New Vancouver Art Gallery | Proposed

[BCPhil]

We were (are) always in a hurry to replace things with something shiny and new. Even the current Art Gallery, while preserving the exterior of the building, painted and plastered over much of the ornate interior of the Court House building. If Rattenbury's Legislature is anything to go by, the courthouse must have been quite the building inside.

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Would the design competition involve a rough budget or do they just design and figure out the price tag afterwards?

The plans so far are conceptual. I suspect one area of focus is on massing and materials.

Within the building process the "conceptual phase" is the initial design idea for the building. This is a preliminary stage that is intended to describe the context for the new building within the city, and the character and capacity of the proposed interior and exterior spaces.

That's why I suspect the use of wood is a variable cost. The concept talks about using it structurally and its use on exterior surface and how/if it should be allowed to weather. IMO if they avoid new and unconventional uses of wood for structure and weatherproofing they will avoid a lot of cost risk.

The more prominent—but far least concrete—proposed future Vancouver Art Gallery would be an even taller 220-foot set of interconnected wooden boxes. While architects Herzog and de Meuron did not specify the construction material (which would typically be concrete for a building of this size and scale), lead architect Christine Binswinger said in her design statement that "it would be a powerful statement to construct this large building out of wood," throwing a nod to the provincial government's support of tall wood buildings.

http://www.bcbusiness.ca/ubc-vag-propose-tall-wood-towers-a-sign-of-buildings-to-come

Research is still needed to determine the feasibility of the design as well as the best way to treat the wood, however Binswanger said Vancouver is in a unique position to explore the concept. “I’m really confident because it is a knowledge that exists in this part of the world, and it just makes so much sense from a historical standpoint, economically, and also architecturally. But at the same time we don’t do this conceptually,” she asserted. “It’s really about the physicality of the wood; this is a building that will change over time. Almost like the building itself is nature.

http://www.westender.com/news-issues/new...eals-new-wooden-concept-design-1.2072384

[Vin]

Wow that 1931 building was what I call a real art gallery. Both the exterior and interior were beautiful!

Funny people were in a rush to tear down short heritage buildings and build tall boring ones then, and now despite global funding, technology and expertise, beautiful tall buildings are rejected by the City, and instead they are promoting short and boring structures.

Still think proposed new art gallery design is the worst mistake ever.

[officedweller]

Supposedly on track...

Is no news good news for the new Vancouver Art Gallery building?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-...er-art-gallery-building/article34499456/

[christmas]

That's great news, thanks.

The Eiffel Tower was hated when it was built. This will become a landmark of Vancouver that distinguishes this city from the others, and it punctuates the recent wave of cheap blue condos to the area.
A new heritage building is in the making folks.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by christmas

That's great news, thanks.

The Eiffel Tower was hated when it was built. This will become a landmark of Vancouver that distinguishes this city from the others, and it punctuates the recent wave of cheap blue condos to the area.
A new heritage building is in the making folks.

Nope, this is this decade's version of Hydro Building on Dunsmuir. Clumsy and inelegant with every cliche du jour.

[csbvan]

I like it and I hope it goes forward.

[s211]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Supposedly on track...

Is no news good news for the new Vancouver Art Gallery building?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-...er-art-gallery-building/article34499456/

Did I read a claim they'll be under construction this year? That seems rather, ummm, ambitious.

[whatnext]

They've still got their hands out for $100 million from the Feds:

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/...y-seeks-100m-from-feds-for-new-350m-home

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by s211

Did I read a claim they'll be under construction this year? That seems rather, ummm, ambitious.

It'll take them that long just to get past the UDP and DPB.

[s211]

Originally Posted by officedweller

It'll take them that long just to get past the UDP and DPB.

No kidding. I wondered why they'd reference something completely unachievable.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by s211

No kidding. I wondered why they'd reference something completely unachievable.

Can't they break ground before having a permit?

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by christmas

That's great news, thanks.

The Eiffel Tower was hated when it was built. This will become a landmark of Vancouver that distinguishes this city from the others, and it punctuates the recent wave of cheap blue condos to the area.
A new heritage building is in the making folks.

Just because one hated tower went on to be adored means all hated projects will. I hope this seems a redesign, it's just too awkward as is.

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Can't they break ground before having a permit?

They would still need an excavation permit and it's unlikely they would be given one without guidance from planning that their DP is progressing well

[Migrant_Coconut]

Again, the design has potential - it's ugly because that top layer and all the wood are just... excessive.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by christmas

That's great news, thanks.

The Eiffel Tower was hated when it was built. This will become a landmark of Vancouver that distinguishes this city from the others, and it punctuates the recent wave of cheap blue condos to the area.
A new heritage building is in the making folks.

A key chain with a miniature Eiffel tower would be nice. Can you imagine having a key chain with a couple of small wooden boxes?

[jlousa]

Interesting, the city appears to have confidence this is going ahead. They have placed the North Parcel up for tender on a 99yr lease.
The tidbits are as follows,
Site total is 130,058sqft
Allowable FSR 7.0
Total allowable sqftage 910,407sqft

VAG as prosposed will only take up 311,000sqft on the larger southern parcel with an FSR of 2.39.

This allows the remaining 599,407sqft to be landed on the remaining 38,744sqft north parcel which would bring the FSR of that parcel to 15.46 to be fitted under a view cone that allows up to 246ft. The zoning limits it to commercial zoning. The successful winner will also be responsible for filling the CPR tunnel that passes under the northern portion.

[Vin]

Thanks jlousa for the info.

Sigh, we're looking at a building which is barely 25 stories high. Should've allowed up to 450ft, or at least a 45-storey tower there to hide the ugliness of this art gallery.

Since it will be commercial, a hotel/office tower with a mall podium would be very nice here.

[whatnext]

Not strictly building related, but the VAG has been dragging its feet on releasing the authenticity reports on some J.E.H Macdonald (Group of Seven) sketches they acquired with great fanfare a couple years ago:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-...en-authenticity-mystery/article34909122/

[whatnext]

Since this project seems moribund right now, thought I'd share an article on how one gallery, MONA, almost single-handedly drove a tourism surge to Hobart, Tasmania. Could a new gallery have such an effect in larger Vancouver?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-13/mona-got-hobart-humming/7081376

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Since this project seems moribund right now, thought I'd share an article on how one gallery, MONA, almost single-handedly drove a tourism surge to Hobart, Tasmania. Could a new gallery have such an effect in larger Vancouver?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-13/mona-got-hobart-humming/7081376

Well you could try to replicate it by sticking the VAG in Langley and witness some tourism miracle.