Economic woes leave historic building hanging - literally
By John Mackie, Vancouver SunJanuary 16,
VANCOUVER - For many Vancouverites, the symbol of the Great Depression was the Hotel Vancouver. Construction on the hotel began in 1928, but was stopped in 1930, and the building wasn’t finished until 1939. Which means the shell of the building loomed over downtown for a decade before it finally opened, a highly visible reminder of the world economic collapse.
Some might think the symbol for the current economic downtown would be the Olympic Athletes’ Village, which is mired in financing problems. But a more apt symbol might be the Ceperley Rounsfell building, a handsome two-storey structure at 848 West Hastings, which is suspended in mid-air.
Literally.
The 1921 building was supposed to be restored as part of the Jameson House development, a cutting-edge condo/office tower that seemed to have everything going for it: a great downtown location, striking architecture by the world-famous Norman Foster and a much-praised “green” design.
In November the financing fell through for the $180-million project, which is now in limbo. But construction had already started for the 37-storey tower with a 21-metre deep pit for the building’s foundation and parking garage.
To keep the Ceperley Rounsfell building from falling into the pit, it was enveloped in a $2-million steel truss. This was supposed to be temporary, but could stay indefinitely while the developer (Jameson Holdings) tries to line up new financing for the project.
Hence you have one of the most bizarre construction sights in an era of bizarre construction sites: an old building hanging six storeys in the air.
“It can stay like that for many, many years, it’s not going to deteriorate,” said Bruce Simmonds, an engineer with LNS Services, which built the truss.
“It’s a pretty massive structure that’s there. It has no corrosion protection on it, so the only thing that would eventually take it is if the beams were to severely corrode. But that would take 10, 20 years before something like that would even be significant. So it could stay there, there’s nothing unsafe about it.”
The 40-metre long, eight-metre high, nine-metre wide, 70,000-kilo truss was put up on Nov. 17, 2007.
It was a complicated affair.
“We drove 70-foot [21 metre] deep pipe caissons [a retaining, watertight structure] into the sidewalk and into the back lane, and they were concrete filled,” Simmonds relates.
“Then we put a steel truss over the top of the building. Hangers, so to speak, come down on [the east] side of the building. The [west] side of the building is tight to the adjacent building, so we had to go through the [adjacent] building with those hangers.
“Then there are large needle beams underneath the foundation. When the building was just sitting there and there was no excavation, we had to dig slots underneath the building, put the needle beams in, erect the truss over the top and put the hangers down.”
The building and steel truss are also hooked up to hydraulic jacks.
“To ensure nothing moved, the hydraulic jacks are on a self-levelling system, such that each jack would take its appropriate amount of weight to keep the building level,” said Simmonds.
The 1,200-tonne building has no floor, which was taken out so that the steel needle beams could be attached. Which makes it look all the more unusual.
Why go to all the bother? Because the Ceperley Rounsfell building has Heritage A status, the city’s highest ranking. It is one of the only examples of what a city report dubs “Regency Georgian Revival architecture” left in Vancouver.
It has a gorgeous interior with a double height ceiling, elaborate plasterwork and a skylight. It was built by Vancouver pioneer Henry Ceperley, a major player in real estate from the 1880s to the 1920s. (Ceperley Park is named after him.) It had been a mining museum in recent years.
The facade of another heritage building at 840 West Hastings was also to be retained and partly rebuilt in the Jameson House development. Another old building which housed the Jolly Taxpayer Pub was torn down.
The developer was given a heritage density transfer to help pay for the restoration costs, which were estimated at $7,934,000 in 2005. They also purchased another $5 million in heritage density transfers off the Yip Sang building, the oldest building in Chinatown. The Yip Sang building is being restored by realtor Bob Rennie, who was marketing the Jameson House development.
The density transfers meant Jameson Development was able to add several storeys to the Jameson House building. The plan was to have retail and offices on the bottom of the building, then 144 condos from floors 14 to 37. More than 100 condos had been sold when the financing fell through.
The tower was designed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold standards, the benchmark for green buildings. It was supposed to generate some of its own power, and have a water recycling system. The aerodynamic shape of the building took advantage of the wind for ventilation, and was angled to get the maximum heat and cooling from the sun and shade.
But whether it will ever be built, and what will happen to the Ceperley Rounsfell building, is up in the air.
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