VANCOUVER | Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel | 140m | 44 fl | U/C

[mr.x]

Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel

In the summer of 2006, Westbank commenced construction on one of the last remaining development sites in Coal Harbour to add yet another landmark building to Vancouver's waterfront. The Fairmont Pacific Rim has teamed together the luxury brand of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts with Westbank's reputation for quality design and construction. This project will consist of a world class 415-room Fairmont Hotel and 175 luxury residential homes with unparalleled views along with amenities and services that Fairmont is famous for.

This exciting new development will be Westbank's latest stamp on the Vancouver skyline. The site is on the foot of the new convention centre expansion, also expected to be completed in 2009 in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

This gives Vancouver three Fairmont hotel chains within a four block radius: Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Pan Pacific, and now the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

Project Size
- 800,000 sf
- Fairmont Hotel: 415 Rooms
- Residential Live/Work: 175 Units

Architect
- James KM Cheng Architects

Completion
- 2009

Developer
- Westbank Projects Corp. & Peterson Investment Group Inc.

Marketing
- Spring 2006

Construction Commencement
- July 2006

http://www.fairmontpacificrim.com/

http://www.westbankcorp.com/images/Fairmont-full4.jpghttp://www.westbankcorp.com/images/Fairmont-full1.jpg
http://www.westbankcorp.com/images/Fairmont-full2.jpghttp://www.westbankcorp.com/images/Fairmont-full3.jpg


- Tower is stepped in at the 35th and 40th levels.
- Proposal amended on May 22, 2003 (Project 1134) to include live/work residential, office and hotel usage.
- Proposal of October 1, 2003 reduces hotel rooms from 800 to 500 (to level 24), with a live/work element above and a change to the tower form.
- September 2005: Property purchased from Fairmont Hotels for $68 million, and original design by VIA Architecture scrapped.
- October 26, 2005: Urban Design Panel first review of new proposal.
- November 2005: The Fairmont Pacific Rim will be a five-star, 415-room Fairmont hotel and 173-unit luxury condominium development.
- Start of construction for Vancouver's largest building, by square footage, is planned for July 2006.
- Final plans are first 25 floors as 415 hotel units with top 19 floors as 195 live/work condominiums.
- Originally proposed with maximum height of 472 feet and re-submitted at 463.72 feet, the city only approved to 458.25 feet, including all building appurtenances.
- Greatest opposition to application came from tenants of Terminal City Club Tower and Shaw Tower.
- Floor space for hotel and general office/live-work is evenly split at 397,600 and 397,919 square feet.
- Open balconies account for 37,252 square feet of total floor space in the tower.
- Condominium buyers paid $2,100 per square foot for what the realtor called "the front row seats" for the "water-facing units".

[mr.x]

November 2006
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7528/fairmont1gk2.png



January 2007
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1930/fairmont2yt1.png



March 2007
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6484/fairmont3mo3.png




May 2007
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/958/fairmont4tc1.png




June 2007
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/2272/fairmont5xl4.png





July 30, 2007
http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1816/fairmont6sd3.png

[aberrate]

I must say I'm not terribly impressed with the design of this building. It feels too similar to another one of Cheng's projects in the area, the Shangri-La, but lacks its level of detailing. Hardly the "landmark building" promised by the description.

[WinnipegPatriot]

Looks to much like Shaw Tower right beside it...some contrast would be better....where the hell is the design panel, lol...

[mr.x]

Looks to much like Shaw Tower right beside it...some contrast would be better....where the hell is the design panel, lol...

That would be because both the Shaw Tower and the Pacific Rim are designed by James Cheng. There was a much better design before by a different architect firm.

[Waterloo_Guy]

It's nothing special, but it's girth makes it stand out from its surroundings, and that will add variety to the skyline.

[spongeg]

to bad it didn't reflect the other fairmonts next to it

[WinnipegPatriot]

It's nothing special, but it's girth makes it stand out from its surroundings, and that will add variety to the skyline.


Not really, considering it looks so much like Shaw...it won't stand out at all...for it to do so, it would need to be about 70 stories....

