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The eye-catching designs of Bjarke Ingels Group have catapulted the Danish practice to the top of the architecture world. Their first two Canadian commissions are both at a similar stage of construction. Calgary's Telus Sky is a little further along, having poked its concrete core above street level. Work on the subterranean levels of the 49-storey Vancouver House — a mixed-use project backed by Westbank — continues with two cranes servicing the site.
Canadian firms Dialog Architects and James KM Cheng Architects are also attached to the "living sculpture," which serves as the residential centrepiece of a new waterfront neighbourhood called the "Beach District." Filled to the brim with 60,000 square feet of retail, 80,000 square feet of offices and a sprinkling of restaurants, shops, and cafes, the active enclave will become a celebrated platform for street festivals, farmer's markets, and performances.
Located on a constrained property positioned next to an elevated roadway, the building's small footprint presents challenges that are overcome by instituting a method of expanding upper floor plates. To support the greater girth at the top of the tower, the excavated pit dives deep underneath the surface of the city. Conceived as an urban village, the base of the tower will contain nine storeys of offices, shops, and restaurants. Their ambiance will not be contained within the structural limits of the tower, rather, the activity will flow onto multiple public plazas underneath the concrete roadway.
Large light boxes will showcase the avant-garde creations of local artists on the underside of the bridge. The star of the public art component is "Spinning Chandelier" by Rodney Graham, a dramatic recreation of a 200 year-old French chandelier. Hanging from the roadway above, the installation will descend and twirl at predetermined times every day, injecting the space with beams of light. When the project is delivered in 2018, residents will have access to a large roster of amenities, including a wellness centre and pool deck.
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