Vancouver House (1400 Howe St) | 151.5m | 52Fl | Completed

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

man, that really doesn't fit the building at all. the bridge connecting to the Granville St Bridge looks huge. they really should have gone for something more airy. it looks completely unrelated to the building.

It looked better when it was plain galvanized steel.

Originally Posted by City Of Rain, post: 1550023, member: 70034

108 by Hung Lam, on Flickr

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Aug.19 '20, my pics

[djmk]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

I don't think it will be. There are serrated metal inserts on the steps and the landing.




Aug.19 '20, my pic

I absolutely love this

but I expect this to be bleached out pretty fast

[mcminsen]

A few more from Wednesday.




Aug.19 '20, my pics

[mcminsen]

Here are some pics of the rooftop landscaping from August 2019. They've had a full year to get it established.




Aug.28 ’19, my pics

[vanman]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Aug.19 '20, my pics

This looks like a sci fi movie set.

[officedweller]

The Scotiabank logo just needs to change colours to get the full wormhole effect.

[RDW989]

Walking by tonight when the chandelier was doing its thing, with people watching from all directions
my pix, Aug 21
[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/2jyMK2P]

And a night pix
[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/2jyLQFR]

[zahav]

I'm surprised at the hate the wood is getting on here. I think it is a great element, wood used to be so much more commonly used (wood siding, cedar shingle roofs were common on houses and townhouses). But now everything for SFH and townhouses is vinyl siding and vinyl roof shingles. Actual wood is way less common. And in highrises, almost non-existant. I don't even care if it's weathered later on, I think it's different and a good contrast to the rest of the building. Is it perfectly executed? No, things like the sills are a bit awkward, but overall I don't think it's bad (and I'm not even from the 70s, but if liking lots of wood is retro, then fine by me)

[Zepfancouver]

I also like the woodwork here. It's must be a high quality engineered wood (high fire rated and good resistances to weathering).
These are the same question I have for all the woodwork going into the 'Alberni'... Natural or engineered wood, the fire rating and the maintenance.

[Vin]

The wood panelings look pretty raw. I would have expected them to be highly varnished. These ones look like they will turn mouldy and start decaying in no time. But again I'm not an expert in wood: someone who knows better may want to chip in, pun not intended.

Love the contrast though: almost feels like the structures are living entities: with shiny exo-skeletal shells but softer organic interiors partially exposed. Their design does reflect the type of thinking by Danish designers where they often merge nature with the man-made world.

[Graham_Yvr]

[QUOTE=Vin;9020535]The wood panelings look pretty raw. I would have expected them to be highly varnished. These ones look like they will turn mouldy and start decaying in no time. But again I'm not an expert in wood: someone who knows better may want to chip in.

I took a closer look at it on the weekend. The wood appears to be engineered, almost "plastic" (I'm no expert) so I suspect they'll hold up well. What bugs me is that they already look worn/aged which I gather was the intention. I'm pretty sure they'll remain looking the same as they do now for years.

[jollyburger]

[QUOTE=Graham_Yvr;9020604]

Originally Posted by Vin

The wood panelings look pretty raw. I would have expected them to be highly varnished. These ones look like they will turn mouldy and start decaying in no time. But again I'm not an expert in wood: someone who knows better may want to chip in.

I took a closer look at it on the weekend. The wood appears to be engineered, almost "plastic" (I'm no expert) so I suspect they'll hold up well. What bugs me is that they already look worn/aged which I gather was the intention. I'm pretty sure they'll remain looking the same as they do now for years.

Maybe teak?

[truenorth44]

Looks like Ipe to me. It's the current go-to for quality decking. If that's what it is, and if it's not been treated, it will weather to a silver/grey.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ipe+weat...KHQ2nCYoQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1336&bih=700

http://tinyurl.com/y63j9pxz

[Vin]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Maybe teak?

Lol if they are teak I think they will be stolen by thieves in no time. Those tropical hardwoods are hard to come by these days, and are stronger than any softwoods here. But yeah, they do last a lifetime when well taken care of.

