150 W Georgia (Steam Plant + Data Centre) | 10fl | U/C

[officedweller]

That's a nice addition to the BC Place concourse.
I wonder if that will be used as a staging area during construction?

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Thanks. That drilling rig in the foreground has been working quite a bit, and it's not the same that are used for anchoring a hole. It's drilling deep vertical holes, which made me wonder if there's a geothermal element to this project, as well as the electric powered steam boilers?

Maybe they are adding some structural support for those concrete columns?

[jollyburger]

The breezeway gaps between the buildings is 5m

https://web.archive.org/web/202107052147...tty2/documents/720Beatty-PublicRealm.pdf

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Maybe they are adding some structural support for those concrete columns?

The depth they're driling to seems much deeper than that, and they're only narrow pipes. I think they'd use more typical rotary piles (as they did at Gilmore) for structural support.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Changing City

The depth they're driling to seems much deeper than that, and they're only narrow pipes. I think they'd use more typical rotary piles (as they did at Gilmore) for structural support.

Or something with the building foundation?

Page 28-30 of their conditions of approval talks about how it interacts with the viaduct

Geotechnical requirements:
i. The Applicant shall maintain the as-constructed condition of the Georgia
Viaduct and retaining walls at the site and shall not impact the new Georgia
Ramp, including impacts to the foundations at Abutment A0, Pier P1 and
Pier P2.
ii. Shoring design (jet grout, anchors, etc.) shall be designed and constructed
to maintain support around the column shafts.
iii. The Applicant shall not rely on the capacity of the Georgia Ramp or retaining
walls for support of their structure. The Applicant shall accurately draw their
proposed building configuration and Georgia Ramp for assessment by the
ramp designer.
iv. Should the parkade structure be constructed prior to the ramp foundations;
temporary shoring will be required to facilitate construction of the parkade
and soil anchors are contemplated for the temporary shoring. The soil
anchors must be designed and installed to avoid potential conflicts with the
future drilled shaft construction or as-built Georgia Ramp foundations. The
Applicant is to provide protection (sheet piles, shoring, etc.) to allow for
construction of the drilled shaft adjacent the development and shall be
reviewed and approved by the Georgia Ramp designers.

v. The base of parkade footings must be set not lower than the top of caisson
to limit transvers loading to the pier foundations.
vi. Temporary excavation support to be designed to accommodate the
installation of the adjacent structure.
vii. The Applicant shall be responsible for monitoring and reporting movements
of the existing Georgia Viaduct or Georgia Ramp due to construction
activities on the rezoning site. Movement limits shall be specified by the City.
Temporary works design shall limit imposed deformations on the Georgia
Ramp to within the specified limits.

https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/720-beatty-st-appendix-g.pdf

[madog222]

It looks like standard drilling like for geothermal, not jet grouting. There are piles of hollow casing pipe around the site.

It's strange though that there is no mention of geothermal from CE.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by madog222

It looks like standard drilling like for geothermal, not jet grouting. There are piles of hollow casing pipe around the site.

It's strange though that there is no mention of geothermal from CE.

Yeah the drill and the equipment around it probably wouldn't be related to that. Here's a jet grout video for anyone that's never seen the tech before.

• Video Link



Fraser Valley Well Drilling

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Yeah the drill and the equipment around it probably wouldn't be related to that. Here's a jet grout video for anyone that's never seen the tech before.

Fraser Valley Well Drilling

As well as the deep drill working (similar to the Greaser Valley image) there's also what looks like a jet grout drill on site. It's similar to the drills we're used to seeing putting horizontal anchors for below-grade structures, but on steroids.

[madog222]

July 21, 2023

Photo by me.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Thanks. That drilling rig in the foreground has been working quite a bit, and it's not the same that are used for anchoring a hole. It's drilling deep vertical holes, which made me wonder if there's a geothermal element to this project, as well as the electric powered steam boilers?

So the purpose of the vertically drilled very long steel pipes seems to be to provide additional vertical anchors for the steel mesh and spraycrete for the vertical shoring, as they dig down along the perimeter by the road.

