Brandon Donnelly

Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.

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  • Speed, price, and quality

    Project-triangle.svg

    “Project-triangle” by Cosmocatalano – Own work. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.

    When I was in business school, one of my friends – who runs his own agency – explained to me the Project Triangle and the “pick any two” philosophy. 

    Whether you’re building a building or building a mobile app, projects can be typically broken down in terms of 3 constraints: speed, price, and quality. The “pick any two” philosophy is that – because these dimensions are interrelated – you can only really get 2 of these dimensions at any one time.

    So for example:

    • If you want a project done really quickly and you want it to be high quality, then it’s not going to be cheap. It’s going to be expensive.
    • If you want something done really quickly and you want it at the lowest price possible, then it’s not going to be high quality. It’s going to be low quality.
    • Finally, if you want something high quality and you want it done cheaply, then it’s not going to be done quickly. You might get it done, but it will be deprioritized by whoever is doing it.

    Few things in life are truly black and white, but I really like this framework. It acknowledges the fact that something has to give. It’s unsustainable to think you can always get super fast, high quality work at rock bottom prices.

  • From seigneurial land tenure to condominium plans

    One of the things I noticed this past weekend when I was on my Porter Escape in Quebec City was that there’s still evidence of the seigneurial land use system. I saw it on île d’Orléans.

    Established in 1627 in New France, the seigneurial system was a feudal way of distributing land and creating subsistence farming for those who occupied it. It was ultimately abolished in 1854, but you can still see vestiges of it.

    With the seigneurial system, a typical farming lot was a long and narrow strip of land emanating from the water, which in this particular case was the St. Lawrence River. Here’s a map from 1641 showing what that looks like:

    image

    The reasoning behind this spatial arrangement was rather simple. By having long narrow lots, it meant that you could maximize the number of farmers who had direct access to water. This was needed for navigation, but also for many other obvious reasons. This was an efficient layout.

    At the same time, the long strips meant that each farmer had access to a broad cross section of different kinds of land. They had fertile land for growing, land for their home, and frequently land with trees so that they had material to build, fuel to burn, and so on. It also meant that, despite the overall lot sizes, people actually lived fairly close to each other. It created communities.

    Of course, there’s a lot more to the seigneurial system than just its physical form and there are reasons it was eventually abolished. But today I just want to focus on spatial layout. Because I think there are parallels to how we continue to plan our communities.

    If you live in a city you’ve probably come across a narrow rowhouse, a narrow townhouse, and/or a long and narrow condominium – which many people like to pejoratively refer to as a “bowling alley” plan. In these cases, the width of the home could be somewhere between 10 and 13 feet.

    If you stop and think about this, it’s exactly the same spatial principles as the seigneurial land use system. But instead of maximizing the number of people with access to the St. Lawrence River, it’s about maximizing the number of people who front onto the street and who have access to natural light.

    In tight urban conditions, it’s not uncommon to have no “side yard windows.” In my case, I live in a condominium with 20′ feet of windows on one side only. The other 3 sides of my box have none. And that’s a fairly common urban condition.

    I find this interesting because as much as the world is rapidly changing, some things don’t actually change all that much.

    Image: Wikipedia

  • Amazon Dash — foolish joke or disruptive innovation?

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMacTuHPWFI?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

    Earlier this week on the day before April Fools’, Amazon launched two new services. The first was called Amazon Dash (see above video) and the second was called Amazon Home Services. The entire internet seemed to think that Dash was actually an April Fool’s joke, but it turns out it’s not. In fact, it’s actually an incredibly smart product.

    The way it works is simple. Each branded Dash Button is about the size of a pack of gum. You mount it in, on, and near things that you replace on a regular basis, such as laundry detergent, coffee refills, and so on. Then all you have to do is push the button and your order gets sent to Amazon. Shortly after the product arrives at your door. I say “shortly” because you can be certain that Amazon’s goal is to make that time frame as short as physically possible.

