Like a number of city dwellers, I put out bird feeders for the winter. My west side daily visitors include sparrows, finches, chickadees, juncos, three Downy woodpeckers, and grackles. Every so often I am blessed by the cardinal pair who … Continue reading Urban predators
I used to be just as scornful as many when it came to synthetic grass. Fake. Artificial. Faux, to be snobby about it. I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired of seeing public playing fields beat to sh__ mud by over-use. … Continue reading The green green grass of … synthetics
The tree in the centre of this picture was planted c1981. Notice that it hasn’t grown much since then. This might be due to the hard packed soil. Or the “rain permeable” unit pavers that used to pave the surface around it. But as the new excavation clearly shows, it hasn’t much in the line of roots. Certainly none that spread more than two feet from the trunk. I wonder what type of soil will go above the gravel base just installed beside it. Will its roots face a better tomorrow? And this is in a park. Imagine what … Continue reading Why trees don’t grow, even in parks …
There is a c1902 house at the corner of Primrose and Booth. It’s actually a semi-detached, with one door facing Primrose and the other Booth. For as long as I can remember it has been sagging at the front corner. This is probably due to the line of peat that traces the foot of the escarpment / Nanny Goat Hill that runs from parliament, Cathedral Hill, Bronson Hill, and eventually peters out somewhere mid-Dalhousie neighborhood near Gladstone, interrupted by the syncline of the Nepean-Gloucester fault line. All along the foot of the escarpment you can spot houses that sag (these must be … Continue reading Getting under the skin
Two neighborhood parks on the west side are getting major surgery this year. The redo of Chaudiere Park on Elm Street seems to have found a winner design. An especially innovative feature will be the expansion of the small park to take over a few parking spaces on Elm Street, although that feature may not be constructed until 2014 while bureaucrats fret over jurisdiction (it’s good to keep them busy on the innocuous). The remake of Primrose Park, a larger site just a block further north, is much more curious. The park was originally designed in the early 1980’s as center piece … Continue reading Rearranging the benches on RMS Primrose
Last week, the City and Councilor held a public meeting regarding the upcoming renewal / rebuilding of Primrose and Chaudiere Parks (Chaudiere is on Elm Street, is an oversized pocket park). Today: Primrose Park. A number of residents had heard the project was coming, and had already submitted some comments to get the hired planners’ juices going. Unfortunately, some people at the meeting thought this meant that the “fix” was in. A great deal of the divide was between the proponents of the “dog park” and the “kid park”. Primrose Park is a popular dog park. Has been for years. Many years. … Continue reading Park planning (i)
Dufferin Park in Toronto is justifiably well known for its innovative features. The boy on the left (picture, above) is by the spigot that flows water into this large sand lot, complete with oversize logs that seem perfect to stimulate little imaginations while containing the mess and providing bum rests for parents. Can’t you just hear Ottawa park bureaucrats commenting on the “safety” of that big log bridge? (shown above) Actually, watching the baby crawl up out of the ditch was hilarious and inspiring. The Dufferin Park neighborhood and adjacent Trinity Bellwoods neighborhoods appear to me to be in the “Glebe” level of affluence. A number of … Continue reading Waterparks in the City
Aluminum and plastic siding is too often used to hide deteriorating structures. (Trendier materials are sometimes used today, such as corrugated metal panels). Once hidden, are those walls and soffits protected from further weathering, or is the rot ongoing but unseen? On Primrose, opposite St Vincent Hospital, is home somewhat lacking in curb appeal. For as long as I can remember, it was clad in aluminium siding, the wide stuff that was popular in the late 60’s. It is now being removed, revealing to my surprise, a brick façade underneath. A brick façade that is collapsing (foundation problems?): I haven’t a clue … Continue reading Under the veneer
Note: this post was originally written for WalkSpace over at www.SpacingOttawa.ca site. I repeat it here just in case you don’t also read Spacing — shame on you! Go subscribe right now! ______________________ Whether or not you enjoy well-plowed winter sidewalks depends on where you live, when you use them, and your neighbours. Sidewalks get a lot of use in the urban bits of the City. Especially where the road is a grid pattern, pedestrians can get from point A to B directly and easily on a route easily understood. The City plows the sidewalks in winter. If you are an early riser … Continue reading Good neighbours on snowy sidewalks
