[Surrey] 3 Civic Plaza | 164m | 48 fl | Completed

[Blease]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

I applaud the suburban town centre's for having the courage to build what vancouver won't (and hopefully this pressures vancouver in some way to loosen up a bit) but strictly speaking from an idea logical standpoint, I would like the tallest and most prominent buildings to be located downtown. In 5 or ten years it's not unthinkable that a tourist driving on highway 1 might not be able to tell where downtown vancouver is. Is it metrotown? Brentwood? Lougheed?Or that tabletop cluster in the distance?

Personally I don't like that scenario.

It's the natural evolution of a city. Vancouver is (hopefully) evolving to the point that it won't have just one natural centre. Mega cities like Tokyo, NY or London operate with a series of hubs, each with their own unique style and focus. London is divided into a series of boroughs and then further still into smaller districts and each with its own high street, and while the West End is the historic centre of the city, the city no longer really has a centre at all. LA is another city where a centre is impossible to define. So in that sense, booming town centres (downtowns for all practical purposes) such as Metrotown, Richmond and Surrey Central will all likely over-shadow downtown Vancouver but also enrich Greater Vancouver of the future.

[clee7903]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

I applaud the suburban town centre's for having the courage to build what vancouver won't (and hopefully this pressures vancouver in some way to loosen up a bit) but strictly speaking from an idea logical standpoint, I would like the tallest and most prominent buildings to be located downtown. In 5 or ten years it's not unthinkable that a tourist driving on highway 1 might not be able to tell where downtown vancouver is. Is it metrotown? Brentwood? Lougheed?Or that tabletop cluster in the distance?

Personally I don't like that scenario.

It's also not just what's the tallest but other factors that comes into play. Height is just one aspect. Although Surrey central, Metrotown, Brentwood, Coquitam centre and a few more have had a list of recent "boom" in density, they are mostly residential and if we examine them more closely, they are still quite sparse when compared to downtown Vancouver where limited land space have created very dense, tightly packed buildings if not always the tallest. (I mean block after block of buildings) It will be decades, if ever, the other satellite city cores I mentioned above will eclipse downtown Vancouver. Plus downtown Vancouver's building are mostly commercials, offices, high end shops - financial hub. Even our "second" most dense area in all of GVRD, Metrotown are all overwhelmingly residential and not as dense when compared to downtown Vancouver. I agree with Blease's view that our different city centres complements each other and enriches the whole region. It's also a sign that our city (the whole region) is slowly becoming a metropolis in its own right.

[Shift]

Glass is going in on the west facing condo side today. Looks a bit darker and better than the hotel side so far.

[Shift]

Some more from today:

[artmarkii]

Link to the construction webcam.

http://www.3civicplaza.ca/webcam

[clee7903]

live camera feed! Cool...it looks like it's setup inside the Central tower building possibly the sales office itself? Also it looks like it needs to be zoomed out soon to see the building go higher up.

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

I applaud the suburban town centre's for having the courage to build what vancouver won't (and hopefully this pressures vancouver in some way to loosen up a bit) but strictly speaking from an idea logical standpoint, I would like the tallest and most prominent buildings to be located downtown. In 5 or ten years it's not unthinkable that a tourist driving on highway 1 might not be able to tell where downtown vancouver is. Is it metrotown? Brentwood? Lougheed?Or that tabletop cluster in the distance?

Personally I don't like that scenario.

In the case of Surrey though it is downtown. Remember the regional growth strategy has selected Surrey Central as "Downtown" Fraser Valley and has in essence cut the region into two. Downtown Vancouver is still the metro downtown as in Metro Vancouver, but the intention is for "Downtown Surrey" to serve as the focal point for the majority of jobs and residences from Surrey out through the Fraser Valley.

So I think it is rightly the place to build this type of stuff. Brentwood and Lougheed are the regional anomalies with respect to height and largely it is being done just because they can.

That said, I have doubts anyone would mistake any other town center in the region for Downtown Vancouver. Downtown Vancouver has what now 800 high rises or something stupid like that? Let me put it this way, there are more high rises in Downtown Vancouver than all the regional town centers added together.

[artmarkii]

Though on a side note Surrey's skyline is quickly becoming more and more impressive.


Took this with my phone today zoomed in all the way so the quality isn't the best.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by artmarkii

Though on a side note Surrey's skyline is quickly becoming more and more impressive.


Took this with my phone today zoomed in all the way so the quality isn't the best.

Holy Smokes!! For a split second I thought it was Metrotown. Surrey really is developing a skyline.

[clee7903]

same here...for a sec there i thought it was Metrotown...!

[scryer]

It looks really good! I want more towers though .

[Shift]

Looks like the view from Ikea in Coquitlam. This view will fill in quite a bit over the next 10 years as the number of towers is likely to double. There are also good views developing as you approach the city centre from Newton on KGB around 80th. Also starting to see the skyline from the East-West connector in Richmond.

[artmarkii]

Originally Posted by Shift

Looks like the view from Ikea in Coquitlam. This view will fill in quite a bit over the next 10 years as the number of towers is likely to double. There are also good views developing as you approach the city centre from Newton on KGB around 80th. Also starting to see the skyline from the East-West connector in Richmond.

I took the photo while I was on the Skytrain on The Millennium Line. Also when driving down 104 AVE the towers look surprisingly taller than they actually are, especially University District.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Shift

Looks like the view from Ikea in Coquitlam. This view will fill in quite a bit over the next 10 years as the number of towers is likely to double. There are also good views developing as you approach the city centre from Newton on KGB around 80th. Also starting to see the skyline from the East-West connector in Richmond.

The only place I can see the Surrey skyline from regularly is the Oak Street Bridge, where it looks very sparse, so that picture was a huge surprise. Looking great.

[Blease]

Surrey Centre towers also look quite nice from the Sapperton sky train station.

[clee7903]

Originally Posted by artmarkii

I took the photo while I was on the Skytrain on The Millennium Line. Also when driving down 104 AVE the towers look surprisingly taller than they actually are, especially University District.

I've noticed that too...I think it's some sort of perspective illusion.

[Blease]

Originally Posted by artmarkii

I took the photo while I was on the Skytrain on The Millennium Line. Also when driving down 104 AVE the towers look surprisingly taller than they actually are, especially University District.

Driving westward on 104th and approaching KGB, Surrey suddenly takes on an urbane and energetic vibe.

[w34lth]

I agree with you both.

I like the glass they are putting in the residential side.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by Blease

Driving westward on 104th and approaching KGB, Surrey suddenly takes on an urbane and energetic vibe.

Definitely. The plaza area looks fantastic, especially at night. They've done a great job so far.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by w34lth

I like the glass they are putting in the residential side.

It does seem a lot better than the hotel portion's glass.