    I don’t know about you, but I could definitely see myself using this product. There are a number of essentials – such as laundry detergent and toilet paper – that I just hate shopping for. I have to create reminder appointments in my calendar just so I don’t forget. In fact, I did that today and I still forgot to pick everything up on my way home (my phone died).

    But what’s even more interesting about Dash, I think, is that it increases the threat to brick-and-mortar retailing and, more specifically, big box stores. Because if same day and same hour delivery is a big threat to big box stores, just imagine one button and same hour delivery. And, is it only a matter of time before something like this comes to Apple Watch? It seems like the right medium for it.

    Isn’t it interesting how something that most people believe is a silly joke could actually turn out to be a huge innovation? I try to always remain open minded. Sometimes it’s hard. But it’s good practice.

  • The value in small retail spaces

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    This month’s issue of Monocle is centered around fashion, style, and retail. And one of the most interesting pieces is a report on small retail spaces. 

    The argument (which you can read in the preface shown above) is that micro retail spaces are incredibly important for entrepreneurship and urban vitality. Because if all a city has is large retail spaces, then you’re creating impossible barriers for new retail startups. The rents simply become too high.

    It’s on page 79 in case you have this month’s issue or want to go pick it up.

    After reading the article, I immediately thought of 2 posts that I recently wrote on related topics. The first is “Incubating new ideas in cities” and the second is “The hard things about retail.”

    In the first post, I questioned how cities might be able to encourage and incubate new ideas alongside new development and buck the Jane Jacobian truism that new ideas require old buildings. And in the second post, I expressed my concern for a micro retail condo complex here in Toronto that appears to be struggling.

    But maybe that micro retail complex is on to something (just with the wrong tenure: condo instead of rental). Maybe it’s as simple as starting with great urban design and small (affordable) retail spaces. 

    It seems to be working for Columbia Road in London, Knez Mihailova in Belgrade, and Tower Theater in Los Angeles (the 3 examples that Monocle gives).

  • “Project Snowball” cracks down on UberX drivers in Toronto

    Photograph Holding Pattern by Sean Arbuthnot on 500px

    Holding Pattern by Sean Arbuthnot on 500px

    https://500px.com/embed.js

    This afternoon I saw on Twitter that Toronto Police are now starting to crackdown on UberX drivers in the city. The investigation is called “Project Snowball” and they have already charged at least 11 people. The fines are anywhere from $200 to $20,000.

    My response on Twitter was the following:

    I get that Uber is a highly disruptive company. I’ve written about it many times before. But at the end of the day, this is not just about Uber. This is about a larger shift in the economy.

    The buzz term is “sharing economy.” But one of the ways I like to think about it is like so: Facebook doesn’t produce any of its own content, and yet you could define it as a media company. Airbnb doesn’t own any rooms, and yet it is disrupting hotels. Uber doesn’t own any cars or plates, and yet it is disrupting the taxi industry.

    What’s happening is that the internet and mobile phones are allowing for peer-to-peer connectivity and more decentralized forms of marketplace supply.

    What does that mean?

    It means that instead of having a fleet of cars or a centralized hotel building, anyone with an extra car or an extra room (and an internet connection) can plug themselves into the market. And that represents an entirely different cost structure for businesses.

    It’s worth noting that prior to Uber, Travis Kalanick founded a peer-to-peer music sharing company called Scour (1998). Its closest equivalent would have been Napster. Remember Napster? This is not a new trend.

    That said, I still think we’re at the early stages of this shift. I predict that many other industries will see disruptors similar to Airbnb and Uber. And so when I look at it in this context, I have a hard time believing that fining UberX drivers is the most enlightened way forward.

    I believe we should instead be taking a leadership position and trying to figure out how to adapt our rules and regulations to this changing economy. Toronto is not alone in this battle. But we could certainly be the one to lead the way out.

  • From suburban houses to downtown condos

    Last Friday the Financial Post published an interesting article talking about Mattamy Homes and the new office that its founder, Peter Gilgan, is in the process of opening up downtown in the Toronto-Dominion Centre (which just so happens to be my favorite office complex in the city).

