Historic Vancouver Photos - Page 36

officedweller · #**701** Posted **Feb 10, 2018, 12:24 AM**

Index of early SkyTrain construction pics at Vancouver Archives:

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/t...n-rail-transit

***************

VLP 94.3 -
[Model of civic auditorium superimposed onto an aerial view of the proposed building site
between Howe, Hornby, Robson and Smithe Streets]

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/m...smithe-streets

MIPS · #**702** Posted **Feb 26, 2018, 5:37 AM**

Oh my god there are so many amazing photos that are in that archive set.

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...7aa-A68287.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...e52-A68297.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...972-A68295.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...53e-A68293.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/u...c8a-A68282.jpg

Top goddamn notch. IS that also brown shag carpet on the floor of the non-mockup train??

Klazu · #**703** Posted **Apr 7, 2018, 6:54 PM**

I don't think there is a way to embed Instagram photos, but Anthem has posted some old photos of the Qube building under construction back in 1969.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhH2MOQg...y=theanthemway

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhH2MR9F...y=theanthemway

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhH2MVdh...y=theanthemway

Pinion · #**704** Posted **Apr 7, 2018, 7:32 PM**

.

jollyburger · #**705** Posted **Apr 7, 2018, 7:45 PM**

What's the story behind the GT Hotel?

Nearby an old IBM Building?

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/b...ver-skyline-98

Westcoast Transmission fond has a lot of great photos to go through.

Changing City · #**706** Posted **Apr 7, 2018, 9:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollyburger

What's the story behind the GT Hotel?

Nearby an old IBM Building?

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/b...ver-skyline-98

Westcoast Transmission fond has a lot of great photos to go through.

The three pictures that Anthem posted are from the Vancouver Archives, not the BC Archives, so the high definition versions are available here and here, for example. (Click on the picture for the larger image).

The IBM Building is still standing - just. It was designed by Thompson Berwick & Pratt and was completed in 1963, at 1445 W Georgia. It's awaiting the rezoning for James Cheng's 46 storey wedge shaped tower.

The GT Hotel is still there as well - today it's Georgian Towers, a rental tower. It was built as apartments in 1955, converted to a hotel in 1958, and back to residential again in 1976.

EastVanMark · #**707** Posted **Apr 8, 2018, 10:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollyburger

What's the story behind the GT Hotel?

Nearby an old IBM Building?

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/b...ver-skyline-98

Westcoast Transmission fond has a lot of great photos to go through.

The Georgian Tower hotel was at one time THE place to be seen in Vancouver.
The rooftop lounge with its spectacular views drew in people from everywhere.(you can see it atop the roof in the previous photo) Playboy magazine staged one of the first international model searches there and subsequently threw some wild parties at the hotel.

Its absolutely bizarre how it has gone back into obscurity as a somewhat dumpy non descript, apartment building.

officedweller · #**708** Posted **May 30, 2018, 1:30 AM**

The original plan for the Concord Lands.

Note the secondary OFFICE core (looking like Lloyds HK) where Costco/Spectrum and Rogers Arena are located.

The original design for the Expo lands from 1988 would have been a series of islands, which the city rejected.
https://twitter.com/jmackie_mackie

jollyburger · #**709** Posted **May 30, 2018, 5:06 AM**

10,000 dwelling units, 287,000 sq metres commercial, 20 hectares of park, 400 room hotel, 20,000 ehicle parking, 530 berth marina

Quote:

A photo from The Sun’s files shows a futuristic highrise forest surrounded by lagoons that turned much of the site into islands. A Sun headline dubbed it a “West Coast Venice,” and it was so alluring it was one of the reasons Li got the deal.

“The original plan was to bring a taste of the False Creek waterfront closer in to the city,” said the architect of the plan, Rick Hulbert.

“To do that, we suggested building a series of lagoons. The objective also was to clean up the creek through movement of water. We worked with engineers to make sure that would be the case. It was quite exciting.”

Hulbert originally saw the design as a concept more than something that might actually be built.

“But the developer loved it, because it doubled the amount of waterfront,” he said. “You can imagine what that does for development benefits, in terms of cash flow. They loved it so much they said ‘We want this.’”

The city had reservations, however.

“The idea was to double the amount of waterfront for the enjoyment of everyone,” he said.

“In doing so, the land mass got pushed slightly into the existing False Creek, which was a concern to the city, they didn’t want the width of the creek to change. They felt it would be better to just maintain the shoreline that Expo 86 enjoyed.”

The city also thought building high-end highrises on islands connected by bridges might look like a gated community for the rich.

“It was felt that the original design appeared to be too exclusive … that that wasn’t in keeping with what Vancouver’s mission was, in terms of providing equal opportunity for everyone,” said Hulbert.

The lagoons were nixed and Hulbert came up with a new design.

“When the plan was approved, pretty much everything from the Granville Street Bridge up to the Cambie Bridge was built as originally designed and approved,” said Hulbert, 72, who is now retired from architecture but still teaches photography.

“But since that period there have been a fair bit of changes in terms of what’s happening east of the Cambie Bridge.”

