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Plans for a new Vancouver Art Gallery—in the works for more than a decade, and feared by many to have stalled indefinitely—received a major boost this week with the announcement of a $40m lead gift from the local philanthropic Chan family. In recognition of what the institution’s director Kathleen Bartels called an act of “extraordinary generosity”, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s new building will be named the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts. — The Art Newspaper
On the occasion of the impressive Chan family gift announcement, the Vancouver Art Gallery also presented the anticipated final designs for its new 300,000-square-foot home, which is ever so slowly inching closer to realization. West Georgia Street entrance © Herzog & de MeuronHerzog &... View full entry
It’s official! The sorriest bus stop in America is in … Canada!
The horrendous bus stop on the Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows, just outside of Vancouver, has won our annual contest, trouncing Cincinnati in a 58%-42% landslide.
— usa.streetsblog.org
Streetsblog has announced the 'winner' of its annual America’s Sorriest Bus Stop tournament, and it's an impressively desolate and pedestrian-inadequate spot on a highway outside of Vancouver, BC that gets to take home the crown this year. Congrats on the 2nd place: Daly Road in Springfield... View full entry
“The new name, Revery Architecture, reflects the firm’s enduring vision to strive for exceptional design, whilst paying homage to Bing who instilled in us all the courage to dream big.” — Revery Architecture
Following the sudden passing of founder Bing Thom last year, the esteemed Canadian architect's namesake firm has been going through some big changes. On December 18, the firm officially rebranded themselves as Revery Architecture. The firm wrote in a statement: “The studio has gone through many... View full entry
In January, tenants will move into a six-storey Vancouver apartment building designed to be so energy efficient, you could heat each bedroom with a 100-watt light bulb. [...] Others are under construction and many more are at the rezoning stage, including a residence that will house 750 students at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus and two 40-plus highrise towers in Vancouver that aim be the tallest passive house buildings in the world. — cbc.ca
Until now most passive houses have been single-family homes, but Canada is changing that. With several projects underway, architects are tackling the issues of scaling up this sustainable technology for larger buildings. Without using furnaces and air conditioners, these green buildings are... View full entry
The exhibition “Fight for Beauty” is a physical manifestation of the book of the same name by Westbank founder Ian Gillespie, who Archinect previously interviewed here. Currently displayed near Vancouver's Fairmont Pacific Rim, the pop-up exhibition — just like the book — celebrates... View full entry
In a way, heritage preservation is the least of Vancouver’s worries. Without more funding and stronger policy protections from the push-pull of global capital, Vancouver and cities like it will struggle to sustain urban life in all its social and economic diversity – the thing that makes them vibrant – let alone guarantee their architectural heritage. — The Guardian
The Empire Landmark Hotel, a brutalist tower from the 1970s, and landmark for the city of Vancouver, will close on September 30th. The tower will be demolished to construct new luxury condos. Architectural heritage preservation is threatened by the ever rising cost of land and property in... View full entry
Completed last year, the wooden skyscraper opened its doors to 400 students at University of British Columbia (UBC) Campus in Vancouver. Designed by Acton Ostry Architects in collaboration with structural engineers Fast + Epp. The building is built of mass timber construction above one level of... View full entry
Art thrives when it collaborates with or takes inspiration from other discliplines, a tenet that is physically expressed in the new campus of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, located on the east side of downtown Vancouver. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the campus reflects the... View full entry
The Canadian luxury residential and mixed-use real estate development company Westbank has announced the purchase of the Serpentine Pavilion designed by BIG last year. Part of the annual Serpentine Pavilion commission, BIG’s “unzipped wall” involved modular, glass fiber rectangular forms... View full entry
Today, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada announced D'Arcy Jones Architecture (DJA), a nine-person studio from Vancouver, as the 2017 Emerging Architecture Practice Award winner. The yearly award recognizes the principals of an emerging architectural practice that has consistently... View full entry
In the three months since our last update, progress has been moving along at the site of the Bjarke Ingels-designed Vancouver House. The soon-to-be iconic 49-storey mixed-use tower by Westbank is beginning to rise above grade [...]. Designed in conjunction with Canadian firms Dialog Architects and James KM Cheng Architects, Vancouver House has been described as a "living sculpture," and the tower's signature twist will soon become a staple of the newly minted Beach District neighbourhood. — skyrisecities.com
Photo of the Vancouver House construction site by Skyrise Cities forum member mcminsen. Click here to see more photos.The tower and other Vancouver-related stories in the Archinect news:BIG’s 490-foot-tall Beach and Howe Tower for VancouverCan Vancouver break out of its 'boring-architecture'... View full entry
There is a city which is suffering a worse property bubble than Sydney, whose residents are more priced-out than Londoners, and where there is a greater divide between the housing haves and have-nots than even San Francisco.
That city is Vancouver, and in response to these mounting challenges, the west-coast Canadian metropolis recently imposed an extraordinary new tax on foreign buyers – whose impact is now being watched closely by other cities grappling with bloated property markets.
— theguardian.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Mayor of London launches probe into the impact of foreign investment in city's real estateAnother case of "poor door" for proposed Vancouver high-riseCan Vancouver break out of its 'boring-architecture' mold with these new ambitious skyscraper View full entry
The Brock Commons at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has been topped off, making it the world’s tallest wood building. The 18-story tower, a student residence, was completed in less than 70 days using prefabricated components. The project was completed four months earlier than... View full entry
Details are scant, there's only one rendering, and yet according to on-the-nose-named developer PortLiving, Shigeru Ban has designed the world's tallest timber hybrid apartment complex. Called Terrace House, the sloping glass-encased, timber-framed, concrete and steel-cored building will... View full entry
The City of Vancouver has reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway that will transform a contentious stretch of old rail corridor into a public greenway.
Under the deal, the city will pay $55 million to purchase the land on the railway route, which extends for nine kilometres from False Creek near Downtown Vancouver to Marpole on the city's south side.
— CBC News
Once the unofficial home to community gardens and in situ artworks, under the city's plan the Vancouver's Arbutus Corridor will become a place for cyclists and walkers. It's not the High Line (although much like that project, Vancouver city officials would like to continue thinking that the rail... View full entry
