WINNER OF A 2015 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Creating value from a previously neglected infill site, Vancouver House squeezes up and out from the residual spaces at the base of the Granville Bridge.
ARCHITECTS Bjarke Ingels Group (design architect), DIALOG (architect of record), James K.M. Cheng Architects (advising architect)
LOCATION Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver House negotiates a difficult site trisected by the Granville Bridge. The base of the tower is conditioned by two neighbouring elements. First, a 30-metre setback from the bridge greatly cuts down the area of the site. Second, concerns for sunlight reaching an adjacent park limit how far south the site can expand. As a result, the footprint is restricted to a 540-square-metre triangle?almost too small to build on. The tower ascends as a simple extrusion of this triangular footprint. Thirty metres above the bridge, it begins to reclaim the lost area from the setbacks by expanding into a rectangular floor plate. This gradual cantilever protects residents at the lower levels from the noise, exhaust and traffic of the bridge. At the higher levels?beyond the bridge?s zone of influence?the massing maximizes real estate for the most desirable apartments.
The twisting tower is a striking presence in downtown Vancouver?s skyline.
This movement not only turns the inefficient triangle into an optimized rectangular floor plate, but also frees up a generous public space at the building?s base. The resultant...