Vancouver Developments

[Plumber73]

I heard that about the West End years ago. If that's the most dense square mile in North America still, then I'm shocked. Manhatten must have something to say about that.

[mr.x]

New rendering is out for West Pender Place in Coal Harbour.



site



^from www.lestwarog.com


Credits: Delirium



it looks awesome, very different.

[officedweller]

Pics of the VCCEP by me taken today - showing the the glass (two angles) and the connector walkway:









And a pic of the H&M @ Pacific Centre (old Holt Renfrew)

[Joev]

Nice pics - I am liking the VCCEP more as it takes shape.
West Pender Place looks interesting too.

[worldwide]

some pics of the new library and students center at langara college.







and 3 floors of underground parking

[mr.x]

^ wow, that's really nice.

if they could only do that for the rest of the campus too.....thx for posting btw.

[look@round]

A few updates of development under construction (pix taken yesterday & today). Sorry, but I'm still not familiar with the names of all these buildings...

On Robson & Richards



Does anyone know what they are gonna build at the south west corner, where they destroy this building:






On West Pender Street
The 3 buildings under construction, on W Pender street close to Bute street (I don't know the name of the first one, then I guess it's Ritz and Sapphire)

[mr.x]

A big thanks to RAGGEDY13 from SSP:



The Greatest Proposal in Vancouver's History, ever:

- residential
- hotel
- office
- museum
- retail
- 600 feet tall (would share second tallest status in city with under construction Ritz Carlton)

The hollow portion of the building will frame Vancouver's Lions twin-peaked mountains:





The site for this building, the Sutton Hotel on Burrard and near Robson:

[look@round]

Originally Posted by mr.x

The Greatest Proposal in Vancouver's History, ever

You must be kidding
It reminds me of the Tuntex Sky Tower in Kaohsiung (Taiwan)



I don't like these both that much... Vancouver needs higher building for sure, but well, I'm not a big fan of this proposal... The 2 columns looks strange, I would probably prefer the building without.

[nova9]

yeah, i wouldn't mind having those columns more fleshed out with something if that's even architecturally possible. i dunno though, it doesn't really smack of a great design - more provocative. it just looks like Capitol residences with stilts and a huge gap.

[jonovision]

I can't decide if I like it, but I don't think I do.....what ever happened to the whole idea of earthquake proof buildings!?

[Daguy]

I'm not entirely sure if I like it either but I will say thing: it's the type of building that will be recognized and put us on the map.

I mean I can't really think of any building in Vancouver where people are like "uh yeah, that's in Vancouver". There's no really distinctive tower, and our highest building (for a little while still) One Wall isn't exactly something that most people from outside Canada would recognize (possible even within Canada depending on where you're from).

This is the type of building that would stand out as a landmark. We don't have any tall buildings that do that in Vancouver. The most iconic sites are not even buildings with Stanley Park at the top of my list, followed by the Lion's Gate bridge, and Science World sadly.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by look@round

Does anyone know what they are gonna build at the south west corner, where they destroy this building:

Thanks for the pics - the project at Homer & Robson is "L'Atelier", a condo tower (28 or 30?) with a 5 storeyish podium.

[themovement]

They couldnt be seriously proposing that for the Sutton Place, they just built an addition to the hotel... Nice design btw. It would look killer in our cbd.

[spongeg]

For Vancouver artists, an Olympic challenge

With the Games just over two years away, the city is facing a stark shortage of venues to show off Canadian culture

VANCOUVER -- At a recent event at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, respected former Vancouver city planner Larry Beasley informed the audience that, while the city may be world-renowned for its urban planning, it has almost no international cultural reputation. "Honestly, we are not even on the charts in terms of the growth and support of our cultural institutions," he told the crowd. "[It's] an issue I think we are far behind on."

He won't get much argument there - even if the idea is embarrassing for the local arts community. In a city known for its mountains, ocean and breathtaking views, cultural institutions are fighting to get on the map. That fight has taken on new desperation as the 2010 Olympics approach. "We are going to be all over the world's radar," says Tanja Dixon-Warren, president of the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance. "We should be taking advantage of that and showing off."

But "showing off" requires something the Vancouver arts scene doesn't have: space. All over the city, arts groups are outgrowing their homes. "As the city gets bigger, you automatically get more artists coming to the city," says Dixon-Warren, who is also a theatre producer. "As a result, you need more spaces. That's just math."

