Tuesday 22 July 2014

Blue Screen of Rain Death

Yet another Vancouver condominium now under wraps undergoing remedial work due to water infiltration and damage. This one on Hornby has company, just around the corner on Beach its bigger brother has been completely enveloped in scaffolding and tarps. Since the early eighties watching Lower Mainland buildings pop in and out of protective cocoons has become commonplace with some buildings having already undergone a second rehabilitation. There has always been a lot of finger pointing at developers, contractors, municipal authorities and the National Building Code but the cost of repair always falls to the condo owners. Funny that commercial buildings, except for public schools, rarely have major damage due to water infiltration. Maybe poor design has been built into the plans! Having the building envelope fail every dozen years keeps the construction industry fat and busy - just another way to help the economy along.
After so many years of shrouding these buildings in white or green,  draping then in a nice bright blue certainly is an upscale design choice. Probably adds another 5% to the contract price but standing out and being noticed must be well worth the extra price.

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