University Commons | ?m | 7s | U of A | GEC

What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    34
^I can tell you it's looking good. I didn't have a chance to grab pictures, but when I went by yesterday a lot more glazing had been put up. As you can see in your picture, the west side's been half covered, and a decent amount has been put up along the south side. Two new sunken doorways, on either side of the main entrance, have also been carved out, and the old brick hallway connecting it to SAB has been demolished.
CplKlinger said:
I'm glad to see that they're trying to maintain the historical character of the interior (or at least parts of it). I still worry about the beautiful lobby that @_Citizen_Dane_ shared a picture of. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be preserved.
Click to expand...
It looks like they are:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1361816246916898816
https://twitter.com/x/status/1370163859932155905
 
Last edited:
Sorry for the poor quality, but I was at an appointment and realized that I could see the new Dent/Pharm addon from across the river!
20210625_123500.jpg
 
IanO said:
I like the box, the glass is very impressive, but dislike how it interrupts the grace of the original building from many angles.
Click to expand...
I agree although I hope that when it's all completed it will in turn perhaps will be enough of a contrast that it will further feature the original building.

But indeed in a perfect world I would prefer to see no building behind the original.
 
I was pretty wary of how the glass box would look based on the original design - there are so many bad examples of ugly revitalizations of historic buildings where they tack on a big modern shape that is inconsistent with the original building (the ROM immediately comes to mind). But I think the (appearance of) separation between the addition and the original building in this case actually helps preserve a lot of the character of the old building. The glass facade is not too monolithic - it really doesn't attract a huge amount of attention and will allow passers by to focus on the original dent/pharm.

I'll reserve final judgement until it's fully complete, but I'm pleasantly relieved at this stage.
 
GEC Architecture
Check out the construction progress on the University of Alberta Dentistry Pharmacy building redevelopment! These photos from August give a sneak peek of the new seven-storey addition that complements the original 1922 building. The building is slated for completion this year.

1631117587477

 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top