From The Globe:
“The market doesn’t dictate. They just build crap. Anybody can do that. But can you build affordable and something exceptional?
“And if you look at the other end of our business, I don’t think you’ll see us do anything that isn’t of [Ingels tower] quality of creative design going forward again. I would really rather not do it. I just don’t want to do that any more.
“I have that luxury where I can afford to do really great work.
He must be under a lot of pressure – he’s burst a blood vessel in his eye.
At the time it was proposed I thought the Woodwards development was out of scale with the historical setting of Gastown. Further, I was concerned that if approved it would likely become a precedent used by developers and decision makers for other (less fitting) sites in the community. Thanks to tremendous staff efforts that latter bullet was dodged, thank heaven.
Over the course of a few years, as a near neighbour I really have grown to like, even love, the complex for its vitality and reclaiming a symbollically important site. It is a tremendous asset in this one critically important location, replacing as it does the former true heart of the Hastings corridor – Woodwards Department Store. It is a key place for all members of the wider neighbourhood and city for so offering many activities and services, as well as recreation and just hanging out.
Gillespie was the key mover behind that project and I hope the BIG development is realized with an equal attention to quality in recognizing the role great architecture can play in placemaking, especially where only holes exist now. I believe it was Jim Cheng who said, this is a game-changer.