New St-Hubert awnings are up
The new awnings on St-Hubert are up. I haven’t yet been by to take a look, but would be curious to hear of any impressions.
The new awnings on St-Hubert are up. I haven’t yet been by to take a look, but would be curious to hear of any impressions.
DavidH 14:43 on 2020-03-03 Permalink
It’s a lot flatter than the old one so I wonder if the glass will remain clean enough or become grimy with dust and pollution settling over time. The gap between the awning and the facade is pretty big right now. Makes me wonder if there isn’t a part that hasn’t been installed yet. The whole piece reflects the lights from the store very well. When shop windows use colour lights, the whole awning reflects it. Visually, that could be fun and break the monotony or it could look really kitschy real fast.
It feels a lot airier than the previous one. The wide sidewalk certainly helps too. A huge problem with the old one was the pigeons and their droppings. This one seems to have fewer spots the birds will like but it’s hard to tell from the ground. I think swallows would love all those angled beams but they might be too slick for them to use.
CE 14:57 on 2020-03-03 Permalink
A friend of mine who works on the Plaza told me that one of the major motivations for changing the awnings was that pigeons could easily sit in them. The new ones are supposed to be designed in a way that there is nowhere for them to sit.
Kate 23:23 on 2020-03-03 Permalink
The old awnings also had a problem with ice and snow building up until gravity got the upper hand, and a big slab would detach and slide off all at once. Even a little sun at the right angle on a cold day could do it. I saw it happen a couple of times, back when I was working nearby. You didn’t want to be under those slabs when they dropped into the street.