498 Drake St | 121.9M | 43Fl | Completed

jlousa · #1 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 9:47 PM**

Wall Financial seems to be busy putting projects thru the system right now. This latest one has been in the works for a little bit, it's at the south end of Richards on site of the Boss night club. Architect firm is Dialog, it looks pretty standard, it'll appear to be a very thin tower due to it's height to width ratio, and the balconies will be larger then normal for Vancouver. Retail is limited to just over 6000sqft.

Quote:

DIALOG has applied to the City of Vancouver to rezone 1300-1320 Richards Street from DD (Downtown District) to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. The proposal is for a 43-storey mixed-use (residential and commercial-retail) development, comprised of a floor space area of 19 340 m² (208,175 sq. ft.), a floor space ratio (FSR) of 11.90, and a height of 121.92 m (400 ft.).

LeftCoaster · #2 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 10:06 PM**

Hmm, pretty decently tall sucker.

I'm loving the big podiums this area seems to be getting, but what is with the awful SE facade? I know part of it is blocked by the adjacent building, but this one is much taller.

Hopefully the UDP forces them to do something about that.

wrenegade · #3 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 10:52 PM**

yee haw. I'll admit this is bigger than I thought they would go, but I'm happy to see they pushed the 400' mark. Unbelievably efficient building I must say, looks pretty good. Only complaint is the SE facade. I hope some sort of treatment is applied to break it up a bit.

The lobby/entryway design is interesting. Apparently not much retail value there with only 6,000 sf on a 17,488 sf site and the corner is occupied by a water feature instead a CRU.

idunno · #4 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 11:04 PM**

It looks pretty good in my opinion, I'm amazed they were able to make it so thin yet also economical. Do you really think they would go through with yellow glass balconies?

hollywoodnorth · #5 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 11:42 PM**

thanks for the details. the last of the clubs on south richards finally bites the dust!

WarrenC12 · #6 Posted **Jan 17, 2012, 11:49 PM**

Goodbye Boss!

Built Form · #7 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 12:12 AM**

I'm happy this is finally out! Agreed about the south east facade; needs major work and reminds me of the alley side of 889 Homer. It'll also be greatly appreciated from the folks at the 501 who have been complaining for years about the violence and noise from the nightclub across the street.

officedweller · #8 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 12:20 AM**

Note the integrated sun shades - like on the podium of The Mark. They're noted on the floorplans with "open to below".
I wonder how much those will block the views?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Hmm, pretty decently tall sucker.

I'm loving the big podiums this area seems to be getting, but what is with the awful SE facade? I know part of it is blocked by the adjacent building, but this one is much taller.

Hopefully the UDP forces them to do something about that.

Hmm - exposed elevator core... maybe a lighting feature??
NOT!

NewWester · #9 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 12:50 AM**

I can of like the SE elevation... it has a certain brutalist-ness about it (what with having an expanse of blank stone instead of that-same-green-glass) that is atypical of modern downtown highrises. I think it will look less awkward, and more interesting in the context of the overall skyline.

vanman · #10 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 12:54 AM**

I like the massing and height of this building but nothing else. It is as cookie cutter as it gets. Hopefully this is sent back to the drawing board. A location as prominent as this one anchoring Richards st deserves something more iconic.

dleung · #11 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 1:39 AM**

Boring, and I hate combovers.

Interesting that this is practically the same height as Crystal Blu in Toronto, except this has 9 more floors. Our low floor to floor heights makes a lot of buildings look fatter than they really are.

officedweller · #12 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 1:48 AM**

The core could be done like the one on "Lumiere" on Bay Street in Toronto:

Quote:

Originally Posted by interchange42

Some recent beauty shots of Lumiere by Mike In TO:

dleung · #13 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 5:36 AM**

the blank face is much wider than it needs to be because they're not imaginative enough to put anything other than tiny punched windows for the bathrooms. If the semi-solid wallls were cladded in anything other than grey, it would have looked better. Exposed cores on towers are such an asset in terms of expressing the "spine" or "trunk", but that seems to be lost on the architect...

urbandreamer · #14 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 8:52 AM**

Awfully dull. No way does it compare to Wallman Architects Lumiere! It's more like a version of the dull Onni Group's West Lake towers by inferior firm Page+Steele, although scary to say probably better than this proposal!

trofirhen · #15 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 10:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Awfully dull. No way does it compare to Wallman Architects Lumiere! It's more like a version of the dull Onni Group's West Lake towers by inferior firm Page+Steele, although scary to say probably better than this proposal!

Dull. That's the word. pleasant, but dull. Maybe one day there will be a couple of, if not supertalls, then at least verytalls in the precinct, and this one will make good high-rise infill ('cause it's not as if it's ugly or anything ... just dull)

Jimbo604 · #16 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 7:05 PM**

When is Boss closing? What are the next steps for the city approval process? More news please!

incognism · #17 Posted **Jan 18, 2012, 10:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

When is Boss closing? What are the next steps for the city approval process? More news please!

Boss had their final night last weekend. I'm guessing rezoning is the next step?

dleung · #18 Posted **Jan 19, 2012, 1:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Dull. That's the word. pleasant, but dull. Maybe one day there will be a couple of, if not supertalls, then at least verytalls in the precinct, and this one will make good high-rise infill ('cause it's not as if it's ugly or anything ... just dull)

You sound like Caltrane. Dullness is a negative... this will be the tallest and most visible building in Yaletown, and you're already rationalizing the dullness by hiding it with taller ones in the future?