[DrT]

This is THE PRIMO location in Vancouver. Not to be replicated.
Although nice, I would have expected something more memorable architecturaly.
I agree, the Shaw and this hotel lack a wow factor and are blandish.

[nikw]

It may not be the best but at least it's not one of those ugly, flat glass boxes that are going up around downtown these days.

[raggedy13]

Progress as of earlier today...

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/raggedy13/Dec%206%202007/100_9847.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/raggedy13/Dec%206%202007/100_9848.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/raggedy13/Dec%206%202007/100_9849.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/raggedy13/Dec%206%202007/100_9855.jpg

[mr.x]

Pics taken today by Vanman:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/vanstruction020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/vanstruction019.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/vanstruction021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/vanstruction015.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/vanstruction011.jpg

[tower envy]

This is one of few buildings that I wish was shorter. Shaw tower fitted in perfectly as the pinnacle of the waterfront portion of the skyline. Having a chunky tower right next to it at roughly the same height and style (but uglier), sort of takes away from that.

[WinnipegPatriot]

I would rather see a whole new design...anyway...

[Vancouverite]

January 15th update

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2485/p1040971ot5.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3483/p1040978vd0.jpg
My photos ( SFUVancouver in SSP | Vancouverite in SSC )

[Rhino]

beautiful !

[Vancouverite]

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2959/p1050359yj6.jpg
(My photo, taken February 4th, 2008)

[Jim856796]

The tower is up to the 5th level af of now.

[dleung]

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/3324/p1060384ja8bdx1.jpg

fairmont will be the largest building in the city, but far from being the tallest. There's something wrong with that.

[Yellow Fever]

^^ Since there are too many skinny buildings downtown, I wouldn't mind having some stocky towers to balance it out.

[dleung]

I for one would rather perpetuate the mini-manhattan look. One fat building will ruin it all... people will realize "oh, so that's how big an average building looks like, then the rest must be tiny!" I still think Fairmont is the single biggest mistake in planning in recent history, it will definitely steal the thunder from Shaw Tower.

[Yellow Fever]

Fairmont is not the only fat building, the Royal Centre, Park place and the TD all look stockier.

[nova9]

Here's an article on the poem that will mount the face of the tower:

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=cf8bbf04-4a0f-407f-af77-ad881fef0bff

Can't wait til the entire poem is revealed, but I wonder if it will be easy to read or will we have to strain our necks?

[Yellow Fever]

This tower is going up slowly.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02650.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02653.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02659.jpg

[DrT]

This tower is going up slowly.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02650.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02653.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02659.jpg

Yellow, I can't see your pics for some reason.

[jlousa]

Neither can anyone else.

Not sure why you say it's going up slowly though, it's climbing at a floor per week, that's the standard. They are now working on the 31st floor.

[Infoman]

That's a Nice Tower.

[Yellow Fever]

I can see the photos on 2 of my computers, don't know why you guys couldn't see them.:(

Jlousa, may be I am a little bit impatient. :)

[Yellow Fever]

Let me try again later!

photo by me
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02653.jpg

[Yellow Fever]

Let me know if you guys see this pic. Thanks!

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02653.jpg

[deasine]

the last two ones yes

[Yellow Fever]

^^ Thanks!

[DrT]

Yellow, great shot! Now I can see it.

I am impressed how quickly this one is rising and I like how it is looking. Quite different from the Shaw Tower, which I figured they would be trying to twin with. Thanks!

[Yellow Fever]

Thanks! DrT, one more for you.



http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/DSC02659.jpg

[Vanman]

An update courtesy of Delirium @ SSP.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/Picture129.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/Picture128.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/Picture133.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/Picture127.jpg

[dleung]

Update from today:
http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/6210/dsc09167wr5.jpg

Jlousa says the building is 48 stories, tho it's officially 44. Just from counting the levels, they're already on the 44th floor, but it doesn't look like it's about to top off.

I purposely used another building to crop off the full width of the Fairmont, so that it looks less obese and unsightly. Now it looks like Shaw tower.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/8277/dsc09170ny6.jpg
Buildings do look taller in the fog...

[jlousa]

It will have a 48th floor but there is no 4 and 13th floors so there are 46 acutal floors if that helps. Only the penthouse levels to go now which will be indented.

