General Vancouver Updates - Page 144

cornholio · #**2861** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 2:25 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

Saw a for lease sign for this near Renfrew Station.
[

Not sure if this was posted but across the street the final building (#8) in Broadway tech park should start construction soon as they are looking for leases and the building currently under construction (#7) is fully leased. In any case this one will be the gateway to Broadway tech park and the nicest building when done. Combined with this Renfrew building it will really change the look and feel of that intersection around the station.

invisibleairwaves · #**2862** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 2:46 AM**

^Surface parking and a massive setback, kitty-corner from a Skytrain station? How awfully suburban. Not a nice contrast to the proposed building across the street.

squeezied · #**2863** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 3:24 AM**

Well, at least it looks like permeable pavement for parking. But I agree that it doesn't seem fitting next to the skytrain station.

jsbertram · #**2864** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 3:37 AM**

Some CEO's will insist on using their car, regardless of how non 'eco-green' this looks to the rest of society.

After you've 'made it' you can't back-slide & commute on trains with the common folk.

cornholio · #**2865** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 6:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by invisibleairwaves

^Surface parking and a massive setback, kitty-corner from a Skytrain station? How awfully suburban. Not a nice contrast to the proposed building across the street.

This building has some 175,000 square feet of office space and the entire block has just under 1,000,000 square feet. Meanwhile that surface lot your talking about is something around 10 stalls for a drop off and pick up point, something needed in this development. Which might I add is certainly being built more because of the highway rather then the skytrain(mind you its im sure a combination of those two). Anyways this is one of the best developments in the region next to rapid transit outside of the downtown.

SpongeG · #**2866** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 6:19 AM**

looks good - so will they demolish the old building on that spot or just convert it like they did with the other parts of the old building which look completely new?

i'd love to see all those single dwelling homes along grandview between rupert and renfrew converted to at least townhomes or 4 or 6 storey apartment condos

dleung · #**2867** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 8:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cornholio

This building has some 175,000 square feet of office space and the entire block has just under 1,000,000 square feet. Meanwhile that surface lot your talking about is something around 10 stalls for a drop off and pick up point, something needed in this development. Which might I add is certainly being built more because of the highway rather then the skytrain(mind you its im sure a combination of those two). Anyways this is one of the best developments in the region next to rapid transit outside of the downtown.

Quite a large space to hold just 10 cars. Anyhow that could be easily provided underground, or at grade with building mass cantilevering or bridging over it. This is a suburban design, period.

Not to mention I hate little curved elements that try to make interesting a box design. Or the tacky, Best-Buy style vertical insertions with the "daring" sloped parapet for a splash of colour.

red-paladin · #**2868** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 10:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

Quite a large space to hold just 10 cars. Anyhow that could be easily provided underground, or at grade with building mass cantilevering or bridging over it. This is a suburban design, period.

Not to mention I hate little curved elements that try to make interesting a box design. Or the tacky, Best-Buy style vertical insertions with the "daring" sloped parapet for a splash of colour.

I don't think there is a problem to have a drop off zone. Even downtown, Shaw Tower and Fairmont Pacific Rim share a drop off zone that appears larger than that.

cornholio · #**2869** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 7:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

Quite a large space to hold just 10 cars. Anyhow that could be easily provided underground, or at grade with building mass cantilevering or bridging over it. This is a suburban design, period.

Not to mention I hate little curved elements that try to make interesting a box design. Or the tacky, Best-Buy style vertical insertions with the "daring" sloped parapet for a splash of colour.

Well you should go check out Broadway tech park in person to get a idea of the development. Its a dense development and has amazing public space. Its very well executed imo and unlike other pie in the sky proposals it has been built pretty quickly next to a skytrain station and added nearly a million square feet of office space and likely will be responsible for spurring other developments around it.

itinerant · #**2870** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 7:51 PM**

The Tech Park is modeled after a campus, with common areas and plenty of landscaping amongst a fairly tight cluster of low-rise structures. In fact, that's how they describe themselves. For the area its in, this is appropriate density and height I think. Its also got a very nice mix of amenities. Yes, it has the look of a suburban office park, but its not overloaded with at-grade parking that has often come with that. Its on the wedge leading eastward to a much larger light industrial area (converted from heavier industrial in past couple decades), and bordered by low density commercial and single family housing in established neighbourhoods close to the north.

While the look of the buildings, and the self-styled them of 'tech' isn't my favourite (a la Best Buy details), the massing and arrangement of buildings is really very good.

Here's an aerial context with a mashup of Google Maps and site plan from the Broadway Tech Centre website (http://www.broadwaytechcentre.com/).

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

dleung · #**2871** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 8:34 PM**

The site plan makes even less sense; it's like they're trying to discourage people from using the skytrain station. Does the symmetry even result in significant savings? Why is the axis going east-west from nowhere to nowhere, instead of diagonally from southwest-northeast. The generous set-backs from the street ensure that the buildings will never be reused for more urban programs, and pedestrian experience will — forever. The buildings could have comfortably rose to 8 stories on the south side due to the skytrain guideway. Just overall a really dumb, unresponsive scheme.

s211 · #**2872** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 8:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by itinerant

The Tech Park is modeled after a campus, with common areas and plenty of landscaping amongst a fairly tight cluster of low-rise structures. In fact, that's how they describe themselves. For the area its in, this is appropriate density and height I think. Its also got a very nice mix of amenities. Yes, it has the look of a suburban office park, but its not overloaded with at-grade parking that has often come with that. Its on the wedge leading eastward to a much larger light industrial area (converted from heavier industrial in past couple decades), and bordered by low density commercial and single family housing in established neighbourhoods close to the north.

