I think of many buildings that look like what is being proposed. I don't like the 1990's building, but at least its hidden by Trees. This new retirement home is going to be very prominent on frederick.
If you look at the other buildings he's designed, he definitely trends in this direction. I'd love to see something get built that highly mimics the original House of Industry and Refuge that sat on this lot, because that would be a beautiful homage to the place, but I really don't think that's going to happen.
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09-28-2023, 04:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-28-2023, 04:05 PM by ac3r.)
(09-28-2023, 03:24 PM)westwardloo Wrote: Is the stone/ brick/ Mansard roof because of Heritage report?
Ahh no, the heritage report was about the original 1993 post-modern building by Montgomery Sisam which the LTC home wants to expand and reconfigure. The report was to determine what could be done and how it should be done. I am not sure if it's even heritage protected or anything, but it still had an assessment done due to the prestige of the architects.
Sadly SRM was given the job of expanding the original building so I'm sure it'll look awful which is a real shame. Looks like it'll be similar to their usual work...monochrome, straight lines, cheap materials. Vaguely similar to the original building but probably with very cheap materials. While the original building is dated looking, it could be nicely cleaned up and modernized in a tasteful way but I don't think anyone expects SRM to be capable of achieving that.
The stand alone 5 story retirement home will by Robert J Dyck. His work all sort of looks the same and aims for that faux-historical look. It appears he's more of an architectural engineer rather than an architectural designer so that's why it looks so meh. He has done a few other retirement homes in the region and they all have that same look: https://www.rjdyckarchitect.com/retirement_homes.html
It would have been very nice if they rehired Montgomery Sisam because they are still around and their portfolio of work is very good and they still continue to work on LTC, retirement and other institutional type buildings, but I suspect hiring them would have been way out of the budget for whoever operates this LTC. In any case you can check out some of their work here to see the difference between bad design (SRM and Dyck) and good design: https://www.montgomerysisam.com/projects/
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(09-28-2023, 04:01 PM)ac3r Wrote: (09-28-2023, 03:24 PM)westwardloo Wrote: Is the stone/ brick/ Mansard roof because of Heritage report?
Ahh no, the heritage report was about the original 1993 post-modern building by Montgomery Sisam which the LTC home wants to expand and reconfigure. The report was to determine what could be done and how it should be done. I am not sure if it's even heritage protected or anything, but it still had an assessment done due to the prestige of the architects.
Sadly SRM was given the job of expanding the original building so I'm sure it'll look awful which is a real shame. Looks like it'll be similar to their usual work...monochrome, straight lines, cheap materials. Vaguely similar to the original building but probably with very cheap materials. While the original building is dated looking, it could be nicely cleaned up and modernized in a tasteful way but I don't think anyone expects SRM to be capable of achieving that.
The stand alone 5 story retirement home will by Robert J Dyck. His work all sort of looks the same and aims for that faux-historical look. It appears he's more of an architectural engineer rather than an architectural designer so that's why it looks so meh. He has done a few other retirement homes in the region and they all have that same look: https://www.rjdyckarchitect.com/retirement_homes.html
It would have been very nice if they rehired Montgomery Sisam because they are still around and their portfolio of work is very good and they still continue to work on LTC, retirement and other institutional type buildings, but I suspect hiring them would have been way out of the budget for whoever operates this LTC. In any case you can check out some of their work here to see the difference between bad design (SRM and Dyck) and good design: https://www.montgomerysisam.com/projects/
It was brought to council sometime this summer for the existing building to get a heritage designation. Can't find it right now, but here's the article talking about the heritage proposal: https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...3ed0a.html
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Interesting, thanks! I'd support it. Modern architecture needs to be preserved while it's still around.
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Looks like they've cleared a space on the lawn out front, probably as a staging area for the expansion on the existing building. Article from Sept 23, 2023 that confirms the project has started: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/10035...and-guelph
"Construction at peopleCare A.R. Goudie Kitchener will deliver a new 128-bed building as an addition to the current 80-bed home, which creates a 208-bed home. The home will be part of a new campus of care that offers a range of housing options for older adults. The new building is expected to welcome its first residents in fall 2025."
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Project update: half of the front lawn and parking lot have been ripped up as part of construction, and they've prepped the building for the two connection points to the new expansion.
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Half the people in this home are going to turn into umarî for however long it takes to complete this haha.
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A crane popped up this morning and was actively working when I saw it around 7:30am, and there were a couple of trucks lined up on Frederick waiting to deliver goods to the site. Seems like they're making some steady progress.
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Tower crane has been actively working for the past couple of weeks, seems to have been pouring concrete lately. Photo from this Wednesday.
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