Kitchener TEK Tower | 144.5m | 45s | IN8 Developments | srm Architects

mininamib said:
That‘s a good point, I guess since the cities together form one city (in essence), the dip in building height will make the boundary more noticeable from a distance when you see the whole skyline.

Does the KW area have a point of higher elevation such as a hill or escapement, like Hamilton does, where one can get a good view of the skyline?

Many greetings from Germany- I hope you all get to see the eclipse today! #jealous
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McLennan park offers a pretty good view. If you also drive in from Guelph on highway 7 you can see the skyline as well.
 
ProjectEnd said:
Why don't folks take refused projects to the Board? I'd imagine absorption also has something to do with it, but the University probably fuels that pretty healthily, no?
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Developers do take most of the refused projects in Waterloo to the OLT and some have come out with height increases, others are just sitting there slowly working their way through the system. There's all sorts of projects in the University area but there all student housing but they do tend to get built, just developers don't bother asking for height increases because they know the city is just going to say no and then the whole OLT process will start.

Waterloo wants to keep the "small town" feel of Uptown Waterloo so anything that's been proposed there has just sat (Strata (proposed 2018), 87 Regina (proposed 2017), Dorset/Princess (proposed 2018), 42 Erb (proposed 2018)). There is nothing that's even progressing through the permit process.

Kitchener on the other hand really doesn't want that, much of council wants development to occur (except Chapman, she's councils resident NIMBY), the oldest proposed project in the downtown core was first proposed in 2019 (149 Ontario) the other projects proposed that year have now either been built or getting permits (The Metz), even projects which were proposed later are under construction (TEK Tower, 926 King W). Then you have other projects proposed later getting permits, 88 Queen, 206 Duke, 926 King St E, 197 Frederick, and Station Park D are getting balance of construction, 459 Mill, 787 King E, 332 Charles, 1001 King E all are getting demolition permits.

There's a few developers who have fully given up on Waterloo.
 
Two different days:

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If CentreCourt/IBI built a skyline it'd probably look somewhat like this... lol.

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I like the texture on the pre-cast. Looking forward to the height here...
 
teddles said:
Those lower levels are parking, yes? That’s like the nicest looking place to park in the province.
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Yes, the rear portion of the podium (next to the uhaul) is all parking, the podium fronting Francis is all units.

Keep in mind this is the same developer who made the hideous podium at Duke Tower so it is still perfectly realistic for them to make this ugly.
 
I see things like this and I'm genuinely astonished this design made it past being a first draft.

I know different firms and different designers feature different specialties and a different process but... come on.
Nobody saw tweaks that could be made w/r/t proportion, materials, spacing, rhythm, depth, shadow, solid to void, nothing? That was looked at and decided, "Yep, looks good to go!"?

I'm really troubled every time I go back to KW to see what it's become in spite of itself. Universities, education, LRT, investment/wealth, an architecture school. But there is a complete ambivalence toward architecture from developers in the Waterloo Region, and this reinforces a similar ambivalence from the public.

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