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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.
Beyond its strategic location on Jasper Avenue, the mixed-use J22 Development is significant for its position in the housing market. Unlike many of the city's recent residential projects, the 13-storey building houses 207 apartments — marketed as The Oliver — making it the first luxury, purpose-built concrete rental property in over a decade.
Designed by DIALOG for John Day Developments/Pangman Development Corporation, initial renderings for the development showcased the architectural expression of the ground floor retail component, which would feature a dichotomy of brickwork and glass. Bronze-coloured accents on the sides and bottoms of some of the building's projecting balconies would adorn an otherwise plain concrete finish, while the glazed wall of the interior corridor would be decorated with a colourful mural stretching from the bottom of the tower to the roof.
Completed in 2016, the building is now fashioned with units ranging in size from a compact 360 square feet to a more spacious 903 square feet. Each comes with open floor plans, a balcony and stainless steel appliances, with studios starting at $985 a month. The main floor has since been leased to Canadian Western Bank and Planet Organic, the health-conscious food market's flagship location. Approximately 7,500 square feet of office space — coming with underground parking — is also available for lease.
The building's massing and podium closely align with the rendering. The branding of the retail tenants replace the placeholder 'SIGNAGE' demarcations above the pedestrian canopy, pumping some additional panache into the streetscape. Where the project differs from its artistic illustrations is the use and placement of colour on the tower itself. Horizontal strips of orange-red panels are randomly placed between the window frames of the building, an embellishment not depicted in the rendering. Instead of the wraparound balcony finish that was portrayed, the bottoms of these spaces remain bare concrete. The has also not yet appeared; the glazed vertical strip has been left as a translucent section of the facade.
We will return in the near future with another comparison!
