[Downtown Victoria] Kirk Hall office | 10-storeys | Canceled in 2009

[Mike K.]

Now that Westbank is no longer working with the church on the combined Ballantyne/Kirk Hall office project, I figured we should have a separate thread.

Robert Randall mentioned that the Kirk Hall site will be developed by the church and designed by de Hoog Kierulf's Charles Kierulf.

[FunkyMunky]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

de Hook Kierulf's Charles Kierulf.

It's de Hoog & Kierulf Architects.

[Mike K.]

Thanks for catching that.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Could be good. The building currently there is nothing much to look at from the street, so I'm looking forward to seeing something better in here. Too bad about loosing the gym though, although I guess the church is prepared to do this. I wonder if a similar sort of gym or hall will be built in it's place.

[Rob Randall]

There will be no gym, but the church does want a meeting hall without stairs and other related spaces in addition to the commercial office space which will be leased out. Initially we heard a height of five storeys but this may be outdated. I don't have any new installation.

[amor de cosmos]

what church?

[Ms. B. Havin]

St. Andrews Presbyterian, on Douglas. The church is at the corner of Douglas & Broughton, but owns the property behind it on Courtney, behind the ex-Ballantyne Florists building (by Di Castri), which is on the corner of Douglas & Courtney. It's an unassuming-looking building (the church property), which houses a gymnasium. Part of the small surface parking lot to its east is, I believe, also part of the church's holdings, but I could be mistaken.

[Mike K.]

This project may now be canceled and the church may end up using Kirk Hall as office space.

[Mike K.]

Rob Randall of the DRA reports this project is back on track and more info should be made available in the next few weeks.

[B.Bridge]

I know the space. It is unbearably hot in the summer and it actually has a hydraulic thrust stage that doesn't currently work. It is a cinderblock building and contains a terrific gym, a well laid-out kitchen, offices, and meeting rooms. The church occasionally sponsors breakfasts for the homeless there. The infrastructure just needs some updating - it is a great space. It could be used by the Y, or for yoga classes, meetings, concerts, events, etc. Unfortunately sometimes people don't realize what they have until it is gone. Some fundraising and a dedicated manager with vision would turn that place into a downtown gem.

[Rob Randall]

Still on track. More news next week.

[Rob Randall]

There is an increase in height of two or three storeys. There is no developer yet but they hope that rezoning will attract one.

[Rob Randall]

Updated renderings in .pdf are available on the St. Andrew's website. Click on "the design":

http://standrews.pacificcoast.net/

[Baro]

Not a bad little building, but they got a lot more tithes to collect if they're going to build it.

I wonder what will go on the corner though.

[aastra]

Blank wall to the north, mostly blank wall to the east...that's just not right.

In developing City hall, Victoria faced a very similar challenge to that faced by St Andrews. A new modern office was built as an annex to the historic City hall. The juncture between the two is handled by effective use of materials rather than any compromise in form. There is no attempt to mimic the old town look or create "faux" heritage.

Worked out wonderfully, didn't it?

[Baro]

The idea is sound, but what a horrible example...

[G-Man]

Should update the proposal height to 10 eh?

[Nparker]

For some reason the "pdf" file keeps crashing every time I try to open it. Could someone post a rendering or 2 of the proposal here?

[Caramia]

Here are two of the renderings

[Holden West]

Only those with moderator privileges can view attachments. Can you upload it to Photobucket? Priddy pleez?

[Caramia]

oops! Sorry! Fixed it!

[Dylan Leblanc]

at first I thought 'view from Countney & Douglas' meant it was going to be built on the corner, which would not have been good because the Douglas St. side is much too plain to directly front a street. But since this is going behind the Ballentynes building it's alright. I wonder where the main entrance for the building is, it must be tucked in there beside the retail space.

[Mike K.]

The roof is similar to the original 819 Yates design, isn't it?

I like the green glass.

[Nparker]

An interesting proposal that will never happen. Pigs will sprout wings and fly before something of this height (lol) gets approved for the West side of Douglas, and that close to an "historic" site...even though the project is proposed by the owner of said historic site. Still it makes one dream what could be.

[concorde]

Since when does a church have any money or any experience in development? You have to wonder if Westbank, experienced developers, couldn't make the project work, how could a church do it?