[Vancouver_highrise]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e114/peterWEST/Picture175.jpg
taken by me today.. I had a good pic of all the crane activity for georgia
but my camera messed up and lost it :(


From this pic you can't really see the difference in glass colour?

[Vancouver_highrise]

^
|
|

not sure if the picture is showing up?

[Yellow Fever]

^^ Nice pic!

[DrT]

not sure if the picture is showing up?

Shows up nicely.

Massive floor plates on that baby.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/3231168517_7b4a2c4b6b_b.jpg
flickr.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/3230352578_fffa41b318_b.jpg
from flickr.

[DrT]

^^
Again, the Fairmont looks so much "fatter" than the Shaw Tower, or is it the angle?

Looking very close to topping out.

[Yellow Fever]

There may be 2 or 3 more indented floors to go.

I don't mind this tower is a little fatter than some of its neighbors. Imo, there are way too many skinny buildings on the waterfront, especially the west side close to Stanley park. We need some bigger and taller towers like this one..






http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/2562232027_68c0b88078_o.jpg
flickr.

[WinnipegPatriot]

Yeah--that building would look wicked at 1000 feet!!!!

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/piero3.jpg

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/piero.jpg
All photos by pierodamiani, flickr.

[DrT]

^^
Looks like the Jameson House crane is still up in the first pic. This still gives me hope.

In these photos of the Fairmont, it appears as the floor plate gets bigger after about 20 floors or so, making the bottom of the building thinner than the top part. Optical ilusion or am I seeing things, LOL?

[Yellow Fever]

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/allenssp.jpg
photo by allen at ssp.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/beach6502.jpg
by beach 650, flickr.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/aa.jpg



http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/cc.jpg

my photos

[vanboy2]

yesterday


http://i44.tinypic.com/rgxf0n.jpg



http://i41.tinypic.com/106gc4k.jpg


http://i40.tinypic.com/2uy63gl.jpg

[DrT]

^^
Great pics vanboy2.

Looks almost T/O.

All the James Cheng designed buildings have a similar look to them, but I love this one, particularly the substance (large footprint). Contrasts against the abudance of "skinny" towers.

[Allen2]

A pic from me...taken on Apr 4

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3414356149_74c7ac6676_b.jpg

[Allen2]

^^

All the James Cheng designed buildings have a similar look to them, but I love this one, particularly the substance (large footprint). Contrasts against the abudance of "skinny" towers.

Haha...people were just saying that we should call it James Cheng Harbour instead because of the Harbour Green series and, of course, Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

[Yellow Fever]

^^:lol:

[Yellow Fever]

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/3478637043_12735789a6_o.jpg

[Allen2]

PICS BY VANMAN @ SSP:

A few pics taken by me yesterday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/nw027.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/nw028.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/nw029.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/nw035.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/nw045.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/IMG_0318.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/IMG_0314.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/IMG_0312.jpg

[Allen2]

From SSP

From this morning:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8995/030bf.jpg

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/6763/036lav.jpg

[dleung]

Like the podium, freaking profusely hate the tower. I've hated it since 2006.

[Allen2]

Some more pics from FLICKR....these are taken on top of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel!!!!

love how the podium is turning out. looks like their website is live now.
http://www.fairmont.com/pacificrim

along with their signature "Oru" restaurant, i'm glad to see the coffee shop will not be a chain!

Giovane's
An Italian bakery and deli where guests can indulge in an array of freshly baked breads, pastries and cakes as well as a wide selection of specialty coffees and home-made sandwiches.
Also features an exclusive retail section featuring authentically local items such as flowers, souvenirs, books, and magazines.

