Central Waterfront District | Waterfront Station - CRAB Park

[Migrant_Coconut]

Keeping in mind how the '09 version also covered up the rail yard under a street grid and added a bus loop. Neither is exactly practical.

[officedweller]

You can see the bias in the design:
- demolishing the only remnant of Project 200 and favouring lots of glass
- massings set far away from the heritage station

Comments:
- the waterfront office building forms a massive wall (and probably still breaches the view cone!)
- the office buildings are remote from the rest of downtown and there doesn't look to be much retail frontage
- the foot of Granville isn't opened up because the roof will still block street-end views
- the massive roof will be expensive to maintain - think of all the seagull poop and remember that the Plaza of Nationa roof was demolished at maybe 25 years old.
- the eastern park is probably the site of Phase 3 of the Vancouver Convention Centre and the office block blocks connectivity with the other convention halls.

The office block sort of looks like The Well:


https://curiocity.com/the-well-toronto/

[Migrant_Coconut]

Maybe if the glass roof were limited to the south concourse and slanted down toward the park (so it can "self-clean" during a rainstorm?). It's an interesting premise with bad execution.

[jollyburger]

What about the heliport?

[ilikeredheads]

lol that glass roof will be a maintenance nightmare. It's highly impractical and inefficient use of space. The tower should be above the rail tracks, like in the 2009 concept.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

What about the heliport?

Pfff, helicopters are so last century. Welcome to the future, we autonomous droneport now!

(The platform at the very top)


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/waterfront-station-reimagined-concept-vancouver-transit-hub

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by ilikeredheads

... The tower should be above the rail tracks, like in the 2009 concept.

Same problem as the Whitecaps stadium: CP's transporting too many hazmats under it.

[ericmacm]

I like it. The massing is obviously more conceptual than anything at this point and it will certainly be refined down into something more practical. Dedicating tons of space to a wide-open rail station with integration into the SeaBus terminal is the right way forward. The office tower designs need to be refined into something more realistic, but I am sure it will look great in the end. I wish it were possible to build some towers over the tracks, but it makes sense to prohibit that for safety purposes.

I am not a big fan of the demolition of the two existing towers. If those towers absolutely have to go, the city should finally let CF build at 555 W Cordova.

[djmk]

I'll wait for Hub 3.0 to reach the north shore before I get excited about this seagul poop glass monstrosity

[MIPS]

Demolishing two towers for that is a pretty damn hard sell. That looks more arranged for an ultra-dense heavy rail hub that we can't feed.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by djmk

I'll wait for Hub 3.0 to reach the north shore before I get excited about this seagull poop glass monstrosity

Originally Posted by MIPS

Demolishing two towers for that is a pretty damn hard sell. That looks more arranged for an ultra-dense heavy rail hub that we can't feed.

FWIW, I agree with both of the above statements. First off, IMHO, it is singularly ugly, in and of itself. Secondly, those trains underneath look as if they are in a big city
with a lot of commuter rail. Redesign the whole thing, make it elegant, and let's not get into delusions of grandeur.

[Changing City]

Some other random thoughts...

It would be interesting to see the SeaBus operate with single side loading.

I'm not sure what year this is meant to be, but I'm surprised they chose to move the hospital's Pattison Pavilion eight blocks to the east. And I see Concord still haven't built NEFC; I wonder if the viaducts are still standing?

It's great to see they found the money to build the HSR. I wonder where all the freight went? Not to mention the dangerous cargoes that was one of the unresolvable problems for the Whitecaps stadium.

Richard Rogers retired this summer - it looks like he's been doodling in his retirement.

[jollyburger]

I was going to ask if they could move the heliport to the top of a building

I wonder if there's any issues with that. They banned them in NYC because of accidents.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I was going to ask if they could move the heliport to the top of a building

I wonder if there's any issues with that. They banned them in NYC because of accidents.

I think that'll be OK. This is, after all, a fantasy thread set quite some way in the future if the HSR is running.

[Sheba]

I wonder how many of you read the article...

It should be strongly emphasized that Perkins&Will’s concept is not an actual proposal — its design was created as a case study to ignite public interest and discourse on the forthcoming discussions on the future of Waterfront Station. Such a concept would certainly carry a multi-billion dollar construction cost.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Yup... and given that said discourse so far ranges from "meh" to "needs to be an actual hub first," they probably should've waited and gotten it right.

[dleung]

not sure what the point is of a "conversation piece" where the only conversation that can be had is that it's a silly idea. Not understanding the obsession with completely isolating the historic station. The further out the new towers are, the more it walls off the waterfront to every other building around it.

Was always a fan of one of the early proposals for Barangaroo in Sydney (ie buildings oriented perpendicular to the water, and a narrow iconic tower), despite ultimately losing out to the current scheme

[phesto]

Originally Posted by logan5

Vancouver is getting close to the 3 million mark, so maybe this a time around, an actual waterfront hub will develop. Interesting concept that befits a large city.

So Granville Square and PWC place towers are demolished as part of this fantasy? Lol.

I mean I guess the proposal looks better without them in there, but it is really just that - a fantasy.

[svlt]

Tough crowd here on SSP but it's credit to the background (critical urban design/planning lens) of the forumers here. Most everywhere else I've seen this it's been unanimous praise for the boldness of the vision.

I don't like the design either - it's a bit much - but asking the question of what they want to do with this space is exciting to think about.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Secondly, those trains underneath look as if they are in a big city
with a lot of commuter rail. Redesign the whole thing, make it elegant, and let's not get into delusions of grandeur.

I get future proofing the transit hub, but in what world will Vancouver ever need as much space dedicated to passenger rail as the renderings show? A train to Whistler, the WCE, a train to Abbotsford, and HSR to the USA would not need as many platforms and rails as there are in the renderings. I mean, the reason Paris and Frankfurt and Budapest have massive train stations is because they are true hubs with trains to major cities heading out in every direction from the stations.