Richmond Town Manors (King West Village, Rosant, 4s, Core)

[urbandreamer]

19 January 2013: Predictably, the wood is showing its age. Blah.

 

[Jennypea]

Hey urbandreamer, in your second last post here you said they were "hot" and have called these inspiring. but you seem to really dislike similar projects like trinity towns. What makes these special in your opinion compared to other modern townhouse projects that you don't seem to like Just curious

 

[urbandreamer]

Hmm. I'm not certain I'd call this building "hot" anymore. I think it's merely "ok." It has better details--the real wood (even though it will weather), the higher quality glass and frames, better thought out details--placement of lights, ducts, electrical and gas hookups, better resolved massing, etc. Does it fit into its environment better than those Urbancorp projects? Yes. Richmond Street West here has a very industrial shabby chic thing happening--mechanic garages meet old rundown housing stock meet public housing and warehouses--Ritchie's Auction House building for example. Compare to those Urbancorp buildings which fail to address the mostly Victorian SFH "vibe" of the area--their monotonous massing and "prefab-looking" details jarr with the finely crafted Victorians. In Little Italy, there simply needs to be more detail--perhaps some peaked roofs, perhaps break the facades down into 4-6 different designs, and give the buyer several different wood laminates and brick colours to choose from. Folks uneducated in design and architecture have told me they think those Urbancorp homes are "projects." Yes they have a stereotypical public housing-look to them. Then there's the details--cost not design drove the decision making. Puzzling considering the million dollar plus price tag of those homes.