    At 64 years old, Peter recognizes that his company has changed and the world has changed. He he himself recently moved downtown and now he’s bringing his company with him.

    “Our Oakville office [a western suburb of Toronto] is a reflection of what our business was 25 years ago,” he says. “We were a local, west-end Toronto builder. Now we’re the largest home builder in Canada and we’re the largest private home builder in all of North America.”

    Come September he will move his finance, legal, IT, human resources and strategic marketing team —  about 100 of Mattamy’s 1,100 staff — into the new downtown digs. He wants to attract “the absolute best talent.”

    “The young people seem to really want to work down here. So that’s one reason. The other thing is to make sure the business has the capital to move forward and expand. Well, where’s the capital? It ain’t in Oakville.”

    This of course isn’t a new thing for suburban homebuilders. Many in Toronto have made the switch – or at least expanded – from suburban houses to downtown/urban condos. And I’m assuming that’s what is going to happen here.

    Still, it’s fascinating to see this trend continue. Young people really do want to live and work “down here.”

  • Day 2 in Quebec City

    I’m writing this post on my flight from Quebec City back to Toronto. I promise that I have a bunch of non-personal urbanism posts in the pipeline, but I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and write them. So for now I’m just going to do a quick recap.

    One of the things I try and do when I visit a new place is not just bounce between the requisite tourist spots, but also dig a little deeper and get an understanding of the place. Thanks to some incredible people at Quebec Tourism, the Chateau Laurier Quebec, and to some of the locals I met, I feel like I was able to do exactly that.

    This morning I just wanted to walk the city. I started on Grande Allée and went into the walls of the center city, down to the lower town (La Basse-Ville), along the waterfront, and then back up towards the Saint-Roch neighborhood.

    Along the way I visited the Rue du Petit-Champlain in the lower town (shown above), which is the kind of small intimate urban street that will make you realize that Toronto’s vast network of laneways is hugely under-utilized.

    I was also told that historically the lower town was less wealthy than the upper town. This makes sense since the rich generally like to move upwards. Think about Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and even flat Toronto with neighborhoods like Forest Hill. Being up high is often considered desirable.

    And in a city like Quebec, there’s plenty of opportunity to adjust your altitude. In fact, its location was chosen precisely because it offered a strategic high ground.

    I often wonder how the first person settling a city decides where to setup camp. But in the case of Quebec City it’s clear. Samuel de Champlain chose high ground at the narrowest part of the St. Lawrence River (the name Quebec actually means “where the river narrows”). This was so that they could keep a close eye on aggressors sailing down the river and then defend against them when needed.

    After Petit-Champlain, I then made by way over to the Saint-Roch neighborhood. Rumor has it that it’s Quebec’s “petit Brooklyn”, so I had to check it out.

    The neighborhood was far more developed than I thought it was going to be. Oracle, Ubisoft, and many others have big offices there. But I did notice a few hipsters on the streets, so I must have been in the right place. The Saint-Roch neighborhood has an interesting history that is definitely worth reading.

    In the afternoon I had a late lunch back on Grande Allée and then popped by La Citadelle. It was fascinating to walk through, but it was equally as exciting to see snowboarders repurposing portions of the city’s fortified walls. Click here for a quick Instagram video of that.

    Before leaving for the airport, I also made a quick stop along the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain to take in some of the views of the river. I stumbled upon the look-out tower below.

    Quebec City is an absolutely stunning city and I’ve always had a soft spot for French Canadian culture. I grew up speaking French, but it has been a long time and I rarely use it these days. 

    Thankfully, Quebec City is the perfect place to get some practice in. In Montreal you can get by and even live there only speaking English. But Quebec City is decidedly French.

    And even though I sound like a real yank when I hobble together French words into occasional sentences, bilingualism is a big part of the Canadian identity for me. I hope that never changes.

    If you’d like to see a summary of all my social media posts from the weekend and/or if you’d like a special deal on your own packaged vacation to Quebec City, click here.

