601 W Cordova | 114m | 22fl | Proposed
 

Well after years of lead-up we finally have an official proposal that's been made public.

The brief details are it's a 26Storey office tower, 127.1M in height, with 37,953sqM of floorspace. Working architects are B+H architects and it's designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon.


Here are the detail boards

Notification Letter
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...ts/notiltr.pdf

Design Rationale
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...nrationale.pdf

Landscape Site Plan
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5.../landscape.pdf

Site Plan
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...nts/sitepl.pdf

Streetscape - Existing
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...peexisting.pdf

Streetscape - Proposed
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...peproposed.pdf

Ground Level Plan With Site Plan
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...withsitepl.pdf

South & West Elevations
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...nts/sweles.pdf

North & East Elevations
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...ts/neelevs.pdf

Longitudinal & Cross Building Sections
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...sbldgsects.pdf

Project Views
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...ojectviews.pdf

Waterfront Tower Context Plan
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...fronttower.pdf

There is still a peak, but it has definitely been neutered to a degree, thanks to the city's mindless inflexibility on what would have been a trivial intrusion into their viewcone.

Here is a reminder of the original design (which the developers actually offered to design even taller and thinner to reduce the building's substantial impediment on the eastern heritage façade of Waterfront Station, one of the main concerns of the Gastown Heritage Area Committee, as well as present a more sympathetic profile in relation to Harbour Centre). As you can see, the height of the peak would have been equivalent to about three and a half floors, as viewed from the water. The peak of the city-compliant design, by contrast, is a little over two floors. From the south, they have maintained the illusion that the peak is the same, but not the height of the overall building, by allowing the roof line to cut through some habitable office space.


The older, taller design:
https://changingcitybook.files.wordp...?w=1920&h=1164
Source: http://changingcitybook.com/2015/01/...ordova-street/

Looks like 114 meters. Another medium height office tower. Yay.

So just to be clear, 127.1 meters is the approved height so the previous proposal was 140m?

This tower will still look nice, but it will lose much of its presence at the lower height and the smaller scale will make it look a little awkward compared to the older office towers near by (Harbour Centre, Granville Square).

Again, not against view cones, but Vancouver's are a little extreme, and some do need to be relaxed.

wow great looking tower .... taller would be nice but wow none the less! thx for the post!

I look forward to watching this one. That corner is pretty grungy/uninviting for what is supposed to be the centre of tourist land. I don't mind the shorter height since a taller one would make Harbour Centre pointless. SFU downtown's conference hosting business will be annihilated by this as it is.

Here's a pic I took from SFU about five years ago:

http://i.imgur.com/UwhyhX9.jpg

Thanks! Here are the renders from the Project Views board.
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...ojectviews.pdf

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/...1cbb47cb_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8571/...d54f3d34_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7561/...aa88d10b_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8625/...fc7827a9_b.jpg

Someone involved with project can correct me if I am wrong, but I suspect that these renders are actually of the older design because they are inconsistent with the North Elevation drawing.

Does anyone know who the anchor tenant will be or if anyone has expressed interest?

127.1 M is how tall this tower will be.

That should be the updated design, as can be seen on the right hand side noting revision 1 to the DP submission.

I can't quite tell for certain though as the final changes to the design are not substantially noticeable from the distance these renders are taken from.

I like the angled design, it's different.

Okay, thank you, but I must repeat: If you click on the link to the hi-res coloured renders (posted by Jlousa above), you can zoom in and see the crown in detail. The size of the crown as seen from the north in those coloured renders is clearly different than the crown in the official North Elevation drawings (also linked to above).

There's a bit of difference - looks like 1 floor.
But when have we really trusted renderings?

http://i.imgur.com/DWU7Nqy.png
http://former.vancouver.ca/devapps/5...ojectviews.pdf

The last shot is the money shot - and how most people will see the tower.
Great to see modern materials contrasting with the heritage, rather than mimicky.
The detail provided by the origami façade plays well with the detail of the CP Station's heritage façade.
A clean modernist design (i.e. flat glass wall) would not work as well as this does.

Most people won't see the peak as it'll be hidden by other buildings when viewed from the south
and the radiating point on the northeast corner of the façade won't be visible either until the lands to the north are developed.

The base of the tower is excellent! :cheers:

You might be right, like I said I can't really tell and like OD said, renders are not always 100% faithful.

The base of the tower is certainly the feature, and IMO quite unique. Not only does the tower contrast, but the individual panes of the oragami will be reflective to reflect back different angles of the station, letting the new tower pay tribute to its heritage neighbour. You can kind of see the effect in the rendering you posted.

Given its lack of height, it is the only way most people will see the tower.


Precisely.


At which time, the new developments to the north will block the view of the tower from that angle too.

Ultimately, the tower is another beautiful but neutered idea that hasn't been allowed the vertical freedom and dignity it deserves. In this location, at twice the height, it would have achieved iconic status for both Vancouverites and visitors alike and been a stunning feather in Vancouver's cap for maybe a century to come. As it stands, it is another potentially great tower destined to be lost among an already stunted herd forever.

I realize that developers can only build what is economically justifiable, although if city hall threw off the yoke and embraced a culture of economic and architectural freedom, such towers would most definitely come along. And such towers could have already come along; it's not some amazing coincidence that our major office and residential towers happen to all stop precisely at the viewcone height. Moreover, from the minutes of the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee, we already know that the developers of this project were prepared to go even taller than the already-taller original version, in spite of Vancouver's current economic climate and viewcone-obssessed political culture.

Can any leasing agents chime in on who is expected to occupy all this additional square footage in the next 5 years?

Its all AAA too, so no cheap space here. Who is the target?

Doubt any large law firms would move there - it's too far from the Law Courts.
Borden Ladner is at Waterfront Centre - but that's a stretch.

Talking about believable renders, when did it become possible to see Edmonton from Vancouver? Answer: when this rendering was released! :???: