1665 Barrington Street
Design Brief
The redevelopment of 1663/1665 Barrington Street provides an opportunity to expand upon the recent urban renewal of our downtown core with a particular focus on Barrington Street. The proposed redevelopment will provide new retail space at street level with opportunities for either commercial or residential spaces on the upper floors. This is to be accomplished while retaining and renovating the existing façade, which will remain as the predominant ‘streetwall’ along Barrington Street.
As a mid-block site, the property only has frontage along Barrington Street while otherwise being surrounded by other buildings, which include Buckley’s to the immediate north and The Roy development to the immediate south and east. Accordingly, the visibility along Barrington Street is the focus of the proposed design.
The original building is a Victorian Traditional Style that was constructed in 1890. The ground floor storefronts have been significantly altered over time. In addition, the 3-window pattern at the second floor had been altered where 2 windows were combined into 1, which resulted in partial removals of the arches and belt course. The proposed design would improve both the storefront condition and the second floor window pattern.
The design creates a new storefront presence that incorporates a single recessed entryway that provides access for both the street level retail and upper floor tenants. The recessed area inherently provides weather protection for visitors and occupants. This combined entryway simplifies the street level design, which is important given the unusual narrowness of the building at approximately 20 feet. It further allows for the maximization of the storefront, which is entirely glass. The design incorporates a new granite base, commonly found in Halifax. A simple white aluminum panel covers the existing end walls and extends above the storefront and entryway to form a signage band. The signage band is located to maintain a consistent height with existing nearby signage bands. In addition, a projecting sign is incorporated above the retail entrance door.
At the second floor, the large existing window that had previously combined the original arched windows is sub-divided back into two smaller windows. The new wall in-between will be filled with brick and if possible, to match existing. New light fixtures will be positioned on either sides of the 3rd floor window and will provide both up and down accent lighting. The existing cornice will be re-clad with copper.
The 3-storey addition is designed to provide a simple, respectful and modern image to the overall building. The addition is setback 10 feet from the lower façade in order to allow the existing façade to maintain its recognition and presence as the ‘streetwall’. The roof of the lower building provides the opportunity for a terrace that incorporates a frameless glass guardrail so as not to visually compete with the façade below.
The main façade facing Barrington Street incorporates a 3-window pattern in reference to the window pattern within the existing facade. Each vertical row of windows includes spandrel glass panels between windows, while each window is framed in a coloured ribbon. This modern interpretation of the existing window pattern provides a unifying appearance to the overall building. Walls are clad in fibre cement panels, which will have a neutral off-white colour. This is deliberate in order to create a neutral background that will mediate between the tan coloured metal siding used on the upper floors of the Johnson Building and the rich textures and materials that are proposed for The Roy – rather than create additional complexity to the neighbouring palette it is better to provide a quieter moment in-between. The fibre cement siding is panelized and modulated to create a clean composition of lines and patterns.
A roof terrace is situated at the top of the building and will include a frameless glass guardrail, similar to the one below.
We welcome your feedback!
Please use the form below to submit your comments or visit our Public Open House event, to be held at 1592 Barrington Street, on Wednesday, May 18th, from 7-9 PM.
