Downtown Kitchener

[SP!RE]

I hope there's a cafe at street level. I realize that there wouldn't be enough support for a whole lot of retail, but even just one cafe would do it.

 

[unimaginative2]

I've only see three or four pics of the pharmacy building. The rendering above, the pic of the model (below) and then a couple showing it meeting the street. It looks like it will be a pretty cool building, but there's no way it'll be ready for the incoming class.

They're all...not exactly photo-realistic. I've been trying to get my hands on something that will give me a better idea of what it'll actually look like (i.e. materials).

I could not agree more, Urbanity!

 

[flar]

That looks like a nice complex to me.

Although I'm not exactly fond of a lot of the newer buildings in Kitchener, some of them (eg: that stepped building with the domes) are a lot more daring than what you'll see in other Ontario cities (except Toronto of course).

 

[SP!RE]

Kitchener buildings are getting much better, though! Finally!!!

Here's the Centre Block development, down King Street from the pharmacy building we've been looking at in this thread:

Just thought you guys would be interested. Anyways, both of these developments are really helping to promote something that downtown Kitchener currently lacks... intact streetwalls!

 

[Hipster Duck]

Wow! That is really high quality infill.

 

[Urban Shocker]

When KPMB won the competition to design Kitchener City Hall ( the other shortlisted firms also worked in a neo-Modernist style ) it rather rained on the brief post-Modernist parade that Mississauga City Hall represented.

 

[Kong Tower]

while i'm quite impressed with the centre block development, I think kitchener wasn't ambitious enough with it. An arena similar to London's JLC would have done really well in the downtown.

 

[SP!RE]

We don't need an arena there. We need people living downtown first and foremost. Plus, it's good for the streetscape. An arena would just do what every other project in modern history in downtown Kitchener has done-- destroy the "streetwall" effect/feeling.

There couldn't be a better development for Centre Block. This one is Perfect with a capital P.

 

[Bjays92]

Bumping this thread 13 years later to say that the city has changed massively.

Theres plenty more that has been already completed since 2007 and lots of proposals and buildings still below grade. Next time I'm in down I can try and take a collection of photos if anyone is interested, as opposed to just seeing u/c projects.

 

[Bjays92]

Was downtown kitchener yesterday and took a ton of photos

Google building (brighthaupt block) in the back, with phase 3 under construction in the foreground

Heritage component

Peering through google into downtown

Camera died so this last one is lesser quality. Google building from a distance downtown

 

[Bjays92]

Emerging KW skyline

Downtown Kitchener:

Uptown and university areas waterloo:

Photo credits top to bottom:

Westwardloo
Attica
Dave Whiteside
Attica

 

[mdu]

I just moved next to UW for my undergrad, so I decided to have a look at Google's streetview. The place has really changed in the past ten years. With the enrolment increasing 50% (about 10k) for an average term (no idea about WLU), the off-campus "student ghetto" has gotten a lot denser, especially with the university not too enthusiastic about building new residence buildings. University and nearly every cross street along it between UW and WLU have gone from single family housing to mid-rise (10-15 story) buildings, and there are still a few cranes around. Even my shithole of an apartment was built within the decade. An interesting google search tells me that this stretch of Waterloo has almost half the off-campus housing nationwide. A good chunk of the units are owned by huge landlords/slumlords (with reassuring names like Accomod8u or RentCorp). That being said, most of the newer buildings look pretty decent visually.

As for access to uptown Waterloo (as somebody mentioned on this thread 13 years ago!), the ION train goes straight there from campus, and its normally free with a student card. Not much use right now, with the area mostly devoid of students, let alone business. I suspect a good chunk of the student-oriented businesses will fail, especially if spring term is cancelled as well.

Back to the topic, I'll try to take a few photos of the area from a friend's apartment.

 

[isaidso]

KW has a very bright future. I wouldn't be surprised if KW-Guelph grows into a major regional economy by mid-century.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Kinda crazy to think that the density here is only just beginning too. Lots of projects on the horizon, I was tempted to begin creating threads for some of the bigger projects, though I wasn't sure where UT stood on Kitchener stuff.

 

[mdu]

Site staff wouldn't add Kitchener stuff to the database, but given that we have quite a few Barrie threads now, I don't think it's too odd to have building discussions on the forum. KW is about the same distance as Barrie by GO or car and still solidly in the Toronto sphere of influence.