  • Day 1 in Quebec City

    I just checked into the Chateau Laurier Quebec after a busy day touring the city. I don’t have a ton of time to write this post before dinner (though I have a few post ideas brewing). I did however want to share some of the day’s events and some of my photos.

    After I landed I went straight to Île d’Orléans. I had never been there before so I’m glad I got the opportunity. It’s about twice the size of Manhattan and it has a population that hovers somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 people depending on the season.

    The first stop was a “sugar shack”, which is apparently a big deal in Quebec and in the springtime. The place was packed. Here I had a traditional Quebec lunch (which was great) and I learned that all of the Canadian stereotypes are actually true. We really do put maple syrup on everything.

    After lunch I then asked if we could stop at a few of the local wineries. I love wine and I love wine culture.

    imageimageimage

    I picked up one bottle of “wine” from Cassis Monna & Filles. It’s actually made from black currants though, which I was told was illegal to grow in North America for a long time. It’s far more popular in Europe.

    The winery is run by a father and his two daughters. And I thought they did a great job with their brand story and their overall identity.

    After leaving the island, I then went to the Montmorency Falls. I had no idea Quebec had falls, but they do. And the vertical drop is bigger than that of Niagara Falls.

    image

    Finally, I finished the afternoon with a quick tour of downtown and the OMA designed expansion to the fine arts museums. It has one aggressive cantilever.

    Here’s a video of the project. Click here if you can’t see it below. 

    [vimeo 111133943 w=500 h=281]

    If you’re interested, you can also follow my social posts on the Porter Escapes website by clicking here.

  • Architect This City x Porter Escapes (in Québec City)

    Towards the end of last year I received a one line email from a reader asking me what I thought about Porter (the airline that operates out of Toronto’s island airport downtown).

    I followed suit and responded with one line: “I’m a big fan.” I then pasted a few links to posts I had written where I talked about Porter, the island airport, and why I think they are good for Toronto.

    It turns out that was the right answer 😉

    Because today I’m excited to announce a fun collaboration between Architect This City and Porter Escapes. This weekend I get to explore Québec City and do something I love to do, which is photograph cities, think about cities, and write about cities. (And eat poutine.)

    Here are my travel essentials for the weekend (I wish it was a better photo):

    image

    The first thing I should tell you though is that Porter Escapes is different than simply Porter. Porter Escapes is their “packaged vacation” company, so it’s designed for people who want a simple way to book entire getaways (flight, hotel, activities, and so on).

    In my case, I’m going to be staying at the Château Laurier. I also have a bunch of activities planned out for Saturday during the day. Stay tuned.

    I had initially planned to squeeze in some snowboarding at Le Massif and try out the nicely branded train that goes from Québec City right to the mountain. But my back and shoulder are still tender from my spill in Banff.

    Still, I hope you’ll follow along on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, and using #PorterEscapes. And if you happen to be in Québec City this weekend, let’s grab a pint and poutine.

    I’ve also been told that Porter Escapes will be launching a special promotion over the next few days for escapes specifically to Québec City.

    Note: I’m supposed to tell you that it’ll be at a price point that you should never expect to see again (i.e. it’ll be a steal).

    Happy Friday 🙂

  • Morphosis proposes tallest building in Europe — in the Swiss Alps

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    A controversial design proposal for the tallest building in Europe has been making the rounds online over the past few days. Designed by Morphosis Architects, the 381 meter-tall tower is being proposed in Vals in the Swiss Alps. 

    And pretty much everyone seems to hate it.

    When I first came across the design, I truthfully had to do a double take to see if it was actually a real proposal. But it seems to be. Everyone is writing about it.

    Clearly there are some interesting tensions at play here. You have a hyper-urban building typology in a mountain town setting, but with materials that are intended to make it dematerialize into the landscape.

    So I thought we could have a discussion about it in the comments.

    Is a small mountain town the right place for the tallest building in Europe? Could it work as a one-off tower?

    Image: Morphosis Architects via ArchDaily