This stunning unique structure entitled Beach and Howe St. after on the corner of Howe & Beach next to the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver will be one of the fourth tallest buildings of the city. The proposal to create such a daring and world class project belongs to BIG, a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development, which was commisioned by Canada’s premier real estate developer Westbank. The idea that contemporary life constantly evolves and changes underlies the careful analysis which leads to BIG’s architecture, so every project they do aims to respond those future needs.
Beach and Howe St. is supposed to be 490-foot-tall, almost 350m shorter than famous Dubai’s 828-metre Burj Khalifato make a comparison. The mixed-use 49-story tower with 600 residential units will have a spectacular futuristic architecture, which will be a new building typology to the Vancouver skyline forming “a dramatic gateway to downtown Vancouver that speaks to the emerging creative economy in the city” as Ian Gillespie, President at Westbank, said. The project’s main objectives are to optimize the conditions for its inhabitants in the air as well as on the street level and to enrich both the neighborhood and the Vancouver city by making them more creative, sustainable and affordable.
Its silhouette which reveals a unique structure isn’t randomly designed in this manner. Besides the beauty of its appearance which changes from every angle resembling a curtain being drawn aside and welcoming people as they enter the city from the bridge, the tower shapes after the urban complex conditions aiming to increase pedestrian activity and street life. A mixed-use urban village with three triangular blocks that feature intimately-scaled spaces for working, shopping, and leisure composes the building’s podium. This additional space transform the space under the Granville Bridge into a dynamic and iconic neighborhood hub with a variety of open and covered outdoor sites. Its important to mention that the project is based on the sustainability concept and will strive for for LEED Gold Certification.
Photos: © BIG.
Project details:
Name: Beach and Howe St.
Client: Westbank Projects Corp.
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Size: 653,890 sf / 60,670 m2
Collaborators: Dialog, Cobalt Engineering, Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg Urban Design, Buro Happold, Glotman Simpson, James KM Cheng Architects
PARTNERS-IN-CHARGE: Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Christoffersen
PROJECT LEADER: Agustin Perez-Torres
TEAM: Julianne Gola, Marcella Martinez, Chris Malcolm, Karol Borkowski, Michael Taylor, Alina Tamosiunaite, David Brown, Tobias Hjortdal, Alexandra Gustafson
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