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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 weekly Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
When news first broke of the development of a new mid-rise rental apartment complex to be built along Jasper Avenue in downtown Edmonton back in early 2015, what would become known as the Mayfair on Jasper, a 10-storey, 237-unit rental building with street level retail was originally depicted with a somewhat different look than that which appeared on the final product.
Designed by Humphreys & Partners Architects for ProCura, the original renderings for Mayfair on Jasper featured a smoother exterior outfitted with relatively larger, more simplified window panes prior to its eventual redesign. Notable as well, the original design was much bluer in tone, with plenty of glazing that allowed for more skyward reflection.
Today, the completed structure appears nearly identical to the second rendering, as seen above, save for the fanciful absence of the real world structure's mechanical level, which from an aesthetic point of view could be charged with disrupting the otherwise graceful central roofline. Darker in tone, the finished product, viewed below, is a faithful facsimile of the second rendering. The retail level masonry work also holds true to the somewhat chunkier, more substantive look seen in the final design.
Viewed above, Mayfair on Jasper has become part of the local skyline, its tonality and material aesthetic an effective compromise between traditional and modern, and its placement upon historic Jasper Ave not at all out of place amid a cityscape that has gone through an incredible amount of change in recent years.
We will return next Friday with another comparison!
