The Fairmont Pacific Rim project signifies the completion of the Burrard Landing precinct, comprised of the new Convention Center to the north and the Shaw Tower to the west. The site is significant in that Fairmont, as a mixed use hotel and live-work building, together with the Shaw Tower, bridges the adjacent commercial and the residential district in terms of building mass and use. The massing of the tower has an angled face on the west as a direct response to prevailing views from adjacent buildings. The eastern façade is set back from a podium that has its alignment set to the city grid to enhance the Burrard street-end view. The mixed used characteristics of the building is reflected in the bold architectural expression of the east and south facades, articulated by the subtle treatment of balconies and slab edges and further differentiated by the integration of a public art installation on the lower hotel. The lighter curtain wall expression on the west side responds to the adjacent Shaw Tower and its prime waterfront status. The tower is anchored on a hotel podium base that modulates the impact of the tower with the pedestrian scale and a dynamic relationship is created with the juxtaposition of a zinc clad cube that houses a special two-storey hotel suite on the water side.

Vancouver’s Public Art Program was set up since 1990 to incorporate contemporary art practices into city planning and development. Every project that is rezoned over 100,000 sf is required to contribute to a public art process approved by the City. This is however, the first time that the artwork is integrated onto the building facades and can be interpreted as part of the elevation – a double edged statement proudly floating on the slab edges. The public artwork by British artist Liam Gillick wraps around the south and east faces in a repeated line of running text with no spacing between words or punctuation:

Lyingontopofthebuilding...thecloudslooknonearerthanwheniwaslyingonthestreet