As with that sort of shoring, they're anchoring using angled jet grouted rods drilled into the subsoil under the road, and between the columns supporting the upper walkway. However, as well as the usual light wire mesh to hold the sprayed concrete, they're also adding thicker horizontal bars, wired onto the vertical pipes, so there's a much stronger reinforced matrix anchoring the vertical cut beside the road, sidewalk and column footings. The sprayed concrete layer is probably thicker than usual, too.

[jollyburger]

October photos of the pit from Daily Hive

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/creative...tty-street-vancouver-design-construction

[Changing City]

Looks like they've completed most of the main excavation. They're now marking out the base of the pit, and excavating sections for what looks like it may be a crane base, and drainage.

[jollyburger]

A fifth underground level added?

Development Permit Application DP-2023-00306In Review


Application Date: Apr, 06, 2023
Issue Date:
Completed Date:

Details
Primary Location: 150 W GEORGIA STREET, Vancouver, BC V6B 4P4
Specific Location: Updated: Dec 21 2021
Primary Address = 150 W Georgia St


Work Description: In accordance with Section 4.5 of the Zoning and Development By-law, your request is xxxxx, thereby xxxx:

- addition of 5th underground level to accommodate
services/mechanical;
- addition of elevator and egress stair;
- layout changes to underground levels P1-P4 including changes to
parking, and bicycle spaces;
- layout changes to levels 1-17;
- changes to steam plant flu shaft;
on this site consisting of 2 buildings with office, retail and community energy center use, retail use;

and as shown on Drawings Sheet page numbers xxxxxxxx submitted by HCMA Architects and Westbank Projects Corp., and stamped "RECEIVED" by this Department on xxxxxxxxxx3 and now xxxxxxxxxxxx as a Minor Amendment to Development Permit Number DP-2021-00168


Type of Work: Addition / Alteration

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public/Default.aspx?PossePresentation=Guest&PosseObjectId=198956792

[C3YVR]

Originally Posted by om604

https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/150-w-georgia-st

https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/150-w-georgia-st/application-booklet.pdf

That is for the data centre that was posted April 7th?
I've been intrigued since it was posted last year on who it could be for, on top of the question on who the office tenant might be?
My best guess so far is that it's a large tech company, and one of the players Vancouver is missing is Google. My main reasons for thinking it might be Google are that it has worked with BIG before:
https://www.archdaily.com/985328/google-bay-view-big-plus-heatherwick-studio

Google also aims to operate in a carbon-free environment by 2030 and they have quite a few data centres around the world.
I realize this is a big (no pun intended) jump, but I haven't heard any other theories on who the office is for, and it's hard to believe it will be built without a signed tenant.

[jollyburger]

Allied has Google Canada as a tenant as well I believe. They were into some Toronto data centres as well but they sold off the portfolio last year.

[madog222]

I missed that amendment to add data storage use, thanks for bringing it up. I can't image that the shape of the building will be space efficient for server racks.

I'm inclined to think a smaller niche company, Global Relay for example, would be more likely than AWS or Google due to the scale. That said this site is only two blocks away from The Post so it could be Amazon.

[jollyburger]

During the public hearing the Westbank rep did mention IT workers (not sure if that's just the server tech people or something more) and they would have a dedicated entrance for the data farm.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by madog222

I missed that amendment to add data storage use, thanks for bringing it up. I can't image that the shape of the building will be space efficient for server racks.

Server farms spit out a lot of heat. That waste heat could prove pretty useful when sitting above a massive district energy plan supplying heat to downtown offices.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Server farms spit out a lot of heat. That waste heat could prove pretty useful when sitting above a massive district energy plan supplying heat to downtown offices.

Yup, that was noted by city staff in the referral report.

...however there are synergies between the energy produced from the equipment associated with a Bulk Data Storage use (i.e. computer servers) and the Community Energy Centre use, which makes this location appropriate for the proposed use.

It has already been done in multiple places, including with Amazon. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/data-center-heat-green-energy/

[jlousa]

Not sure Google is looking for more space right now, they recently took over the 4th floor at 175W Cordova and and have plenty of capacity still there. But the data centre game is coming to the Vancouver region and it's an area we've been behind where we should've been.