The view out the window from the second (bedroom level) floor towards the cliff managed to be interesting. The window is in the hallway and will need to be draped or frosted. I was surprised at how much light came in. Wa-a-a-y down at the first floor (studio level) there is a small window that looks right into the cliff face just a few feet away. The jagged rock has tree roots coming out through the cracks. The house has about 2600 sq ft of living space spread over the four floors. The huge windows make the most of the dramatic distant … Continue reading Inside the Staircase House (iv)
The kitchen/dining room are on the third floor. Just beyond the fibreglass insulated wall is the garage. The front door to the house is just off-picture to the left. The room in the background is a walk in closet and powder room. The developer is standing where the kitchen cabinets will go. There will be a wall of 15 cupboards, of four different widths, heights, and depths, making an organic sculpture with pizzaz. Cabinets are being crafted just a few blocks away (buy local…) by Prendergast on Young Street. There will also be an island. Turning to face the other way, the … Continue reading Inside the Staircase House (iii)
It looks weird from the Lorne Street sidewalk level (third floor of the house) to see huge windows facing the escarpment. It seems, from the outside, that little light would get in. How wrong that is … the huge windows flood the house with light. The two windows on the cliff side might need to be covered in shears or with window film for privacy. The main staircase runs up past the windows through a multi-storey light well: The stair stringer is a single steel box beam, with metal supports for each tread. The treads themselves will be wider wood … Continue reading Inside the Staircase House (ii)
Marc Dupuis, the builder of this infill on Primrose/Lorne staircase showed me around the inside. There are some “new” construction techniques and features that are worth looking at over the next few posts. The house consists of a street level entry, kitchen, dining room, and garage. One floor up (the fourth) is the large living room and deck. One floor down (the second) are two bedrooms. The first floor, at the Primrose level, is a studio arrangement of bedroom, studio, bathroom, wet bar (aka kitchen) and separate entrance. All logic and good design suggests that the entrance at this lower … Continue reading Inside the Staircase House (i)
above: lot preparation last fall … Recall this infill on Primrose and Lorne, by the staircase, has been featured on earlier posts. By the end of December, the garage floor has been poured on the third floor — flush with Upper Lorne — although the bridge to get to it was not yet in place. The picture above shows the windows installed. Notice that on the fourth floor there is one large room to the right and a smaller room instruding onto the deck. The smaller box, fenestrated on several sides, is the stairwell that runs through all the levels, with generous windows … Continue reading Staircase House
Earlier this fall, the edge of the Nanny Goat Hill between Upper Lorne Place and (upper) and (lower) Primrose was chewed out and footings installed. Some previous posts showed details of the lot, and then the first floor foam block foundation system: http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/cliff-becomes-hole/, and athttp://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/lego-build-a-house/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/bumpy-stairs/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/nanny-goat-hill-infill/ and at http://westsideaction.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/stairway-to-development/ The bottom two floors, (the lower Primrose levels) are foam+concrete walls. The third floor is level with Upper Lorne, and will have the garage level opening off that street. The fourth floor (when viewed from Primrose) aka the second floor (when viewed from Upper Lorne) will be half interior space and … Continue reading Infills in progress
The photo above is taken a few weeks ago, looking south along Cambridge. Primrose is behind us, Somerset and the new Chinatown Royal Arch is directly ahead. The street looks closed to automobiles, which is the idea. It was reconstructed years ago using the Dutch design principles called a woonerf. Getting closer to the woonerf, it is less constricted than it first appeared. There is, indeed, plenty of room for a car … or truck, or school bus, or fire truck … to get through. The high shrubs and planters deliberately block the view and sight lines, forcing motorists to slow down. It … Continue reading Planning exercise (i)
