I am in Park City for the weekend because we just started site works for Parkview Mountain House (PMH).
When you’re building in the mountains, there are generally two types of sites: sites that are uphill from the road and sites that are downhill from the road.
The latter is significantly harder to build on because you have to first create access to the lot, which means bringing in soil and creating a ramp. You may also end up craning in materials.
Thankfully, our site is on the uphill side. You bring in an excavator, dig into the mountain, and then you have a flat workable site.
That’s what we’re doing on site right now and it’s what you’re seeing above — a big hole in the side of a mountain. And it’s pretty exciting.
Photos: Isaac Silvera
This morning I toured a site/project that is using a balcony glazing system from a company called Lumon. The product looks like this from the outside:
Back in 2020/2021 when we were getting ready to launch sales for One Delisle, the team came up with the idea of pill-shaped kitchen islands for our residences.
What that means is we wanted to use perfect semi-circles on both ends. We didn’t want oval islands. We didn’t want distorted semi-circles. We wanted islands shaped like pills!
We felt these opened up the kitchens and also looked really unique. So with Studio Gang and the rest of the team, we proceeded to design a few different types.
We needed ones that would work for smaller suites, we needed ones that would work for larger suites, and we needed to accommodate breakfast bars/seating.
When we approached Scavolini Toronto about this idea their first response was, “we’ve never done this before. It would be a first.”
However, their second response was, “but we’ll figure it out with you.” And based on this response, we built (by hand) a pill-shaped island for our condominium sales gallery, and then included them as part of One Delisle.
Fast forward to 2023 and we are now in the “let’s figure it out phase”. This week we reviewed the very first production prototypes in Scavolini’s factory in Pesaro.
I am in Park City for the weekend because we just started site works for Parkview Mountain House (PMH).
When you’re building in the mountains, there are generally two types of sites: sites that are uphill from the road and sites that are downhill from the road.
The latter is significantly harder to build on because you have to first create access to the lot, which means bringing in soil and creating a ramp. You may also end up craning in materials.
Thankfully, our site is on the uphill side. You bring in an excavator, dig into the mountain, and then you have a flat workable site.
That’s what we’re doing on site right now and it’s what you’re seeing above — a big hole in the side of a mountain. And it’s pretty exciting.
Photos: Isaac Silvera
This morning I toured a site/project that is using a balcony glazing system from a company called Lumon. The product looks like this from the outside:
Back in 2020/2021 when we were getting ready to launch sales for One Delisle, the team came up with the idea of pill-shaped kitchen islands for our residences.
What that means is we wanted to use perfect semi-circles on both ends. We didn’t want oval islands. We didn’t want distorted semi-circles. We wanted islands shaped like pills!
We felt these opened up the kitchens and also looked really unique. So with Studio Gang and the rest of the team, we proceeded to design a few different types.
We needed ones that would work for smaller suites, we needed ones that would work for larger suites, and we needed to accommodate breakfast bars/seating.
When we approached Scavolini Toronto about this idea their first response was, “we’ve never done this before. It would be a first.”
However, their second response was, “but we’ll figure it out with you.” And based on this response, we built (by hand) a pill-shaped island for our condominium sales gallery, and then included them as part of One Delisle.
Fast forward to 2023 and we are now in the “let’s figure it out phase”. This week we reviewed the very first production prototypes in Scavolini’s factory in Pesaro.
Like this from the inside (from on the balcony):
And it retracts/opens up like this (the glass panels stack neatly to one side when you want to create a traditional balcony and guard condition):
Obviously the idea here is to create outdoor spaces that can be enjoyed for more months of the year. In the summer it opens up so you get a typical balcony condition. And then in the cooler months or on a windy or rainy day, you get a solarium. Maybe it even works in the winter with the right sun exposure.
But obviously there is a cost to adding something like this to new projects. So my development question to all of you today is: Would you be willing to pay a premium for a balcony glazing system like the one shown here? And if so, how important would you rank a feature like this for multifamily buildings?
If you have a few minutes, please let me know in the comment section below.
They are everything we could have hoped for, and we are thrilled that Scavolini was a willing partner in this endeavor.
It’s not easy doing new things in construction. The smallest things can (usually?) end up being a lot more work. But it all feels worth it when you get to see the results.
Like this from the inside (from on the balcony):
And it retracts/opens up like this (the glass panels stack neatly to one side when you want to create a traditional balcony and guard condition):
Obviously the idea here is to create outdoor spaces that can be enjoyed for more months of the year. In the summer it opens up so you get a typical balcony condition. And then in the cooler months or on a windy or rainy day, you get a solarium. Maybe it even works in the winter with the right sun exposure.
But obviously there is a cost to adding something like this to new projects. So my development question to all of you today is: Would you be willing to pay a premium for a balcony glazing system like the one shown here? And if so, how important would you rank a feature like this for multifamily buildings?
If you have a few minutes, please let me know in the comment section below.
They are everything we could have hoped for, and we are thrilled that Scavolini was a willing partner in this endeavor.
It’s not easy doing new things in construction. The smallest things can (usually?) end up being a lot more work. But it all feels worth it when you get to see the results.
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