320 Granville St |115m | 32Fl | Completed

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Lol cray cray

Does anyone know what was there before the hideous parking garage ?

Well in 1959 it was a bunch of retail. Fur shop, newspapers, sandwiches, barbers, cleaners and a coffee shop...



http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/g...ordova-sts;rad

Better shot of the corner with the train station in the background:



http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/g...pr-station;rad

The parking garage was supposedly built in 1960.

EDIT: Confirmed.

The owner of the site, at 320 Granville, is tearing down a 50-year-old parking garage that is becoming less profitable every year.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle4242547/

And if you look at the first photo you can still see the Almer Hotel (610 West Cordova). The photo of it isn't online but from the description:

Photograph shows the Almer Hotel on West Cordova Street and the St. Francis Hotel to its left. Cars are parked on the street in front of the hotels.

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/s...lmer-hotel;rad

[itinerant]

Tom Hawthorn's Blog has some interesting background on the businesses that used to be on that corner.

http://tomhawthorn.blogspot.ca/2012/...n-and-now.html


City of Vancouver Archives CVA 1184-3272
Wilson's Newspapers at the corner of Granville Street and Cordova

[jlousa]

Heard thru a reliable source that the sale of this property was just completed. It doesn't sound like it'll be redeveloped soon though as the new owners will be upgrading the parking equipment at the cost of several hundreds of thousands, which leads me to believe they intend to at least recoup that investment before demoing.

[jlousa]

Well it's going to council to be referred to a public hearing, who knows this one might only be a couple years away after all.

http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/...cuments/p1.pdf

[Prometheus]

Thank you for the update.

Of all the publicly known office tower proposals out there (i.e., 753 Seymour, 601 West Hastings, 1090 West Pender, 320 Granville), I think this one will have the most meaningful immediate impact on the urban fabric.

[red-paladin]

I'm looking forward to this one a lot as well. That's one corner that certainly needs improvement.

[Prometheus]

Yes. Of the four sites, 320 Granville needs improvement the most. Furthermore, it is the site which will be improved the most by its proposed redevelopment, if they get the public realm component right.

EDIT: For the sake of the Queen Elizabeth viewcone, staff is recommending a 7.2 metre reduction in height. I wonder whether such a reduction will have a deleterious effect on the urbanity of the building's public realm component, unless it makes sense the developer will simply eliminate two income-generating office floors and nothing else.

[trofirhen]

OMG, can't they ease up on those freaking viewcones, just a bit (by 20m or so)? They're snarling up up just about everything ...
we could all go on about this, but something's gotta give. This is too much.

[Infrequent Poster]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

OMG, can't they ease up on those freaking viewcones, just a bit (by 20m or so)? They're snarling up up just about everything ...
we could all go on about this, but something's gotta give. This is too much.

I wonder if they were to backfill the spot in the park where the sacred viewcone originates from could this be the answer to taller buildings? Say they raised the elevation by ....2-5 metres, over that distance I wonder if you could add another 10 to 20 metres on to a buildings height downtown. I'm only half serious here but, if this was a possible solution I could begin bringing loads of fill in my truck tommorow, no charge.

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

I wonder if they were to backfill the spot in the park where the sacred viewcone originates from could this be the answer to taller buildings? Say they raised the elevation by ....2-5 metres, over that distance I wonder if you could add another 10 to 20 metres on to a buildings height downtown. I'm only half serious here but, if this was a possible solution I could begin bringing loads of fill in my truck tommorow, no charge.

Maybe if you plant some trees they'll block out a viewcone or two in a few decades

[dleung]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

I wonder if they were to backfill the spot in the park where the sacred viewcone originates from could this be the answer to taller buildings? Say they raised the elevation by ....2-5 metres, over that distance I wonder if you could add another 10 to 20 metres on to a buildings height downtown. I'm only half serious here but, if this was a possible solution I could begin bringing loads of fill in my truck tommorow, no charge.

Not possible, because for every metre you hope to gain on a downtown building, you have to backfill much more than that to see the same amount of mountain.

[jlousa]

This went to council last nigh here are the details

Summary and Recommendation
http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/...ea2summary.pdf

Staff presentation
http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/...esentation.pdf

[trofirhen]

Seems like an ok enough project; but they are sure slaves to that tabletop skyline effect that will further be emphasized.
(Who knows? Years down the road, the "tabletop" might be considered aesthetically unique in North America)

[djmk]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Seems like an ok enough project; but they are sure slaves to that tabletop skyline effect that will further be emphasized.
(Who knows? Years down the road, the "tabletop" might be considered aesthetically unique in North America)

Tabletop skyline? What? This building soars 1.12 meters above the view cone.

We will no longer be able to see the north shore mountains ever again

[Pinion]

This is the one spot where I'm ok with a stubby building since it would be nice for tourists to not be walking in darkness. But of course it's probably still tall enough to block the sunlight across to Waterfront station.

[WarrenC12]

Well, as a company that's a pretty awesome location for people to be commuting to.

[PROSTSHOCKER]

I wish the corners were rounded. Because of the columns of the waterfront station across and the ornate design of the Sinclair centre adjacent to it as well as the presense of modern, minimalistic buildings. This building could have tethered the general aesthetic of the area together with a softer exterior with those lines being more rounded and curved. Also, you know, the ocean. Waves etc

[Klazu]

Cool "rendering"!

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by djmk

Tabletop skyline? What? This building soars 1.12 meters above the view cone.

We will no longer be able to see the north shore mountains ever again

hehe; now, now .....

[aSeattleite93]

I had to find a link to Skyscraperpage on this building on Google images because I've just learned about it. It looks great, not sure why people are calling this buildings bland. And this viewcone thing.....unheard of in America lol (maybe)