An interesting demonstration of evolving design came to west siders this week courtesy of our high rise developers. Better design is everywhere these days. For that we can credit the popularity of industrial design schools, increased awareness of graphic design elements, and the popularity of design-centric programs on TV and the ‘net. Now we can see it on our skyline by craning our necks.

Up on Cathedral Hill, Windmill developments installed their crane for their new condo tower. It is the conventional design. Dare we call it the ‘old fashioned’ design?

Notice the complicated support wires, the heavy concrete block weights, and the high superstructure. Basic engineering, hoisted high into the sky.

Meanwhile, down below on the Flats, Claridge has just installed a crane for the next phase of the LeBreton project, a mid-rise apartment building (8 floors) and some all-concrete stacked towns.

This is one slick crane:

There is no superstructure, few visible wires, the concrete blocks of the counterweights are sliced to create an aerial sculpture. The operator’s cabin is a tinted bubble that would be at home on Chris Hadfield (just like the space station, there ain’t much privacy there for life’s necessities).

I had a house guest up from the US of A in February who remarked that Ottawa looked very dynamic and thriving, with cranes and construction projects everywhere. I guess five years of recession on the eastern seaboard has rendered cranes absent there.

We will soon see more cranes — Soho Champagne is blasting away the bedrock for their garage on Champagne and Hickory Streets, a crane can’t be far behind. It will replace the one Domicile just took down across the street at their Hom condo.

Over on Preston, Claridge is installing something that looks suspiciously like a sales office for their Icon 40+ storey building.