Olympic Village & Southeast False Creek Updates Discussion

[officedweller]

Saw on the news the other night that the steel structure for the footbridge has been moved into place. It won't open for a few months though.

[mr.x]

^ here's a view of that bridge, taken today, by pwnedbyaskyscraper at ssc:

[raggedy13]

^Sweet. Looks a lot different than I imagined though. It looks pretty heavy duty.

p.s. check out the Shangri-La making an appearance.

[deasine]

Imagine with all the buildings around the bridge. I'm pretty excited that we can show to the world our olympic village overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by deasine

Imagine with all the buildings around the bridge. I'm pretty excited that we can show to the world our olympic village overlooking one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

If only they could be looking at this...


...rather than that white whoopie cushion of ours. I think Wembley's architecture would've fit with Vancouver quite perfectly.

[officedweller]

Thanks. It looks decent. Some bridges, if they are cable-stayed, look spindley and disappear against the background - this one looks pretty solid. It could have more interesting design elements than using tubular steel (i.e. blades or fins), but it's not too bad.

[deasine]

I wouldn't mind that mr.x2 =)

But I don't mind BC Place, as long as they do a MAJOR design overhall in the entire stadium (which I doubt they will ever do). Such as: making those ugly concrete walls full of lights, art, etc. Then Concrete beams with faux wood so it looks like it's a wooden beam. Roof change (or extreme cleaning). Lighting. New Display. New Sound system. What else is there?

[officedweller]

SEFC Energy Centre info. Not as bad as I thought (wrt stack height (22m) and size). The LEDs at the top of the stacks should be interesting.

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/southea...c4+6/index.htm

[mr.x]

that's pretty good...i had initially imagined it would be more industrial-like.

[SpongeG]

is that under the cambie bridge?

looks neat

[hollywoodnorth]

wow very cool

[mr.x]

^ yup...i had initially thought they were gonna put it right smack in the middle of the village.

[raggedy13]

Looks great. I love that the city is getting more interesting lighting features in some of the newer developments around town - really creates a more dynamic vibe. Thanks for posting the info officedweller.

[SpongeG]

the lighting sure helps all the dark grey winter evenings

[city guy]

the firm thats designing the stacks and lighting is called pechet and robb studio, they're also working on the granville street redesign, particularly on the lighting elements...

[officedweller]

Presentation posted at the VIA website - shows False Creek history to about 2004.

http://www.via-architecture.com/pdf/.../Estuaries.pdf

[SFUVancouver]

I don't know how I forgot to post in this thread some of the recent photos I took of the Olympic Village.

Looking east at Second Avenue and Cambie towards the Olympic Village construction precinct in Southeast False Creek (SEFC). Most of the Olympic Village surrounding SEFC neighbourhood will be built to about the same approximate height as the building on the right in this photo, which is about 90 feet in height. There will be a number of buildings that reach slightly taller and others, obviously, will be shorter.


Another shot of the Southeast False Creek neighourbood, this time looking east from the Cambie Street Bridge deck. The brick building on the right is being restored and converted to lofts. A streetcar line, Vancouver's first in more than 50 years, will run down First, below, and connect to SkyTrain to the east and Granville Island to the west. Additional phases are planned.


A couple of shots of the Olympic Village showing the mass of cranes.




These folks (below) across False Creek in Yaletown are getting some new neighbours to the east of the Cambie Street Bridge.


These new towers are being built by Concord Pacific in the Cooper’s Quay precinct. Behind them is BC Place, home of the BC Lions football franchise and the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics.


Things are moving along for the Olympic Village itself. Construction continued through the worst of winter without disruption. The weather is fine again, the snow has melted, and the first flowers are starting to bud. It has become a pretty busy place. 12 tower construction cranes are building the 16 buildings, the first of which is about three storeys above ground. The remainder is all below- or at- grade.

The following several shots of the new man-made marine habitat island. The very small bay to the left is where the daylighted stream will empty into False Creek. There are dozens of streams running under Vancouver, all of which were filled in or buried in sewers more than a hundred years ago. One is being daylighted and deeply integrated into the landscaping of the Olympic Village. The elementary school will be right beside it and children can be expected to play on its banks and run across its pedestrian bridges.






The new Seawall features separated pedestrian and bicycle/wheeled vehicle paths, a number of boardwalks that feature recovered wood from the old industrial piers on the site, and an inlet with pedestrian bridge adjacent a piazza and the community centre. A marina for non-motorized boats (Dragon Boat war canoes, kayaks, etc.) will be adjacent.















All photos were taken by me on January 15th, 2008.

[excel]

great work.

[Powell]

Got a new rendering of the Exchange project in the mail today. I didn't know they were also planning to build a new loft low rise right next to it.

[hollywoodnorth]

Fuck! I love the new addition on the side! The balconies and townhomes they added to the existing building are very interesting I can't wait to see the end result.