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

i posted this in the canada section;

here are some shots from the top of the new fairmont hotel/condo

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3607/3600399509_ae117fccc9_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3600399527_cd4253c37a_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3412/3601195128_00850f5c67_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3601195136_a6998ab36e_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3601205182_05ef278d96_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3601182748_96f64f73ca_b.jpg
photo by Gordzilla1 on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordzilla/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3605619185_79db3db3a9_b.jpg
photo by Boston City Walk on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncitywalk/3605619185/

[Yellow Fever]

Nice pics, Allen, thanks for posting.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/capilanoConvention028.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/capilanoConvention035.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/capilanoConvention036.jpg

All photos by me

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/jimmysawarddanielsbdaygoldenebri-7.jpg


http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/jimmysawarddanielsbdaygoldenebri-8.jpg


http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/jimmysawarddanielsbdaygoldenebri-9.jpg

My photos

[dleung]

From yesterday by me:
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1959/dsc09645a.jpg

[Yellow Fever]

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/StanleyParkEnglishBay055.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/StanleyParkEnglishBay040.jpg

My photos

[martinishaker]

Thanks for all the pics.
I think I like the yellow insulation better than the blue stripe they are adding to Fairmont...

[Vanman]

Ah, that is ugly . I didn't even notice it until now. Hopefully it's part of la lighting feature or something.

[vanboy2]

today

http://i25.tinypic.com/13yntwm.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/2qvqyk0.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/2iu2ss2.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/mskj1k.jpg

http://i29.tinypic.com/kaiv5e.jpg

[Yellow Fever]

I took these two pics a few days ago and they are almost identical to yours. :)


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/sept2009014-1.jpg


http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr71/yellowfever_2008/sept2009015.jpg

[vanboy2]

small world right?I will come across you some day for sure.:lol:

[CharlotteJ]

a whole different views of downtown Vancouver, the first pictures are really beautiful and Fairmont is a lovely addition too.

[Vince]

Would be nicer if some of these newer buildings use darker tinted glass or polished brown steel. Would make them stand out way more. Now this hotel would look like "Phase 2" of Shaw Tower.

[Yellow Fever]

^^ Totally agreed! I know James Cheng didn't design all the buildings in Vancouver, but his designs all look the same, booooooooring!

[CharlotteJ]

is James Cheng the architect responsible for the design of most these condo's/hotels across Vancouver? (if so, why aren't they more architects?)

Vancouver has a significant coastal skyline, but what I guess is still missing is/are iconic buildings. Off course the new convention center and the harbor cruise complex are all unique in their own way, but the city surely needs either a few more taller skyscrapers or at least something that will stand symbol for the city.

[Yellow Fever]

You've been posting everywhere, I had a hard time keeping track of what you'd posted..




OK, James Cheng is not the only architect in Vancouver, but for some reasons, he'd been given several big projects like the Shangri-la; Shaw and the Fairmont Hotel. If you look closely at those three towers, you will find out that there are lot of similarities among them.

[Chadoh25]

I saw this building when I was in Vancouver from the 7th-11th. It's looking good!

[Talisker]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to add my name to the list of people who don't care much for this one. Here's how it's looking today:

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j73/xapbpoh/P1040810.jpg

[Yellow Fever]

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/JBinPacifica.jpg
photo by JB Pacifica, flickr.

[CharlotteJ]

that is a beautiful picture... thank you YF for sharing.
now you can see the new additions to its skyline. A few taller skyscrapers won't be such a bad idea.

[vanboy2]

is that a pink ship in that pic?must be a gay ship lol:lol:

[Yellow Fever]

A few taller skyscrapers won't be such a bad idea.
I know... f... that stupid view cones rule!


is that a pink ship in that pic?must be a gay ship lol:lol:
Yeah, its weird, isn't it ?

[CharlotteJ]

is that a pink ship in that pic?must be a gay ship lol:lol:

hahahaha.... I didn't notice that until now when you mentioned it.

Maybe they are perparing for a Canal Gay Pride like the one in Amsterdam!? (by the way a very boring one. you won't see much of flesh or nudity anymore)

Btw, what was the name of the beautiful suspension bridge?

VC is beautiful. I love the colors...

[vanboy2]

hahahaha.... I didn't notice that until now when you mentioned it.

Maybe they are perparing for a Canal Gay Pride like the one in Amsterdam!? (by the way a very boring one. you won't see much of flesh or nudity anymore)

Btw, what was the name of the beautiful suspension bridge?

