Vancouver House
Vancouver, Canada
Client
Westbank Projects Corporation
Typology
Residential
Size m2/ft2
60,758 / 654,000
Status
Completed
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.
Park — In addition we had to ensure that we wouldn't cast any shadows on the neighboring park.
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.
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.
Deal Breaker — The city required a 30 m setback from the bridge to ensure that no one would look straight into the heavy traffic.
Wedge — In the end BIG was left with a tiny wedge of a mere 1982 m2 almost too small to build on.
Partner in Charge
Bjarke Ingels
Thomas Christoffersen
Beat Schenk
Project Leader
Agustin Perez-Torres
Julie Kaufman
Project Leader, Interiors
Francesca Portesine
Project Manager
Carl Macdonald
Melissa Bauld
Project Team
Agne Rapkeviciute
Aran Coakley
Tran Le
Blake Smith
Florencia Kratsman
Jan Leenknegt
Kam Chi Cheng
Kelly Neill
Lorenz Krisai
Otilia Pupezeanu
Phillip Macdougall
Sean Franklin
Shu Zhao
Simon Scheller
Terrence Chew
Thomas Smith
Won Ryu
Alex Wu
Chris Tron
Deb Campbell
Elnaz Rafati
Gabriel Jewell-Vitale
Ivy Hume
Aaron Mark
Agnieszka Majkowska
Alan Tansey
Amina Blacksher
Arash Adel Ahmadian
Armen Menendian
Barbora Srpková
Benjamin Johnson
Benjamin Novacinski
Benjamin Zunkeler
Bennett Gale
Birk Daugaard
Brian Foster
Brian Rome
Carolien Schippers
Christopher Junkin
Christopher Malcolm Jr.
David Brown
Davide Maggio
Douglass Alligood
Doug Stechschulte
Edward Yung
Elena Bresciani
Ella Coco Murphy
Ema Hristova Bakalova
Filip Milovanovic
Gabriel Hernandez Solano
Gaurav Janey
Hector Garcia-Castrillo
Janice Rim
John Kim
Jonas Swienty Andresen
Kurt Nieminen
Lauren Turner
Lucio Santos
Marcella Martinez
Matthew Dlugosz
Michael Evola
Paula Domka
Spencer Hayden
Taylor Fulton
Terrence Lallak
Tianqi Zhang
Tobias Hjortdal
Ute Rinnebach
Valentina Mele
Xinyu Wang
Yaziel Juarbe
Yoanna Shivarova
Zachary Walters
Zhifei Xu
Alexandra Gustafsson
Alina Tamosiunaite
Benjamin Caldwell
David Dottelonde
Dong-Joo Kim
Josiah Poland
Julian Liang
Julianne Gola
Karol Bogdan Borkowski
Megan Ng
Michael Robert Taylor
Ryan Yang
Sebastian Grogaard
Celine Kæmpe Hansen
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