The problem is particularly acute in the theatre community. Beyond the construction of a new 100-seat studio theatre at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, where Beasley made his frank remarks, there isn't much good news these days for the more than 100 production companies in the city looking for space to put on their shows.

Dixon-Warren has been personally navigating the underequipped theatre scene for years. She has built sets in her garage (most recently for Angels in America) and lost money on productions she was forced to run in non-theatrical venues - because those venues didn't come with chairs or washroom supplies, which she was forced to furnish herself.

Last week, Dixon-Warren was among the speakers who gathered downtown at the Vogue Theatre (a 1940 art-deco classic that has been dark for almost for two years) to launch a "call to action." Hosted by Heritage Vancouver, a non-profit advocacy group for heritage conservation, the event focused mainly on efforts to save historical theatres from the wrecking ball.

The crux of their argument is this: It doesn't make sense that, while theatre companies are struggling to find performance and even rehearsal space, several historical theatres in the city remain dark.

Take the York Theatre. Tom Durrie, a passionate theatre lover who spoke at the Vogue forum, has been fighting since 1981, on and off, to restore the York. The theatre, on the city's east side, opened in 1913. Most recently, it was known as the Raja Cinema, and showed Bollywood films. It closed last year, and the building was put on the market. "When it came up for sale," recalls Durrie, "I thought, 'My golly, now's the time to act.' "

For a year, he tried to raise enough money to buy the theatre (the asking price was about $950,000, but renovations would likely cost around $10-million). But the day after the forum, Durrie received crushing news: The theatre had been sold. In an e-mail sent to members of the Vancouver theatre community titled "Too Late!" Durrie wrote that "unless [the buyer] has philanthropic intentions, we can say goodbye to one of the finest and most historic theatres in Vancouver."

The news comes on the heels of the demolition of another old east-side Vancouver theatre. The Imperial on Main Street opened in 1912, but had fallen far from its former vaudevillian grandeur, operating for the last 20 years or so as a pornographic theatre called the Venus. For the last few weeks, crews have been dismantling the theatre and excavating the site. Condos will take the theatre's place.

There is some optimism, though, about a major effort under way to save another historic theatre in a spot that seems unlikely to attract condominium developers. The Pantages is smack in the heart of Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. A group interested in revitalizing the troubled area has been working diligently to restore and reopen the theatre. It's promising a big announcement on January 6, 2008 - the 100th anniversary of the Pantages's opening.

As for the Vogue, its current owner wants to tear out the seats and replace them with tables and booths, and turn the place into a supper club featuring musical performances, guest speakers and - maybe - some theatre. He's in the process of applying for a liquor licence.

Properly restoring any of these old theatres would cost millions. But at last week's forum, Don Luxton of Heritage Vancouver put it in perspective: If people think it's expensive to buy and renovate a theatre like the Vogue, he said, "try building a new one."

In fact, people have tried. In the early 1990s, the city and province announced with great fanfare a new theatre complex in one of the city's prime real-estate areas. The Coal Harbour Arts Complex was to include two theatres - a 1,500-seat lyric hall and a 350-seat studio theatre to be used primarily, but not exclusively, for music. But those plans fell apart when the provincial government decided to expand the Vancouver convention centre onto the waterfront site instead. (The city and province are holding almost $20-million earmarked for the arts complex, with the next steps to be announced by year's end.)

The lack of musical-performance spaces has never been as evident as in recent weeks, during the civic strike. The dispute affected the 2,800-seat Orpheum, and such organizations as the Vancouver Recital Society and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra found themselves with few or no options for alternative venues.

For musical performances targeting smaller audiences, meanwhile, it is almost impossible to find an appropriate space. Those types of concerts generally end up in a church.

As for theatre, the size of needed space varies, depending on whom you talk to. Dixon-Warren says the city desperately needs more small theatres, in the 60-to-300-seat range. Durrie says a dearth of 500-seat theatres (about the size of the York) is the big problem. And at last week's event, Luxton mused that it's theatres about the size of the Vogue, with 1,100 seats, that the city could really use most.

The turnout at the Heritage Vancouver forum was hardly spectacular, with only 50 or so theatre types in attendance. However, there were a few suggestions that came from it: talk of creating a fund that would require developers to contribute to cultural infrastructure; a voluntary theatre-improvement fee, through which patrons could donate money at the same time they buy tickets; and involving sports personalities in the drive to save theatres.

