Calgary Openings, Closings, and Developments

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by timun

Bill Bumface's 3' of headroom is an exaggeration, but you're sorely mistaken here. The building does not have ramps between levels, and the slabs are not pitched just for drainage: the entire thing from the third floor to the top is one long, continuous ramp.

That said, the crux of the problem is what Bill Bumface was getting at: a flat subfloor from one end of the building to the other would create about a metre worth of difference in floor height. It's just wasted void space at that point, it'd be silly. If you didn't want to float every suite's floor independently as I suggested, maybe you do it in chunks, but you're still going to have to step the floor every few units. That creates a significant problem with circulation around each level: you'd be introducing steps in the public corridor, which for egress purposes you can't do.

So you're kind of married to just accepting that the floor is sloped. Without every suite having a levelling subfloor built you'd have to shim eeeeeeeverything. Walls would have to be built with the bottom of every baseplate cut to make the walls plumb, otherwise doors would perpetually swing open or close on themselves. Doing this is just so much more work than is usually necessary...

As mentioned previously there's no HVAC and plumbing, it's all good to be fit out, and to typically make the plumbing work you're going to have wastewater stacks and water risers grouped in chases all over the place, which means lots and lots of holes to be cored through the floor slabs. Not an impossible task, but do you have any idea how incredibly ####ing annoying it is to core holes that aren't perpendicular to the slab? Every single core will need to be offset to make it vertical.

I also seriously wonder about the egress, irrespective of the floor slope. Right now it's a minimal occupancy; with offices or dwelling units, will the two stairwells at the west and east ends be enough? I suspect a couple stairwells will need to be added in the middle, halfway across the building. Not insurmountable, but not "ready to be converted"... And here's the rub:



For all the trouble this sloped structure presents, you might as well just tear it down and start over.

You're the expert.

[timun]

I mean, I quite literally do it for a living, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by timun

I mean, I quite literally do it for a living, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You convert the Platform parkade into residential for a living?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by timun

I mean, I quite literally do it for a living, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So it’s all your fault?

[timun]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

You convert the Platform parkade into residential for a living?

I design buildings for a living. And nobody will convert that building to anything, ever.

[SeeGeeWhy]

I think I remember an MCAA tour that was offered to show off its high end, COVID resistant HVAC and sustainability. Kinda bummed I missed that one, sounded cool.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by timun

I design buildings for a living. And nobody will convert that building to anything, ever.

That’s cool actually. Have you designed anything interesting/cool in Calgary?

[timun]

Ehhh.... For anonymity's sake I don't want to go into specifics. Keep in mind I'm an engineer, not an architect, so I've never done anything outwardly cool-looking in my career. I'm just some nerd; I've arguably never done anything cool in my entire life.

I've worked on new-builds as small as washrooms in parks ("####ters in the woods" ), to >35-storey office towers downtown, and just about everything in between. Lots and lots of renos, code upgrades and stuff like that. I generally don't do residential though (####ty fees, flaky clients). I used to do more commercial stuff—offices and retail—but mostly do "institutional" (schools, labs, hospitals, correctional facilities) and light industrial work now.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by timun

I mean, I quite literally do it for a living, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So did you figure out how much of Platform is level and how much is ramped yet? Cause it’s not a spiral.

An engineer should be able to come up with a core size ratio at a 2% angle that a plumbing stack can go through plum.

What do I know though, I just quite literally do this for a living. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Locke]

Originally Posted by timun

Ehhh.... For anonymity's sake I don't want to go into specifics. Keep in mind I'm an engineer, not an architect, so I've never done anything outwardly cool-looking in my career. I'm just some nerd; I've arguably never done anything cool in my entire life.

I've worked on new-builds as small as washrooms in parks ("####ters in the woods" ), to >35-storey office towers downtown, and just about everything in between. Lots and lots of renos, code upgrades and stuff like that. I generally don't do residential though (####ty fees, flaky clients). I used to do more commercial stuff—offices and retail—but mostly do "institutional" (schools, labs, hospitals, correctional facilities) and light industrial work now.

"Alright! Whose idea was it to do away with the doors? Fess up now!"

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Locke

"Alright! Whose idea was it to do away with the doors? Fess up now!"

"They said we needed a fast solution to the overcrowding!"

[Locke]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

"They said we needed a fast solution to the overcrowding!"

"That does not excuse 'free shank' night!"

[timun]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

So did you figure out how much of Platform is level and how much is ramped yet? Cause it’s not a spiral.

[...]

What do I know though, I just quite literally do this for a living. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Oh well then, please, pray tell where the ramps are between levels. I'm evidently too stupid to understand.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by timun

Oh well then, please, pray tell where the ramps are between levels. I'm evidently too stupid to understand.

The north side and the rounded ends are flat, and the south side slopes to transition levels. It's about 3.5m in 100.

So 5/8ths of the building is pretty easy to convert with a sleeper floor to just take up the drainage slope. The south side could probably be cut out to end up with a nice south facing courtyard. Or break that region into a few sections at slightly different levels with some type of accessible corridor.

[timun]

I will concede the "rounded ends" at the west and east are flat; that much is true.

However, what you are saying is for a given parking floor at that building (image spoiler-tagged for size):

Spoiler!

... that hatched area is flat, right? I just want to be sure I understand. Again, guide me through this nice and slow.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by timun

I mean, I quite literally do it for a living, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

What do I know though, I just quite literally do this for a living. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ooooo! Nerd fight! I call front row. The last one I remembered with the electricians (Papabagger?) was actually pretty awesome, and I learned a lot.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Ooooo! Nerd fight! I call front row. The last one I remembered with the electricians (Papabagger?) was actually pretty awesome, and I learned a lot.

Yeah, that was also me...

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by timun

[timun]

Okay, so how come this...



(Level 3 West)

... is about 2 metres higher than that:



(Level 3 East)


??

Spoiler!

After all, that's what the elevation drawings show:

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by timun

Okay, so how come this...



(Level 3 West)

... is about 2 metres higher than that:



(Level 3 East)


??

Spoiler!

After all, that's what the elevation drawings show:

Playing the ‘drawing card’, are we?