Parts of the Dalhousie neighborhood have few parks. One nice one is Primrose Park, between Rochester and Preston. It is hilly (the hills are made of rubble and probably- contaminated brownfield dirt from the former industrial sites). One set of those hills makes for good winter sliding. Bizarrely, the park planners from the City in the late 70’s insisted that the park is not open in the winter, because the paths are not plowed, and therefore refused residents’ appeals not to put trees and benches at the foot of the otherwise ideal sliding slopes. In went multiple benches, garbage cans, … Continue reading Preparing for winter (ii)
This house looks like it is being built with Lego blocks. Located by the stairs connecting Primrose (lower) with Primrose (upper) and Upper Lorne Place, the infill lot is about eight feet above the Primrose street level. The house will be four stories high. The bottom floor, two stories down from Upper Lorne but “at grade” at Primrose, with be a studio — bedroom, room, kitchenette, bath — with its own exit on the Primrose side. The second floor will be bedrooms. The third floor, to be at grade with Lorne Street, will have the entry and a garage (yup, you park your car … Continue reading Lego build a house …
More pictures of the sculptures just installed on Preston Street. Continue reading More Postcards from Preston
The view from Primrose of the lot beside the staircase up to Upper Lorne Place and the upper section of Primrose. The former cliff becomes a squared-off hole, ready for footings. Neighbours tell me there will be a 3 storey house, with entrance and parking garage off Upper Lorne and the house having secondary entrances off the staircase. That is similar to what was there a number of years ago, when the existing red house at the foot of the stairs had its main entrance on its second floor off a landing on the stairs. Continue reading Cliff becomes hole
The view from Primrose of the lot beside the staircase up to Upper Lorne Place and the upper section of Primrose. The former cliff becomes a squared-off hole, ready for footings. Neighbours tell me there will be a 3 storey house, with entrance and parking garage off Upper Lorne and the house having secondary entrances off the staircase. That is similar to what was there a number of years ago, when the existing red house at the foot of the stairs had its main entrance on its second floor off a landing on the stairs. Continue reading Cliff becomes hole
An infill house is being constructed at the north end of Upper Lorne Place, where the staircase goes down to Primrose Street. This picture is taken from the bottom of the stairs. The back of the Dominican College library is in the background, which holds some Dead Sea scrolls. View from the top of the stairs. The house will be three floors, with a garage on the Upper Lorne Place side.This house will have high visibility from all four sides — thus far we have no idea about what quality the exterior will be or what its design is. Primros Continue reading Nanny Goat Hill infill
An infill house is being constructed at the north end of Upper Lorne Place, where the staircase goes down to Primrose Street. This picture is taken from the bottom of the stairs. The back of the Dominican College library is in the background, which holds some Dead Sea scrolls. View from the top of the stairs. The house will be three floors, with a garage on the Upper Lorne Place side.This house will have high visibility from all four sides — thus far we have no idea about what quality the exterior will be or what its design is. Primros Continue reading Nanny Goat Hill infill
The forrested slope on the south side of the Primrose staircase up Nanny Goat Hill has been cleared. The stone retaining walls that reminded me of Machu Pichu have also been removed. A multi-level infill house is proposed for the site, with entrances on the Upper Lorne side and onto the landing of the staircase. The previous staircase used to have an entrance onto its staircase also. Continue reading Stairway to Development
The forrested slope on the south side of the Primrose staircase up Nanny Goat Hill has been cleared. The stone retaining walls that reminded me of Machu Pichu have also been removed. A multi-level infill house is proposed for the site, with entrances on the Upper Lorne side and onto the landing of the staircase. The previous staircase used to have an entrance onto its staircase also. Continue reading Stairway to Development
