The Georgia | 157m | 48 fl | Completed

[officedweller]

Nice.

Thanks.

[Cypherus]

Thanks for the rendering. It looks great. The tower will definitely make a measurable impact to the skyline from far away.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

That big building has a similar design to a tall one in Hong Kong....

I think you mean this beauty, the Bank of China:


photo courtesy of carthur7607 at photobucket

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Also - I hate Sears (like just about everone) but Mr. Leung's replacement looks like a meteorite or something.

Had I not seen post 9/11 pictures of the WTC, this is what I figure the building would have looked like. If this thing ever gets built, it will make people very nostalgic for Sears.

[itinerant]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

I think you mean this beauty, the Bank of China:

Had I not seen post 9/11 pictures of the WTC, this is what I figure the building would have looked like. If this thing ever gets built, it will make people very nostalgic for Sears.

Actually, I think the Hong Kong HSBC building is more likely the one that would come to mind. FYI, I quite like the Bank of China and Foster and Partners' HSBC, but neither of them particularly for Vancouver in place of Caesar Pelli's Sears building.

Here's Foster's HSBC building in Hong Kong (photo credit: gotravelhongkong.com)


and I.M. Pei's Bank of China in Hong Kong (photo credit: gotravelhongkong.com)

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by itinerant

Actually, I think the Hong Kong HSBC building is more likely the one that would come to mind. FYI, I quite like the Bank of China and Foster and Partners' HSBC, but neither of them particularly for Vancouver in place of Caesar Pelli's Sears building.

Here's Foster's HSBC building in Hong Kong (photo credit: gotravelhongkong.com)


and I.M. Pei's Bank of China in Hong Kong (photo credit: gotravelhongkong.com)

IMO, while I will admit that those buildings are impressive, to me they look rather "gadgety" and too high-tech for Vancouver.

People will argue, but La Bourse in Montreal is a super example of the International Design, and an example to keep in mind. It tapers very slightly toward the top, thanks to slender concrete colums at the sides, and has a slightly convex surface. The glass is dark-coloured, but not brown-black. Rather it's a deep bronze. More than anything, though, it's the sheer sleekness of the building which is so catching. One could always change the colour if desired.

Here's a link to the picture. It's not too pretentious for Vancouver, and would have made a great "supertall."

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Montr%C3%A9al_-_Tour_de_La_Bourse_-_20050310.jpg

[itinerant]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

IMO, while I will admit that those buildings are impressive, to me they look rather "gadgety" and too high-tech for Vancouver.

People will argue, but La Bourse in Montreal is a super example of the International Design, and an example to keep in mind. It tapers very slightly toward the top, thanks to slender concrete colums at the sides, and has a slightly convex surface. The glass is dark-coloured, but not brown-black. Rather it's a deep bronze. More than anything, though, it's the sheer sleekness of the building which is so catching. One could always change the colour if desired.

Here's a link to the picture. It's not too pretentious for Vancouver, and would have made a great "supertall."

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Montr%C3%A9al_-_Tour_de_La_Bourse_-_20050310.jpg

Don't you think we already have enough of that with Three Bentall (and siblings) and Scotia tower? These are not my kind of building, but they adequately represent the 70's design aesthetic before it took a turn to PoMo. Definitely not as good as La Bourse, but the sentiment is evident.

I wish there would have been more bronze colour glazing in Vancouver--everything doesn't have to be blue/green to emulate the mountains and the ocean, does it?

After a little bit of research on La Bourse triggered by your post, I discovered plenty of opinion that lauds it as one of the finest representations of international style. Who knew? Next time I'm in Montreal, I'll have to take a closer look.

Maybe if Three Bentall or Scotia Tower had been taller and better detailed one or both of them would have been the supertall you envision for Vancouver.

[vanman]

Don't you think we already have enough of that with Three Bentall (and siblings) and Scotia tower? These are not my kind of building, but they adequately represent the 70's design aesthetic before it took a turn to PoMo. Definitely not as good as La Bourse, but the sentiment is evident.

I wish there would have been more bronze colour glazing in Vancouver--everything doesn't have to be blue/green to emulate the mountains and the ocean, does it?

After a little bit of research on La Bourse triggered by your post, I discovered plenty of opinion that lauds it as one of the finest representations of international style. Who knew? Next time I'm in Montreal, I'll have to take a closer look.

I agree with pretty much everything you just said. And La Bourse is a very fine building. I remember a couple of years being in Montreal and even though I'm not a huge fan of 70s architecture, I really liked that building.

[trofirhen]

@Itinerant, @Vanman .......
Thank you both for your feedback. Yes, I can understand why one would tire of the "70s" look. My big fear, I guess, is that they will start going for a sort of "bizarre high-tech" look, with exterior piping, strange shapes, and so forth, which could end up being really ugly and grotesque.

It's all a matter of taste, too. Different strokes for different folks, and all that..... I just happen to like sleek buildings with clean lines, but that's just one person's taste. Everybody has their idea of what "good looking" is, regarding buildings.

[officedweller]

Pic by me today, sorry about the reflection



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Metro-One]

Look at that picture! Look at the true city density, look at the great variety of architecture, look at how many of those towers are offices and hotels! I wish more of downtown was akin to this picture. That general area is, and looks like will always be my favorite area of downtown, and this tower will only make it better.


Thanks for the pic!

[Fairbanks]

Just wondering if anyone knows what building is under construction on Hornby Street just north of the HSBS block please. I appears to be located between Dunsmuir and Georgia Streets on the east of of Hornby. Thanks.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Look at that picture! Look at the true city density, look at the great variety of architecture, look at how many of those towers are offices and hotels! I wish more of downtown was akin to this picture. That general area is, and looks like will always be my favorite area of downtown, and this tower will only make it better.


Thanks for the pic!

Idem! That core of downtown bounded by Georgia, Burrard, Hastings and Howe has achieved, at long las, a true Big City feeling to it. It's really exciting, and gives you energy just walking around there.

And when the Georgia is topped off, at 48 floors, ........ oh I can't wait to come home and see all that!

[Canadian Mind]

Personally I find the idea of calling anything over the current tallest a "supertall" is a bit pretentious, and would give a negative flavour to any proposal for would-be NIMBYs.

Rather, catagorise everything under 500 feet as medium height, 500 - 1000 tall, and +1000 a supertall. Then you can point out the Shangri-La and say "look, a tall building isn't so bad;" despite the fact 650 is on the lower end of the 500 - 1000 scale.

[vanman]

^You're definitely on to something. It's too bad the media has to sensationalize everything.

[ckkelley]

Update 1JUN10

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1295/4661811415_a39b8c788d_b.jpg

Photo by me.

[Spork]

Has the Sears building always had a rooftop garden, or is that new?

[officedweller]

Natural sedums - interestingly, probably the same type of stuff that engineered roof garens have planted. There's also one pretty sizable birch or aspen or alder tree right in the middle of the roof.

[Yume-sama]

Nah, they just didn't clean off the mold growing on top when they cleaned off 3 of the sides for the first time ever

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Natural sedums - interestingly, probably the same type of stuff that engineered roof garens have planted. There's also one pretty sizable birch or aspen or alder tree right in the middle of the roof.

haha... i was just going to say.

x 2

[red-paladin]

Although, as it was said many times, it's better to have a really dense downtown with a bunch of medium sized buildings then a few supertalls and a whole bunch of parking lots like many American cities.