While the look of the buildings, and the self-styled them of 'tech' isn't my favourite (a la Best Buy details), the massing and arrangement of buildings is really very good.

And they've also since purchased the land further to the east, IIRC.

LeftCoaster · #**2873** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 8:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

The site plan makes even less sense; it's like they're trying to discourage people from using the skytrain station. Does the symmetry even result in significant savings? Why is the axis going east-west from nowhere to nowhere, instead of diagonally from southwest-northeast.

There is already a greenway going SW-NE parallel to the skytrain guideway. Why would they incorporate a redundant pathway into the design when they could create a more urban street feel with an E/W grid road?

Count me down as a fan of the development, one of my favourite examples of a low rise, high density office park

phesto · #**2874** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 10:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung

The site plan makes even less sense; it's like they're trying to discourage people from using the skytrain station. Does the symmetry even result in significant savings? Why is the axis going east-west from nowhere to nowhere, instead of diagonally from southwest-northeast. The generous set-backs from the street ensure that the buildings will never be reused for more urban programs, and pedestrian experience will — forever. The buildings could have comfortably rose to 8 stories on the south side due to the skytrain guideway. Just overall a really dumb, unresponsive scheme.

I'm not sure if you're at all familiar with this development, but it was phased over a period of several years, and the initial planning was done over 10 years ago.

I usually enjoy your critiques, but you lost me on this one.

officedweller · #**2875** Posted **Dec 7, 2011, 10:44 PM**

The pathways will connect to the expansion to the east.
All pathways do not need to radiate out from a SkyTrain station - a grid is perfectly acceptable.
The north-south axes also allow preservation of some views from the houses on Broadway - a diagonal arrangement probably wouldn't do that.

jsbertram · #**2876** Posted **Dec 8, 2011, 12:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

looks good - so will they demolish the old building on that spot or just convert it like they did with the other parts of the old building which look completely new?

i'd love to see all those single dwelling homes along grandview between rupert and renfrew converted to at least townhomes or 4 or 6 storey apartment condos

Not sure of you're referring to "Renfrew Centre" or "Broadway Tech Centre".

If the latter, sections of the old Eatons warehouse buildings on the site got demolished as each phase of Broadway Tech Centre was built, so I don't see why they wouldn't continue to demolish the old buildings to make way for new Broadway Tech Centre construction.

SpongeG · #**2877** Posted **Dec 8, 2011, 1:36 AM**

broadway tech - the old eatons warehouse - some of it was retained and built upon to create some of it

deasine · #**2878** Posted **Dec 8, 2011, 10:11 AM**

^Not "retained." The old warehouse was actually comprised of three separate structures. As Broadway Tech expands, be sure that the warehouse will be gone. Right now, HSBC is nearing its completing stages of their first building there (and I wouldn't be surprised if they move more of their operations from downtown over to the Broadway Tech Centre). So HSBC did not just build on top of the old warehouse; part of it was torn down.

It is important to note that the "street level" of the Broadway Tech Centre is above actual street level of Hebb Avenue (due to slope). So dleung's point isn't without reason really. While there is a greenway, there is little pedestrian connection between the Tech Centre and the actual greenway; access is only possible through a narrow staircase. And given that the area underneath is for loading/unloading (see plan), I think there's a huge opportunity lost with the existing Broadway Tech Centre in terms of the lack of connections with the greenway, and it would be more opportunity lost to see the future building replacing the Eatons Warehouse does not include anything to help facilitate the Broadway Tech street level with Hebb Avenue/Greenway street level.

trofirhen · #**2879** Posted **Dec 8, 2011, 10:33 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by invisibleairwaves

^Surface parking and a massive setback, kitty-corner from a Skytrain station? How awfully suburban. Not a nice contrast to the proposed building across the street.

I admit it may have a "suburban" feel to it, but I think they are trying for a "parklike" effect, which is definitely in contrast to much of UN-parklike East Broadway.

jlousa · #**2880** Posted **Dec 9, 2011, 3:59 AM**

Second development for the West side of the 6300blk Cambie st. There is a 6 storey development going ahead just to the north of this one. At the prices lots are going for on Cambie these units will be costly.

Quote:

Integra Architecture Inc. has applied to the City of Vancouver to rezone 6361-6385 Cambie Street from RT-1 (Two-Family Dwelling) District to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. The proposal is for a 70-unit residential (strata apartment and townhouse) and commercial (retail) building, with 8-storeys facing Cambie Street and 2-storeys facing the lane to an approximate height of 29 m (95 ft.). The proposed project would be comprised of 5,171.4 sq. m (55,666.3 sq. ft.) of residential and 265 sq. m (2,852.5 sq. ft.) of commercial area, with a floor space ratio (FSR) of 3.56. Underground parking is proposed for over 80 stalls.