Claridge has proposed the highest building in Ottawa for 505 Preston, the corner of Preston and Carling. Now they have a new face for it. But the new face looks decidedly familiar. The Claridge Icon comes in about 42 floors; it would be 30% higher than the Soho Italia, approved for 500 Preston.
Recall that when Starwood Mastercraft first proposed Soho Italia it had a design derived from the Aqua Tower in Chicago:
Below, is the Soho Version:
However, once they acquired a larger ground plot, Mastercraft Starwood changed the building to a more prosaic glass tower. Many Councillors expressed regret at the loss of the wavy exterior.
Now Claridge has taken their first design for the Icon at 505 Preston:
And put a new face on it, with distinct references to the popular initial Soho tower, and references to the distinctive “corn cob” towers also in Chicago. This new face is sure to impress our planning committee Councillors. Hariri Pontarini is still the architect. Neil Malhotra, of Claridge, says the new façade is designed to put a softer face on the building. Councillors may see it as a familiar face they are predisposed to like. And approve.
Way, way too tall for the site. You need to build up an area over time otherwise you end up with a caricature of an “urban” neighbourhood.
Good gravy. So blatant. The base looks to be about the same, so they seriously just plopped the “wavy balcony” motif onto the existing building. Glad to see all this talk about Neil Malhotra taking a real interest in design and changing Claridge’s reputation (as a purveyor of garbage buildings) is well founded (/sarcasm).
I mean, the base is all right angles, and the tower is all curved edges. Maybe seeing the full perspective I’ll have a more favorable opinion, but from this angle, it’s looks like exactly what you said: crass.
…and just wait till construction starts and “cost considerations” (probably blamed on concessions “they had to make to local residents”) will “force” them to change all that gleaming white stone/whatever to their standard concrete forms. Maybe they have some of the salmon colored stuff from Claridge Plaza left over!