Complete the42 | 23 m | 6 fl

[benjaminbach]

Yesterday while touring the sales centre for RED (housed on the main floor of this condo building) I had the opportunity to see one of the two storey Penthouses on top of the42.

This 5th and 6th floor unit is about 1500 sq ft, and is one of the coolest condo units in Waterloo that I've seen (...the condo at Bauer that is for sale for a bit under $1 million is pretty spectacular too).

The owner allowed me to take some pictures from the balconies. Enjoy!

Looking South West



Looking South East



Looking North





(Pictures taken with a BlackBerry 9900, and are hosted at: Views from the top of the42 Condos in Waterloo)

[Sampson]

Oops, I forgot to post view pics. These are similar to what Benjamin posted anyways. Taken from my 6th floor condo:

Facing uptown


Early morning fog/haze


Facing south east

[WatDot]

Nice views. Thanks for posting!

[Section ThirtyOne]

Nice pics Sampson, you must be very pleased with your unit!

[urbandreamer]

I walked around this project a month ago and must say it disappoints. It looks trashy or incomplete, cheaply constructed with poor detailing.

[Anderson3133]

I walked around this project a month ago and must say it disappoints. It looks trashy or incomplete, cheaply constructed with poor detailing.

Why is that? Is it the spandrels?

[urbandreamer]

It's true the spandrels look cheap and the colour doesn't help. But it's also the exposed concrete, window frames, and generally just poor integration with the surroundings. For example why is the retail set back and raised off the ground? The building next door--never knew it was condos it looks like social housing--with the green balconies etc looks higher quality. This street has so much potential, but I'm against development unless it improves upon the current architecture/quality. Why not architecture that plays off the real built form of the area--century old red brick homes?

I'm going to walk around this site again soon. It's true an overcast crappy early March day doesn't highlight the beauty in many buildings..

[metropolis]

I would say that the renderings for Momentum Dev's other major project, RED seem to illustrate that project with a similarly raised retail on the ground floor. I would venture to say that this may be contributing to the ongoing vacancies for the retail at the42.

[ViewFromThe42]

I will point out for a moment the irony, that the brick in the building was salvaged from those very homes removed for construction; you could not find brick to fit in any better. Part of the raised retail could come from the fact that this site fought hard with the water levels in the area; attempting to lower it any further could have removed half the underground parking. But it could also be part of a setback requirement, and even if not it plays delightfully into the ability of the condos to put some grass, trees, and landscaping next to the building, most critically on both sides of the sidewalk, especially next to the frequently speeding Bridgeport traffic. Walking there, compared to the street fronting edge of the former post office, is infinitely more pleasant.

As for the glass, I can tell you that having an entire wall of my unit letting in sunlight is beautiful, and all the more necessary given the overhanging balconies which make letting in all available light a smart decision. The colour, while not everyone's favourite, is far better than nothing but colourless glass, and is even a polite nod to laurel creek being both just down the road, and also the reason for many of the construction delays as well as the aforementioned inability to sink the retail to street level. I would suggest it fits into the area - with its trees, greenery, and diversity of home colourings not seen by those who don't venture beyond the outside lanes of Bridgeport - far better than the glass of, say, Engineering 6 at the University of Waterloo, or the new Stephen Hawking wing of the Perimeter Institute, places of note but not ones that would fit as well here.

[Anderson3133]

I will point out for a moment the irony, that the brick in the building was salvaged from those very homes removed for construction; you could not find brick to fit in any better. Part of the raised retail could come from the fact that this site fought hard with the water levels in the area; attempting to lower it any further could have removed half the underground parking. But it could also be part of a setback requirement, and even if not it plays delightfully into the ability of the condos to put some grass, trees, and landscaping next to the building, most critically on both sides of the sidewalk, especially next to the frequently speeding Bridgeport traffic. Walking there, compared to the street fronting edge of the former post office, is infinitely more pleasant.

As for the glass, I can tell you that having an entire wall of my unit letting in sunlight is beautiful, and all the more necessary given the overhanging balconies which make letting in all available light a smart decision. The colour, while not everyone's favourite, is far better than nothing but colourless glass, and is even a polite nod to laurel creek being both just down the road, and also the reason for many of the construction delays as well as the aforementioned inability to sink the retail to street level. I would suggest it fits into the area - with its trees, greenery, and diversity of home colourings not seen by those who don't venture beyond the outside lanes of Bridgeport - far better than the glass of, say, Engineering 6 at the University of Waterloo, or the new Stephen Hawking wing of the Perimeter Institute, places of note but not ones that would fit as well here.

Well said. I really like the42 despite originally being somewhat perplexed by the chosen colour of spandrels.

[Lugnut]

It's true the spandrels look cheap and the colour doesn't help. But it's also the exposed concrete, window frames, and generally just poor integration with the surroundings. For example why is the retail set back and raised off the ground? The building next door--never knew it was condos it looks like social housing--with the green balconies etc looks higher quality. This street has so much potential, but I'm against development unless it improves upon the current architecture/quality. Why not architecture that plays off the real built form of the area--century old red brick homes?

I'm going to walk around this site again soon. It's true an overcast crappy early March day doesn't highlight the beauty in many buildings..

Yes!!

I always thought this looked bad in the drawings and it looks bad in real life too. RED has the same poor design.