VC is beautiful. I love the colors...

the name is Lion Gate Bridge.connect Downtown Westend to North and West Vancouver.Those houses you see lying on the mountain,that is where you should looking for your future husband(in case you still single):lol:

[CharlotteJ]

thank you for the reply Vanboy.

My future husband? I thought I had found one, but he is already taken (you know who, the one with a beautiful sexy mouth but a little bit of a weirdo :weird:, so kissable! :kiss::drool:) :lol:

hmmmm.... when I go for a visit, we shall go up the hills together, maybe we find both our future husbands out there.

[vanboy2]

hahaha,that is the most expensive area code (zip code) in Canada.Well likes 90210 in California with no movie stars( Sarah mclachlan lives there as well a lots of Hong Kong movie stars too).Yellow Fever might knows some.

[Yellow Fever]

but he is already taken.

It doesn't mean he can't still fool around! :D







http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/le_thieu/jb.jpg
photo by JB in Pacifica, flickr.

[deasine]

I can't wait till they unveil the poem =P

[vanboy2]

I can't wait till they unveil the poem =P

what poem deasine?

[deasine]

what poem deasine?

Two Vancouver developers, Westbank Projects and Peterson Investment Group, are slated to build the 47-storey Fairmont Pacific Rim on what was previously railway land at the Coal Harbour waterfront. Construction on the Fairmont Pacific Rim is now well underway. The opening lines of an original poem by British poet Liam Gillick that will wrap around the exterior of the building all the way up to the 23rd floor have already been spotted. They read: "Lying on top of a building… the clouds looked no nearer".

When completed, the Fairmont Pacific Rim offer 415 hotel rooms on 18 floors (lower) and 175 apartments on 26 floors (upper). Westbank and Peterson Group will team with James K.M. Cheng Architects for the entire design. The project cost is estimated to be $350 million. Westbank and Peterson are currently developing the Living Shangri-La tower. Construction is expected to be complete in the middle of 2009, conveniently in time for the Summer Olympics. It is expected to offer tourists and residents alike one of the best views of Vancouver available. - R.T.
(Martini Boys, 2009, emphasis mine)

http://www.martiniboys.com/Vancouver/club-news-39-Fairmont-Pacific-Rim.html

[vanboy2]

ok cool thanks.

[CharlotteJ]

It doesn't mean he can't still fool around! :D



Believe me, you CAN'T! :banana: (and what a good thing you can't or should just wait for a cougar hunter that never tastes as good as a kitten like me!)
dauuuhhhhhhh
Cheers to myself (and vanboy) :cheers:

[dleung]

update by Locked-in on SSP:

Podium at Fairmont Pacific Rim
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_9FW9P3-u1EI/S1LP7UDlweI/AAAAAAAACNg/kes3zio2hNw/s800/IMG_3254.jpg

Just checked out the floorplans at Fairmont, and some of them look kinda weird. Like this seemingly average-sized 2-bedroom corner suite, which shares a floor with 6 other units (it's a fat tower)... but everything is super-sized and it's almost 2700 square feet, and with the typical price per square foot at $2100, it's over $5.6 million:
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3702/fairmontunit9.jpg

A 2-storey unit, sharing a floor with 8 other units, for almost $5 million.
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/614/fairmontunit3.jpg

One of 3 sub-penthouses, for roughly $9-10 million.
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/9350/fairmontsubph1.jpg

Each of the 2 penthouses span 3 stories, including a roof garden. Both were sold, the slightly-bigger one, at over 6600 square feet, for $18 million.

PH1
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8508/fairmontph1.jpg

PH2
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2458/fairmontph2.jpg

The open-concept floorplans (as per usual in this city) are quite a contrast with tmost penthouse floorplans, such as the Four Seasons, or the penthouse at Toronto's Ritz Carlton:

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac173/badartkills/Ritz-Penthouse.jpg

My guess for an explanation may be based on the expected lifestyle of the target demographic. Vancouver's new money probably prefer to entertain parties on terraces rather than ballrooms, and are young enough to want their own gym equipment. And no designated nanny suite, even though any of the other bedrooms could potentially be one.

[Spoolmak]

is James Cheng the architect responsible for the design of most these condo's/hotels across Vancouver? (if so, why aren't they more architects?)