Originally Posted by Graham_Yvr

I took a closer look at it on the weekend. The wood appears to be engineered, almost "plastic" (I'm no expert) so I suspect they'll hold up well. What bugs me is that they already look worn/aged which I gather was the intention. I'm pretty sure they'll remain looking the same as they do now for years.

In that case, that's even better. For something "engineered" they do look very real and rustic so to speak.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by truenorth44

Looks like Ipe to me. It's the current go-to for quality decking. If that's what it is, and if it's not been treated, it will weather to a silver/grey.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ipe+weat...KHQ2nCYoQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1336&bih=700

http://tinyurl.com/y63j9pxz

Yeah the landscape plans mention Ipe decking:

https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1412-1460howe/documents/landscapeplans_rev.pdf

It's so dense it sinks in water and also fire resistant.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Graham_Yvr

I took a closer look at it on the weekend. The wood appears to be engineered, almost "plastic" (I'm no expert) so I suspect they'll hold up well. What bugs me is that they already look worn/aged which I gather was the intention. I'm pretty sure they'll remain looking the same as they do now for years.

Good to hear, thanks.
I think the main concern is the wood graying over time.
I think that was also the concern about the new Vancouver Art Gallery design.

Mind you, in this case, if it does fade to gray, then it'll match all the aluminum cladding (which may be worse?)

Compare to the [fake?] wood cladding at Brentwood:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

2020-08-22_10-36-38 by snub_you, on Flickr

2020-08-22_10-36-49 by snub_you, on Flickr

[bb1510]

Originally Posted by Zepfancouver

I also like the woodwork here. It's must be a high quality engineered wood (high fire rated and good resistances to weathering).
These are the same question I have for all the woodwork going into the 'Alberni'... Natural or engineered wood, the fire rating and the maintenance.

Apparently the "wood" to be installed at Alberni will be aluminum panels, at least according to the sales brochure

[jollyburger]

I don't think this was posted but some of the engineering behind Vancouver House

Mechanical and electrical services supporting the daily use of the building were required to do similar gymnastics up its height. Centralized in one single location just north of the concrete core at the base of the tower, the services branching out to the outer extremities of the building were like the branches of a tree.

The cumulative stresses onto the post-tensioned reinforced concrete slabs meant significant limitations on the allowable concrete embedded services. The mechanical HVAC and electrical services were removed from within the depth of the flat slabs – moving to coordinated ceiling drops – leaving only a handful of special lighting features and mechanical lines at each floor to be meticulously coordinated into the structure.

https://www.structuremag.org/?p=15416

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I don't think this was posted but some of the engineering behind Vancouver House


https://www.structuremag.org/?p=15416

Thanks for the link. Very interesting reading. Here's another remarkable quote:

If constructed using traditional methods, at the point of structure top-off, the elastic movement at the upper height of the tower would have displaced nearly 10 inches towards the east relative to the base. To bring the tower design back to near verticality and account for long-term creep, Vancouver House was deliberately constructed vertically out of plumb (tower cambering) at each floor following directly opposite to the final displaced shape of the tower. The upper floors of the tower were cambered to offset the slopes formed by building rotation and column shortening.

[...]

Movement surveys of the tower at every second floor were performed for the duration of construction up to one year after topping off the building. Survey data collected followed closely with the calculated movement of the tower during and after construction; there was no better way to confirm the calculated performance of the building well into the long lifespan of this world-class tower.

https://www.structuremag.org/?p=15416

[djh]

So would this mean that once the interior finishing began, the work would have been done to account for future levelling (and therefore be off-plumb or off-level at occupation), or would the finishers be given advance warning that the building would eventually change orientation by x degrees, so you should plan your work accordingly?

Either way, I can't imagine that penthouse owners would take well to seeing their cabinets, countertops and doors seeming to not be plumb/level. Imagine your Ferrero Rocher on your imported Italian marble countertop rolling off the edge as you try to impress the Ambassador...