Downtown Vancouver Updates

[Klazu]

I actually do like the proposal for Artemisia. It will add something different to the otherwise boring cityscape. Of course it could have been a bit taller, but I am fine with that.

The building for Melville Street looks huge! That stretch of Melville street will be very dense with that and Vancouver's Turn being built nearby. Vancouver's Wall Street?

[trofirhen]

Artemesia; ugh! apples and shoe polish

[Darren Tate]

Originally Posted by easy as pie

i'd say it tends vastly more toward ignominy than glory... belongs in a particularly garish shenzen suburb or as the centerpiece building on an arizona scientology retreat.

Spot on.

[KeyPlan]

Originally Posted by wrenegade

I had a conversation with James Schouw about this site (and the Thalia site), and it was my impression that Boffo and James Schouw are doing a JV for each. At the time (April-ish? I think) it was still his intention that both projects would proceed relatively the same as they were originally proposed.

I believe that the site is simply being used as a staging area for various utility upgrades (BC Hydro, etc), in the DT south area.

If this proceeds with James' 2007/2008 approved plans, it will be an exceptional luxury property with six stories, 21 units (double storey units on top floors). The verticality of the glass is the two-storey vaults (30ft high?) in some units.

Some may not like the look as they pass by, or see it alone on a page in a magazine they're flipping, but it gives choice to a product that is too rarely being built. Residents and guests will experience liveability not found elsewhere. Those who recognize a certain building at the top of the photo will know what I mean.

[jlousa]

Orpheum sign to replaced, expected to be completed by the end of Sept.

The City of Vancouver is seeking a qualified signage contractor to design, supply and install a new replica Orpheum Blade-Sign including structural support repair and refurbishment at 884 Granville Street near the corner of Smithe & Granville.

Along Granville Street elevation the vertical blade-sign is the principle façade of the Orpheum Theatre. The present sign was installed in 1948 by Famous Players, and renovation to the sign was made during the 1980’s. Due to weathering over time, the existing sign has come to the end of its life cycle.

Lighting Alternate A
a) Substitute ultra long-life, low-energy lighting technology of equal intensity and projection field in place of existing neon tube lighting. Submit samples for City approval.

iv. Lighting Alternate B
a) Substitute ultra long-life, low-energy lighting technology of equal intensity (25 watts ) and projection field in place of existing incandescent tracker lights. Submit samples for City approval.

[easy as pie]

Originally Posted by KeyPlan

If this proceeds with James' 2007/2008 approved plans, it will be an exceptional luxury property with six stories, 21 units (double storey units on top floors). The verticality of the glass is the two-storey vaults (30ft high?) in some units.

sure, but these moves hardly require that the design take on such an exceptionally comical form.

[officedweller]

New to the DBP Agenda:

68 Smythe Street [sic]
DE415916
IBI/HB Architects
To construct an 18 storey mixed use building over 3 floors of underground parking
October 22, 2012

Google Maps shows that being at the corner of Beatty, but that would be on the odd-numbered side of Smithe.
Probably the casino side part of Concord's Colours project.

[city guy]

Originally Posted by Darren Tate

Spot on.

I agree, its a piece of badly proportioned kitsch

[SpongeG]

Vancouver council approves controversial rental tower in West End

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Vancouve...er+West/6851438/story.html#ixzz1z9yzJkL0

[vanman]

Westend NIMBYs: Hypocrisy at its finest.

[TwoFace]

Originally Posted by vanman

Westend NIMBYs: Hypocrisy at its finest.

No kidding.

Here's a quote from the article ...

“It’s natural we would get more density, but we want people who work here to live here,” she said. “People who work as a barista can’t afford to live in [these apartments], and that backs us up all over the place.”

If the renters can't afford the rent, they won't move in, then the rent will have to come down to market value (whatever that is).
The only looser is the Developer if that happens as he's tied in to the vacancy rate/market value for the area.

I think they have the open rental market confused with subsidized housing.

[Built Form]

BC Hydro has unveiled the Dal Grauer sub-station on Burrard this week. Looks much better but am still disappointed the entire facade isn't clear glass as it was originally.


pic by Built Form

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by Built Form

BC Hydro has unveiled the Dal Grauer sub-station on Burrard this week. Looks much better but am still disappointed the entire facade isn't clear glass as it was originally.

I agree entirely. The rationale that Hydro gave for not using clear plexi was 'security'. As if would-be terrorists are going to be foiled by translucent plexi but free to create havoc with clear plexi.

[SpongeG]

i for one don't want to see whats going on inside its just ugly, the frosted glass is much better

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i for one don't want to see whats going on inside its just ugly, the frosted glass is much better

The original Dal Grauer substation was a striking mixture of architecture and public art and it was a collaboration of Ned Pratt and B.C. Binning, two of the most talented people to have lived and worked in this city. Here's how it looked upon its unveiling:


Source: http://blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com/2009/08/our-mondrian-on-burrard.html

The most spectacular of his [B.C. Binning] public art efforts began in 1952-53 when Binning collaborated on a design for a three-storey electric substation. The B.C. Electric Company knew they had to make their new building palatable to a public already tired of the drabness of the downtown street to which it was to be built.

The president of the electric company, Albert Edward “Dal” Grauer, was a cultured and sensitive appreciator of the arts who understood the aesthetic potential of such a monumental example of industrial technology. He agreed with Binning’s suggestion to the architect Ned Pratt that the entire exterior wall facing the street should be curtained with glass to reveal the interior architectural composition to the public. Binning created a composition of brilliant colours to enhance the meticulously arranged architectural and industrial elements that, like the O’Brien mural, slowed traffic on the street as people prolonged the moment to observe and enjoy it. It was one of the important sights recommended to visitors to the city

Binning’s approach to colour was now deeply influenced by his study of the regional character of the natural context of the city. He was convinced that the most appropriate colouration of buildings in Vancouver would best enhance the urban scene by harmonizing with the northerly latitude and climate of Vancouver, with its surrounding rainforest, interlacing waterways, mist-catching mountains and greyer skies. Binning’s attention to architectural colour now began to emphasize greens, blues and greys, the scheme he applied to the new B.C. Electric Building and to the revised colour of the three-dimentional “mural” of its contigious substation.

B.C. Binning – A Passion for the Contemporary, Abraham Rogatnick.

Source: http://blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com/2009/08/our-mondrian-on-burrard.html

Hopefully the vivid colours of the original substation paint job have been replicated and will be visible after dark.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i for one don't want to see whats going on inside its just ugly, the frosted glass is much better

Vote seconded! I prefer the frosted glass, too

[SFUVancouver]

Granville and Robson

Taken by SFUVancouver, July 3rd, 2012.

[thefly]

EDIT - Apologies, see it has its own thread already...

Saw this in the G&M today and didn't see it posted anywhere yet:

A 30-storey glass arch structure of up to 2,000 residential units will act as a window between BC Place and False Creek, anchoring a massive mixed-use complex that will transform a dead zone into the heart of a vibrant entertainment district, according to a proposal to the city.

James K. M. Cheng Architects Inc. submitted a rezoning application to the City of Vancouver that outlines a plan for a multi-use site at 750 Pacific Blvd., known commonly as the Plaza of Nations. Commercial use would include small-scale retail, hotel, office, restaurants and cafes, while community use would include a sports-science centre, a daycare and an ice rink that could serve as a part-time practice arena for the Canucks.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/brit...pump-life-into-dead-zone/article4391250/

[Prometheus]

A window? More like a screen.

[squeezied]

James Cheng:

Vancouver has been criticized for having so many towers, and everything looking the same

And we have exactly James to thank for that