Salter’s Gate is a six-storey building running along Hollis Street from the CBCL building to the Salter Street intersection. The building runs down Salter, reaching eight storeys near Lower Water Street. It houses a 125-room Courtyard Marriott Hotel, 38 high end rental units and 8,500 square feet of retail commercial space. The project was designed to achieve the right balance between preserving Halifax’s heritage and creating a new and exciting piece of architecture, indicative of the City’s future as one of the great small cities in North America.

Salter’s Gate is located on the north end of the Brewery Market site. The Maritime Muesum, Art Gallery and Neptune Theatre are located near by. This new development is also steps away from the Waterfront Boardwalk and its many events and festivals.

Covered arcades are located in front of the commercial units. A prominent entrance with a small park was created at the Hollis/Salter intersection. "Market Plaza" includes an open space at the Salter/Lower Water corner that is multi-use: for cars accessing the hotel, for the farmers’ market, buskers and a cafe.

Salter’s Gate was designed by renowned architect Roy Willwerth of Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsfell Limited, who said: “The intensity of use within the plaza will be a very nice feature. You think of plazas elsewhere: of Lisbon, where you find tour buses, cars, horses, vendors, entertainers all at the same time, and the same with Marrakech, absolute chaos, but lovely.” Willwerth continued, “I think the other thing that is interesting about the project is that it kind of blurs the traditional styles and modern architecture. It’s very hard to define the project itself. It really incorporates both.”

The Building has been constructed using stone for low portions of the building and retaining walls to blend the building in with the ironstone Brewery Market. The architect and precaster worked together to develop cladding panels with the proper warm coloration that achieved the blend of colors between the stone at the base of the building and the precast and curtain walls above. A medium sandblast produced a texture that simulated a fine stone finish. Strescon Limited supplied and installed 655 architectural precast concrete panels for this project.

CREDITS:
Developers: Salter’s Gate Developments Ltd.
Architect: Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsfell Limited
Engineers: CBCL Limited
Precaster: Strescon Limited