Queen Street Vinyl

When I started blogging, one of my main focuses was criticizing what I perceived at the time as an all too strict heritage community that were holding up projects like Leinster Court. Now I'm starting to appreciate the value of heritage preservation and developing the uptown responsibility, though I still think housing is needed and can sometimes trump aesthetic needs when a strong case is in place.

Now that Leinster Court has been completed and a lot of private developers are choosing to built in the uptown/South End, I think the city has the opportunity to be more details oriented without endangering the city's development path.

I think the market should dictate what is developed, and regulations should mainly be put in place to ensure important details are seen to.

I'm still a fan of the project going up on Queen Street, but am surprised by the choice of the developers of the development with the heritage facade to use white vinyl framed windows.

I support the use of vinyl framed windows for efficiency and don't agree with overly strict heritage guidelines that prevent the use of these windows.

I was impressed by how well the fenestration (five dollar word of the day) of Leinster Court fit the community - for that project Saint John Non-Profit Housing installed vinyl windows that were a light brown.

I expected this project, that uses a heritage facade, to keep up the historic touches with windows that look a bit less modern. I imagine the developers were looking to control costs by their choice of windows, and to me it is more important that this project succeed at providing housing than match the whims of people like me who are starting to appreciate the heritage character of our central streetscapes.

My views on the issues around heritage development are evolving and shifting, so if this contradicts past or future posts (or has internal conflict) I apologize, but the issue is complex and has successes and failures.