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A gleaming new office tower is going vertical alongside a 10-storey Gothic Revival-style building that once housed the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Rather than demolishing the 1929 structure and opening up more room for development, SwissReal Management Inc. and Credit Suisse are doing just the opposite: a painstaking preservation and restoration that brings new life to the heritage-registered building.
Named for its historic roots, The Exchange is designed by Harry Gugger Studio and Iredale Group Architecture. It features a triple-glazed facade that bulges outwards in a rhythmic fashion on two elevations. The interiors of the 31-storey addition at 475 Howe Street will seamlessly connect to the preserved structure's 10,000-square-foot floors. This symbiotic relationship provides extra lateral support to the existing building through the elevator core serving both buildings. A series of columns had to be installed through the existing structure to carry the load of the glassy edifice up top.
National Bank will anchor the 369,000-square-foot building by occupying 45,000 square feet of space. Hailed as Canada’s first LEED Platinum heritage conversion, the project will incorporate a stormwater retention system, integrated geo-exchange thermal regulators, solar panels, and a solar shade-equipped building envelope to minimize heat gain. These environmentally friendly components are expected to yield a 50 percent reduction in energy costs and an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions compared to a standard office building.
Our last photo update in October showed pillars of steel rebar surpassing ground level and there's been noticeable progress since then. Forum contributor mcminsen captured fresh shots depicting the concrete-frame building about three floors above the street. Construction hoarding surrounds the site as restoration work continues on the former stock exchange. If all goes according to the timeline, the project will be complete in 2017.
Additional information and images can be found in the Database file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion or share your photos? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
| Related Companies: | Diverso Energy, PCL Construction |
