Downtown Vancouver Updates

[idunno]

Clearly they just wanted the tower to blend into the architectural pukefest that is most of the west end. Why change right?

[Klazu]

The dark blue ones are protective plastic and will be removed. I think the spandrel behind is black on all of them, bringing a bit more coherent looks once peeled off.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by giallo

I just don't understand the thought behind this design at all.

Originally Posted by idunno

Clearly they just wanted the tower to blend into the architectural pukefest that is most of the west end. Why change right?

Yeah, it's probably "referencing" - they've probably taken an element from each surrounding building.

[NewfBC]

Originally Posted by Klazu

The dark blue ones are protective plastic and will be removed. I think the spandrel behind is black on all of them, bringing a bit more coherent looks once peeled off.

I think the ones left on are light coloured. You can see at least 1 peeling off. Those window frames are light as well.. where the black ones, the frames are black.

Ron.

[officedweller]

That's what I thought too - like a checkerboard.

[Otis_Van]

Originally Posted by Klazu

The dark blue ones are protective plastic and will be removed. I think the spandrel behind is black on all of them, bringing a bit more coherent looks once peeled off.

Here's where it gets truly tragic...

The white windows are covered in blue plastic, and the alternating dark windows are covered in black plastic. On the dark windows where the black plastic is peeling off, you can see that the window frame and spandrel is BROWN, not black.

I live right around the corner from this pile - trust me, I'm not hallucinating.

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by Otis_Van

Here's where it gets truly tragic...

On the dark windows where the black plastic is peeling off, you can see that the window frame and spandrel is BROWN, not black.

Architects must have been high on something when they designed this garbage. No doubt this will continue happening, what with the free-for-all that council has now permitted along the edges of the West End: http://www.bcbusiness.ca/real-estate/real-estate-boom-projected-for-vancouvers-west-end

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Otis_Van

Here's where it gets truly tragic...

The white windows are covered in blue plastic, and the alternating dark windows are covered in black plastic. On the dark windows where the black plastic is peeling off, you can see that the window frame and spandrel is BROWN, not black.

I live right around the corner from this pile - trust me, I'm not hallucinating.

Ughhh.

When will architects learn that gray and brown do not match/co-ordinate with each other?
References:
- TV Towers with their predominantly light gray colour scheme and they slap on a brownish mauve facade on the taller tower.
- H+H with a predominantly light gray colour scheme and reddish brick applied.

So this building will have white, light gray and dark brown mullions
- is that a first for the most variation?

[yogiderek]

So they seem to be moving quite fast on the new tower for the former LEGG House on Harwood street. Moving quite fast with the excavation for the new tower. This is the next new tower for the West End so we should look forward to more pix and updates.

[Delirium]

RE: the Lauren. the round balconies are indeed odd because the original renderings suggested square balconies which obviously makes more sense.
the architects were trying too hard here - everything looks forced. surprising because it's a Westbank project.

btw, here's the 'art' component of the project called;

Triumph of the Technocrat
'The piece is to be constructed entirely from reclaimed wooden girders salvaged from the demolished St. John's Church that had once existed at the site. It would literally take the form of the "placeholder" sculpture depicted in the 3D model of the future development. This work would make physically tangible the relationship between ideation & fabrication as related to the production of art through a reversal of the roles of the artist & the art producer or fabricator. Making visible the unseen mechanistic process of development and land speculation impacting the surrounding community. The sculpture would self-reflexively critique its own development and process of creation, and draw parallels between the role and complicity of all players involved in the development process.'

can someone translate this crap for me because I don't get it.
honestly, it's 'two coins joined'. there you go.


www.thelauren.ca


www.thelauren.ca


www.thelauren.ca

some other updates. 564 beatty looks good

photo by Brian.d.campbell on Flickr https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14681327654_e9f1f28ef9_b.jpg

Gumhead progress

photo by jblueafterglow on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3906/14500213068_4f18ed0c67_c.jpg

[NewWester]

This is probably sacrilege, but I think I *LIKE* the Lauren. I mean, it's not elegant or sleek and is kind of tacky, BUT, it's tacky in the same 70s kitsch way the West End towers it's referencing are. It's like the worst excesses of the West End done with the worst excesses of modern Vancouver architecture. It is by no means good, but it's interesting and so I think I like it.

[SFUVancouver]

Gum head is simultaneously disgusting and awesome.

564 Beatty looks great; a very successful project by all accounts. I still cannot believe it was a concrete vertical addition over a timber post and beam building. I've told some engineers I know about it and their eyes go wide in disbelief.

[Joat]

The head is temporary right? When and where is it going later? I think Id rather it stayed.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by giallo

....Seriously though, what happened? How does the UDP pass this? It looks like two already mismatched buildings were stitched together by a column of balconies. I don't want to get all hyperbolic in here, but....

Thanks for the pics.

That's exactly right, the two sides don't look like they belong on the same building!

[Locked In]

Some of my photos from earlier this week of the Lauren:

[Locked In]

Some more of my photos from today:







Anyone know what these are?



This side is a little bit better

[trofirhen]

Some European highrises have a jarring design effect also; at least I find it so.
There may be buildings in this picture pleasing to some readers, but also, IMO, designs that would never go in Vancouver.


http://www.eutouring.com/paris_city_life_m13_DSC00285.JPG

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by NewWester

This is probably sacrilege, but I think I *LIKE* the Lauren. I mean, it's not elegant or sleek and is kind of tacky, BUT, it's tacky in the same 70s kitsch way the West End towers it's referencing are. It's like the worst excesses of the West End done with the worst excesses of modern Vancouver architecture. It is by no means good, but it's interesting and so I think I like it.

An interesting perspective, although I don't think the architects recognize how tacky this building is. They probably think it's somewhat elegant, hence the name they chose for it.

[Metro-One]

Sooo, when will 564 Beatty be adding its ticker at the bottom??

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Sooo, when will 564 Beatty be adding its ticker at the bottom??

When Georgia Residences adds the rain drop lighting effect down its side.