Durrie suggested the group take a (recycled) page out of the environmental movement's handbook. "Maybe," he mused, "we have to chain ourselves to theatres."

The suggestion came too late for his York Theatre - and for the Imperial, whose demolition progressed on the very day the save-Vancouver's-historic-theatres forum was held.

Still, there is some good news coming for Vancouver's cultural growth. The Vancouver Art Gallery - which has outgrown its current site, an old provincial courthouse on Robson Street - is about to announce details of a much-anticipated move to a new space.

The new facility will more than double the gallery's size to 300,000 square feet (about 28,000 square metres) and will likely be in the city's planned "cultural precinct" - the heart of which will be in what was once a bus depot (currently a parking lot) next to the city-run Queen Elizabeth Theatre (and also the planned site of one of two live stages which will operate during the 2010 Olympics). The VAG will make its announcement in the next few weeks.

But with only two years and four months to go before the 2010 Games, it seems unlikely there will be many shiny new buildings or tangible cultural change in time for the arrival of the Olympic flame - and the world's gaze. "I do think we need to look at [solutions now]," says Dixon-Warren. "If we go away with a reputation of being a dud, it would be a big bummer."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...nment/Theatre/

[officedweller]

From the North Shore News:

http://www.canada.com/northshorenews...31d581&k=38354

400-foot waterfront tower proposed
Lower Lonsdale plan includes art gallery, floating swimming pool

Heidi Castle, North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2007

A 36-storey residential tower inspired by the Princess Louise, a 1921 luxury passenger liner built in North Vancouver's Wallace Shipyard's, is the signature piece in a new development proposal for the foot of Lower Lonsdale.

If approved, the city will enjoy an A-list of public amenities in exchange for a density transfer from public to private land. Besides a LEED silver-certified residential and commercial tower hooked up to the Lonsdale Energy Corporation's geothermal heating grid, those amenities include a new, prominent, waterfront home for Presentation House Gallery, a public floating swimming pool built on a new public wharf extending into the harbour south of Lonsdale Avenue, a unified city seawall walk and public art opportunities. Long-range plans call for a new home for the Whistler Rocky Mountaineer, a repositioned SeaBus terminus and bus loop, and an east-west route for the city's historic streetcar 153.

The area under consideration includes land held by Millennium Developments and the City of North Vancouver. Combined, the property is referred to as Site 8 and sits north of Carrie Cates Court, south of Esplanade Avenue and east of Rogers Avenue.


A conceptual illustration of a proposed 36-storey tower, art gallery and floating swimming pool just west of the foot of Lonsdale Avenue.
graphic supplied

Site 8 will be further combined with other city-owned property at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue for a total area of 11,076.2 square metres (2.75 acres).

The proposal is to transfer the density off both city-owned parcels and concentrate it on the Millennium property and then use the city land for amenity development.

That density shift would see a potential 7.1 FSR (floor-space ratio -- a ratio that determines the building footprint relative to the lot it sits on) in the one corner of the combined parcels up from the current 2.6 FSR of each individual site.

The city's official community plan designates the land as "town centre mixed use" with a building height of 40 feet. The Lower Lonsdale planning study suggested upping the height limit to 75 feet but retained the 2.6 FSR.

"This is an important site in the history of North Vancouver," Gregory Henriquez of Henriquez Partners Architects told city council Monday. "The goal of our design is to try and bring back a resolution to this historic water's edge and find a way in the 21st century to make North Vancouver as significant and important a city as it can be."

This proposal is about community and will enliven the city's waterfront, he said. "The poetry for our architecture always comes from the nature of the site."

Initial view studies show less than 10 per cent blockage which is less than the 15 per cent acceptable in the City of Vancouver, said Henriquez.

The proposal builds on a concept that originated with a five-year-old city-driven study, known as "Where the mountains meet the community and the sea," he said.

Highlights of the four-phase proposal begin with building the residential tower, relocating the Railway Museum to Waterfront Park, while developing some of the city land for public space, a new home for Presentation House Gallery, and the proposed new wharf and pool.

The subsequent phases and longer term vision anticipate the Whistler Mountaineer Station move to Waterfront Park, building the route for the city's historic street car, the relocation of the SeaBus terminal to the foot of Lonsdale and a renovated and repositioned bus circle.

