'New territory for Vancouver': At 315 metres, city's first supertall tower could be first of more to come |
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'New territory for Vancouver': At 315 metres, city's first supertall tower could be first of more to come
B.C. currently has no 'supertall' skyscrapers, defined as between 300 and 599 metres in height. But Vancouver city hall is now updating its policy on very tall buildings, potentially opening the door for future 'supertalls'
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As Vancouver’s first “supertall” skyscraper — which would reach a height of more than 1,000 feet or 315 metres — works its way through the approval process, planners see this as new territory for the city.
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But there could be more to come soon: The City of Vancouver plans to seek public feedback in the coming weeks on revisions to its long-standing policy on very tall buildings, aiming to complete that work next year to potentially pave the way for more “supertalls.”
News of the city’s planned update to its skyscraper policy was mentioned during a public meeting earlier this month at city hall focused on Vancouver developer Holborn’s proposal to transform the downtown skyline with a trio of skyscrapers.
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At a meeting of the urban design panel on March 4, Vancouver senior development planner Kevin Spaans told the room that Holborn’s proposal — with three towers between 63 and 79 storeys — aims to go bigger than any of the city’s existing policies enable.
Vancouver’s higher-buildings policy contemplates a maximum height of 700 feet or about 215 metres, Spaans said, but Holborn was proposing 315 metres, far exceeding the current zoning for the property.
“The panel is therefore being asked to consider a scale of development that would significantly extend Vancouver’s historic height range and materially reshape the skyline. This is new territory for Vancouver,” Spaans said. “There is no enabling rezoning policy that anticipates a development of this magnitude on any property in Vancouver.”
Holborn first went public with the project, designed by Henriquez Partners Architects, last May and submitted the application to city hall last summer. The development would transform nearly two entire downtown blocks, bounded by West Georgia, Seymour, Dunsmuir and Richards Streets, and include 1,288 condos, 273 rental homes, 920 hotel rooms, and commercial space at street level. As part of Holborn’s pitch, the company also proposes to develop a second site, currently a Downtown Eastside parking lot, with a 38-storey social housing tower to be handed over to the city on completion.
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The Council on Vertical Urbanism, an international body that studies urban design and skyscrapers, defines a supertall building as between 300 and 599 metres in height. There are no supertall buildings in B.C. Vancouver’s tallest, the Shangri-La, tops out around 200 metres, and B.C.’s tallest, Two Gilmore Place in Burnaby, is 215 metres.
Most of Canada’s tallest buildings are in Ontario, with no B.C. towers in the top 20, according to the Council of Vertical Urbanism’s database.
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At the meeting this month at City Hall, Spaans said that the urban design panel’s decision on Holborn’s proposal “carries unusual weight” because it comes ahead of the city completing its updated policy on tall buildings, and will therefore be “helping staff and ultimately council understand what constitutes excellence at extreme height.”
The urban design panel is one of the city’s advisory bodies, which make recommendations on projects, but do not approve or reject proposals. After a marathon meeting of more than three hours this month, the panel unanimously voted to support Holborn’s proposal, with a few recommendations for further design development.
Then, on Monday, another advisory body — the Vancouver heritage commission reviewed the proposal and recommended retaining the heritage-designated Randall Building at 555 West Georgia St., instead of the architect’s proposal to retain only the facade. But the commission voted to “generally” support the project, and also supported the integration of Indigenous cultural heritage in the design of the plaza and buildings.
Reached after Monday’s meetings, project architect Gregory Henriquez said they were pleased both advisory bodies generally supported the project.
Now, the proponents hope to get to a public hearing for a final rezoning decision from council by this summer, Henriquez said. The council agenda has no public hearings or regular meetings after July, with the city gearing up for a municipal election in October.
As for the city’s broader policy work on taller buildings, Henriquez said that while supertall skyscrapers won’t be viable everywhere, there are a few places where they can work to help with urban renewal, especially after big downtown retailers like the Bay and Nordstrom have closed.
“It’s part of the future of a growing metropolis to look at this sort of densification in order to get the housing stock we need,” Henriquez said.
dfumano@postmedia.com
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