STATUS
COMPLETED
CLIENT
Westbank Projects Corporation
TYPOLOGY
Residential
SIZE M2/FT2
60,758 / 654,000
SHARE
Vancouver House is located at the main entrance to Vancouver right where Granville bridge triforks when it reaches downtown. The resulting triangular slices of land had remained undeveloped until now. When engaged by Westbank to design a residential high-rise for the highly complex site, BIG started by mapping the constraints: setbacks from the streets; a 30 m setback from the bridge; and a neighboring park had to be protected from shadows. After all the constraints, a small triangular site nearly too small to build on was left.
The 30 m separation from the bridge was defined as a minimum distance until the building reached 30 m up in the air, after which it could grow back out, allowing BIG to double the floor plate. The Vancouver House emerges from the ground, expands as it rises, appearing like a Genie let out of the bottle. What seems like a surreal gesture is in fact a highly responsive architecture – shaped by its environment.
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Triangles
— The trident shape of the highway ramps and bridge shreds the site into small triangles. Previous ideas for developing the site had not succeeded.
Constraints
— BIG started mapping all the constraints of the site: setbacks from the streets and setbacks from the bridges, only to learn about what seemed like a deal breaker.
Deal Breaker
— The city required a 30 m setback from the bridge to ensure that no one would look straight into the heavy traffic.
Park
— In addition we had to ensure that we wouldn't cast any shadows on the neighboring park.
Wedge
— In the end BIG was left with a tiny wedge of a mere 1982 m2 almost too small to build on.
Over the Setback
— BIG reasoned that if the 30 m setback is about ensuring a minimum distance, then once the building cleared 30 m we are meeting the requirement regardless of the floor plate shape.
Tiny Triangle
— Once the tower reaches 30 m above the bridge BIG was able to expand the floor plate to maximize the most valuable real estate, creating a 3962 m2 rectangular floor plate.
Underneath the bridge, Vancouver artist Rodney Graham and BIG envisioned what we nicknamed the Sistine Chapel of street art: an art gallery turned upside down which would turn the negative impact of the bridge into a positive. This includes a gigantic Spinning Chandelier suspended above the street.
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Bjarke Ingels Thomas Christoffersen Beat Schenk Agustin Perez-Torres Aran Coakley Blake Smith Jan Leenknegt Julie Kaufman Otilia Pupezeanu Shu Zhao Simon Scheller Won Ryu Chris Tron Gabriel Jewell-Vitale Douglass Alligood Gaurav Janey Paula Domka Benjamin Caldwell
AWARDS
The International High-Rise Award, 2022/23
AFBC Architecture Awards of Excellence, 2021
AZ Award Best Multi-unit Residential, 2021
CTBUH Structural Engineering, 2021
CTBUH Best Tall Hotel / Residential Building, 2021
CTBUH Best Tall Building 100m – 199m, 2021
CTBUH Best Tall Building World Wide, 2021
CTBUH Award of Excellence Winner, 2021
Canadian Architect Award of Excellence Finalist, 2015
World Architecture Festival Future Project of the Year, 2015
World Architecture Festival Future Best Housing Category Winner, 2015
Re-thinking the Future Award 1st Place for Mixed-Use Concept, 2014
MIPIM AR Future Projects Awards Highly Commended, 2014
WAN Awards Residential Sector Winner, 2012
COLLABORATORS
Dialog
Integral Group
PFS Studio
Buro Happold
Glotman Simpson
Nemetz & Associates
LMDG
Morrison Hershfield
BVDA Facade Engineering
HLB
Jamen KM Cheng Architects
Icon Pacific