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-n...the-expo-lands

jollyburger · #**710** Posted **May 30, 2018, 5:11 AM**

This blog has more details on what was happening with the initial design concept for the Expo lands (though it focuses on the park lands):

Quote:

. Keep the existing shoreline as it is.
. Extend the street grid through the project
. Place the towers to align with the streets.
. Give parks a priority on the waterfront.

https://donvaughan.wordpress.com/lan...vancouver-b-c/

WarrenC12 · #**711** Posted **May 30, 2018, 9:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollyburger

10,000 dwelling units, 287,000 sq metres commercial, 20 hectares of park, 400 room hotel, 20,000 ehicle parking, 530 berth marina

Interesting numbers. I wonder how those compare to what has been built out so far? We finally got the hotel(s). Less marina space for obvious reasons.

officedweller · #**712** Posted **May 30, 2018, 10:20 PM**

WRT hotels - do you mean The Parq hotels?
The Parq hotels are not on the Concord Pacific site - they are on BC Place Stadium lands.

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**713** Posted **May 31, 2018, 1:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

The original plan for the Concord Lands.

Note the secondary OFFICE core (looking like Lloyds HK) where Costco/Spectrum and Rogers Arena are located.

The original design for the Expo lands from 1988 would have been a series of islands, which the city rejected.
https://twitter.com/jmackie_mackie

i like this better then what we got.

osirisboy · #**714** Posted **May 31, 2018, 2:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i like this better then what we got.

I thought that at first but then Im actually glad that they didn't go with the islands. It would've felt too detached from yaletown. And when the plaza of nations site is built out I think it will be more ingesting than the original version.

Although the "financial centre" looks a lot cooler than what we have now

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**715** Posted **May 31, 2018, 2:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by osirisboy

I thought that at first but then Im actually glad that they didn't go with the islands. It would've felt too detached from yaletown. Although the "financial centre" looks a lot cooler than what we have now

i think it would have been nice with all the lagoons and water around personally. more detached, yes, but i think the extra waterfront with what looks like more waterfront walking space is a good thing.

the financial/business centre is 100% better that is for sure. it is a shame that it seems like almost none was built. we went from no-one living downtown to pushing people to live closer to work where residential has been encroaching on business downtown.

Changing City · #**716** Posted **May 31, 2018, 5:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Interesting numbers. I wonder how those compare to what has been built out so far? We finally got the hotel(s). Less marina space for obvious reasons.

In the parcels covered by the lit up part of the model (So International Village and the Aquilini towers are included) so far there are 10,355. There are still seven vacant non-market sites still to be developed as well as the waterside area to the east of the Plaza of Nations, so buildout (on less land than the lagoons would have included) will probably be over 12,000. That's without the additional units by the Granville Bridge and on the Plaza of Nations sites, neither apparently contemplated for residential in the 1988 Hulbert design.

So far, including the arena, schools and community centre, there are 165,000 sq ft of non-residential space, with more to add on the east of Plaza land. That's not counting anything built on the BC Place site - so Parq isn't included. International Village is included as it's shown as part of the model, and was sold to Henderson (I think) after the Concord initial masterplan.

Metro-One · #**717** Posted **May 31, 2018, 5:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

The original plan for the Concord Lands.

Note the secondary OFFICE core (looking like Lloyds HK) where Costco/Spectrum and Rogers Arena are located.

The original design for the Expo lands from 1988 would have been a series of islands, which the city rejected.
https://twitter.com/jmackie_mackie

The secondary business core sure looks interesting.

Would have been nice to have settled on a middle ground between this model and what we have today regarding the waterfront. A cove or two would have been nice.

Also... look at what is around and under the viaducts. It essentially what is being proposed today, haha. (But yet somehow magically retaining the viaducts!)

jollyburger · #**718** Posted **May 31, 2018, 7:14 AM**

If you squint and read the Vancouver Sun article it says the financial centre towers would have been 65 stories.

phesto · #**719** Posted **May 31, 2018, 4:27 PM**

The financial centre concept would've been really cool, although it probably would've taken 25+ years to become viable. Imagine if the City had enforced the commercial use though and if the heights were permitted and grandfathered before the view cones, it might've been an avenue to allow the tallest buildings in the City even if it would've taken until now to be built.

At the time back in the late 80's though the office towers would have had no chance of being built. The market had just finished absorbing the glut of downtown office space caused by overbuilding in the early/mid 80's and rental rates were in decline. A handful of medium size office buildings got built in the early 90's (eg. Cathedral Place, Waterfront Centre) and then office construction was stagnant for a decade.

LeftCoaster · #**720** Posted **May 31, 2018, 10:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Would have been nice to have settled on a middle ground between this model and what we have today regarding the waterfront. A cove or two would have been nice.

ya that was my exact thought, one area of canals would have been cool but to do the entire thing in canals would have killed the walkability of the area and really segregated it from downtown and probably have negatively impacted the resurgence of Yaletown.

To be honest, aside from the sleepy architecture, I think we did pretty well on the concord lands.