This is an interesting article by ArchDaily, looking at the “evolution of the house plan in Europe” between 1760 and 1939. The article focuses on London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Moscow and includes floor plans, photographs, as well as well-known illustrations like the one shown above.… Read More
Amazon is sometimes criticized for its private labels. The way this generally works is that Amazon uses the data that it collects from its platform to see what customers are buying. It then goes out and makes its own version of these products and sells… Read More
These are two photos taken from the roof of our Capital Point project (office strata) in Burnaby, BC. They represent the views from about 19 storeys up. In the first photo you can see downtown Vancouver and the mountains that surround it. And in the… Read More
The urban-to-rural transect is a New Urbanist planning framework that prescribes a smooth continuum of settlements that go from least dense to most dense. The six zones are as follows: natural (T1), rural (T2), sub-urban (T3), general urban (T4), center (T5), and core (T6). Part… Read More
Seth Godin recently posted this four quadrant chart on his blog. It is for plotting different products based on price and based on want vs. need. In his post, he asks his audience to think about what they’re offering and which quadrant it fits within.… Read More
This recent article by Bloomberg CityLab, about “how California set off a backyard apartment boom,” has some interesting stats about the extent in which accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are quickly being adopted and delivered across the state. For one, a majority (87%) of jurisdictions have… Read More
About 60 miles north of Salt Lake City is the largest ski resort in America, called Summit Powder Mountain. It’s some 10,000 acres. But beyond just being big, there is also a fascinating story and philosophy behind the mountain. It was started by four partners… Read More
The Urban Land Institute Toronto is hosting an event and panel discussion on April 8, 2021 about the future of high-rises in our cities. Here’s the blurb: Against the backdrop of the pandemic and its toll, what is the future of high-rises in our cities?… Read More
If you’re building a multi-family rental building, you’re almost certainly building it “on spec.” What this means is that you’re building an empty building and, once it’s done, you will then work to rent it out. (Nobody rents an apartment years in advance.) In this… Read More
In the fourth quarter of last year, the average house price to earnings ratio in the UK was about 8.4x. Apparently this is about as high as it has been in the past 120 years. But interestingly enough, if you go back to the 19th… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 