Vancouver has a significant coastal skyline, but what I guess is still missing is/are iconic buildings. Off course the new convention center and the harbor cruise complex are all unique in their own way, but the city surely needs either a few more taller skyscrapers or at least something that will stand symbol for the city.

I agree like the Transamerica Pyramid in SF would look great in Vancouver.

[CharlotteJ]

I am now sure that the " if really true" new Fairmont hotel planned to be built in Toronto, will be going to kind of look similar to this one in Vancouver.

Decent, but not really different. I like Boxy buildings too.

[dleung]

Some shots of the Fairmont yesterday by me:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9987/dsc06207j.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8919/dsc06198.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/815/dsc06038n.jpg

F*** you style street frontage facing Cordova:
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/5750/dsc06202w.jpg

I don't mind the harbour green towers being purely residential, but the level of urbanity should spike around the convention centre. Here, we have an "urban" podium massing, but the street interface is purely form over function.

One would think that with all the upscale finishes and immense west lobby, they would be a bit more generous on the cordova and burrard sides than just a standard 10-foot glass canopy over an impenetrable row of windows and solid wall. And I've already stated the problems with the tower massing before. This project disappoints on so many levels.

[Yellow Fever]

F*** you style street frontage facing Cordova:


Is it good or bad? It looks fine to me.

[deasine]

Aesthetically it looks fine, but what dleung says is that it doesn't contribute to any street activity.

[Vanman]

They could have easily wrapped the podium in retail. At the very least Cordova and Burrard should have had street facing retail. I do like the main entrance that opposes Shaw tower.

[p2bsa]

here's info on the first Fairmont Hotel Resort in South Africa - fyi - for those of you Canadian's that might come for the World Cup or just a holiday in the future...

>>www.fairmontzimbali.com
>>http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_i...0513854C858969
Luxury (Fairmont Zimbali) hotel to open before World Cup

March 12 2010

By Suren Naidoo

Construction work has been stepped up to 24/7 on the five-star, R400 million Fairmont Zimbali Hotel development near Ballito to ensure that the beach resort is opened in May, before the World Cup.

That is the word from the Kuwait-based developers, IFA Hotels and Resorts (IFA HR), speaking to The Mercury this week. It comes in the wake of a row over an R18 million payment with its principle contractors, Liviero Building, which halted construction on the North Coast development in August.

IFA HR secured an interim order from the Durban High Court restraining Liviero from preventing construction access to the Fairmont Hotel site and cancelled Liviero's contract. A case is now before the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

Wessel Witthuhn, IFA HR president for Africa and Indian Ocean region, told The Mercury that despite the setback, the Fairmont Hotel would be completed by mid-May.

"We are steaming ahead, with work continuing 24/7 for the past month... I can't talk about the legal process involving Liviero now, but what I can say is that the hotel will open the month before the World Cup," he said.

"We have employed about 80 percent of the sub-contractors that originally worked on the project with Liviero to get the job done... we are financially sound and committed to our investment in Zimbali and other parts of South Africa.

"IFA is the biggest foreign investor in the tourism industry in KZN and our total investment in SA is more than R1.7 billion.

"We will deliver what we promised at Zimbali - the first internationally branded and operated five-star beach resort in the country."

Witthuhn said the hold-up on the Fairmont Hotel because of the dispute had significant cost implications for the project, but he was loath to give a figure.

"Essentially it's now a matter of putting the finishing touches and fitting out the hotel.

"We will have a 'soft opening' in May and, after the World Cup, a high-profile grand opening.

"We also plan to launch construction on the R150m Gary Player championship golf course soon."

Witthuhn said the new 156-room Fairmont Hotel at Zimbali had secured bookings for the World Cup period.

"This hotel is not signed to Match, but we've already got bookings from Nike bosses for a two-week period during the tournament and an Australian businessman has booked out our presidential suite.

"We anticipate full bookings during the event."

Tourism KwaZulu-Natal chief executive Ndabo Khoza welcomed the news that the hotel would be open in time for the tournament.

[Yellow Fever]

http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/af28/Hongkongese/citywalker-6.jpg
photo by citywalker, flickr.