Joining Site 8 with the foot of Lonsdale is something council has endorsed, said Coun. Craig Keating. It's something the city has encouraged for a long time, he said.

"It's a very intriguing proposal," said Keating. However, there are many hurdles and a lot of hard work ahead for the developer, he said. "The community has to put this in some kind of context. If this were a proposal pure and simply for a 40-storey building and nothing else that would be a different thing."

The amenity list needs to be considered he said. Keating said he likes a pool in Lower Lonsdale, a stop for the Rocky Mountaineer, a hook up to LEC and a new home for the Presentation House Gallery.

"That gallery has done more in a sense to advertise the City of North Vancouver internationally than anything else," he said. "It's a world class photo arts gallery that has received many awards and to have a new waterfront home for that would be terrific."

"I don't know that your current plan makes the best use of that whole area," said Coun. Bob Heywood. "I think there's a lot of work to be done in reshaping the presentation of this very important area for the city."

Heywood said he's not convinced the city needs another public plaza when one is part of the Maritime Museum proposal just east of the foot of Lonsdale.

Additionally, the half-block of business to the east of Site 8 is excluded from the plans, he said. "It would seem to me that if we're going to create some space down there we need to involve that half of the block."

"The scope of amenity that's going to lend any support to this kind of project is going to be pretty significant," he said.

"We are in the genesis of this design stage," said Henriquez.

On the issue of the small scale buildings to the east, Henriquez said his design responds to their scale and that they are integral to the heritage of the neighbourhood and should be left or possibly restored in similar scale.

"I gasped a little," admitted Coun. Barbara Perrault at the 400-foot proposed tower. But, she said she likes the amenity list. "This (Presentation House Gallery) is a very sophisticated and very, very substantial gallery that we have in this community and we have not sung it's praises loud enough," said Perrault. "It needs a decent home."

She also supported the concept of the pool, but would like to see a 50-metre version if possible.

Coun. Pam Bookham said unless the public strongly supports the proposal she could not support that level of height on the city's waterfront.

"The doubling of the height of this building, even for the very worthwhile amenities that have been proposed I think is going to be a very difficult public sell," she said.

Council carried a motion for an Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning application, with Bookham opposed, that will see the proposal move to the public discussion stage.

Coun. Sam Schechter was absent.

© North Shore News 2007

Reach for the sky

North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2007

THE ramifications of the latest development proposal for Lower Lonsdale before City of North Vancouver council are huge.

A 400-foot tower where zoning exists for 40 feet (and only a suggestion for 75 feet) is going to make some upslope residents unhappy about their loss of view.

On the other hand, the benefits that the development would provide the city are enticing: a waterfront home for Presentation House Gallery which has long wanted a move to a purpose-built home in a higher traffic area as well as another waterfront pier with the novel concept of a floating swimming pool.

Residents adjacent to Waterfront Park will not be thrilled about the concept for the park to be the Whistler Mountaineer's terminus, but the plan makes commercial sense in terms of attracting tourists to North Vancouver. Reorienting the SeaBus terminal and our incredibly ugly bus loop should also improve the North Van experience for visitors.

But the bigger picture is whether the size of the proposed 36-storey building is appropriate for its Rogers Avenue location and whether the tower block is the appropriate defining image for Lower Lonsdale. It would be a bold statement not just from a North Vancouver perspective, but also as seen from the Vancouver side of the inlet.

We have written recently about the need for citizens to participate in local government. The public process on this one requires all city residents to get involved -- and council to assess that response accurately.

© North Shore News 2007

Sept 20th, 2007 - Global Air Photo of the area. The site is just above the red roofed buildings in this pic:

[mr.x]

^ holy crap!

[spongeg]

that pic makes north van look so flat - kinda funny

looks like a nice development for that grungy area

[Rusty Gull]

3 words: Henriquez Partners Architects

I think this could be a terrific project for a neighbourhood undergoing a serious transformation. It could also change the character of the North Shore -- for the better.

With that being said, I would expect plenty of Nimbyism since this is a 400-footer, and we are talking about the North Shore, afterall -- but I think the quality of the architecture and the excellent amenities should temper that.

[isaidso]

Never been to BC. What are the negative attributes of the North Shore, as you see it?