Pacific Metropolis

Expo 86 - 20 Years Later

With the wave of Expo 86 retrospectives about to hit this weekend, we thought we'd tackle the topic from the perspective of our own urban development angle.

Before looking below, can you name the five buildings and/or projects that were initially built for the World's Fair, which are still standing in the city today?

Prior to giving the list, we should note that BC Place Stadium isn't included, because it was completed in 1983, and although the Lion's Gate Bridge was lit up for the first time in 1986 (Gracie's necklace), we made the call that it doesn't count as something that was actually built for the fair.

With all that being said, here's the list:

• Expo Centre
• The Plaza of Nations
• Canada Place
• The Roundhouse
• Skytrain

Let us know if we've missed something. Also, if you've got a favourite pavillion (GM's Spirit Lodge, CP's 'Rainbow War', the Flying Geese at the Ontario Pavillion), ride (remember the "Looping Starship?") or transportation exhibit (who can forget the Monorail!), go ahead and add it below.

And while you're reminiscing, think about this: when Expo opened, Chuck and Di were still married (in fact, they opened the fair); the Soviet Union had just begun to experiment with Glasnost, Falco's 'Rock Me Amadeus' was in the top 10, and the next time you encounter a 20-year old waiter, he or she may very well have been conceived after a night of dancing and passion at the 86 Street Cabaret.

Jane Jacobs Passes Away

Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities passed away in Toronto yesterday at the age of 89.

Jane Jacobs wrote her landmark book after she had successfully opposed the destruction of her Greenwich Village neighbourhood in New York City, which was supposed to be bulldozed in favour of a mid-town expressway that would have deposited cars into the heart of lower Manhattan.

Her battle was echoed in Vancouver during the late-1960s, when local residents prevented the construction of the Carrall Street connector, a downtown freeway that would have been routed through the Downtown Eastside, slicing through Chinatown and Gastown.

When her book was published in 1961, Jane Jacobs' views challenged the prevailing theories of urban planning, which placed the automobile at the centre of city life. Instead, she noted the vibrancy and safety of the lively streets in her neighbourhood, leading her to coin the famous concept of 'eyes on the street'. Her views have gone on to influence urban planning in cities throughout North America, including Vancouver.

For an especially fascinating look at the planning environment she faced in 1950s New York, have a look at Part Six of the PBS documentary, New York.

Many of the lessons learned from this time have been applied and/or still remain relevant to Vancouver today. This is especially true in regards to the freeway expansion, and the construction of social housing. In brief: more freeways only lead to more urban sprawl; it is better to integrate social housing with mixed use developments, rather than create ghettos for the poor.

Jane Jacobs Dies [Globe and Mail]

Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89 [New York Times]

Jane Jacobs Speaks [Curbed.com]

Revitalizing Chinatown

With the Woodwards development set to bring new life into the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood in four years' time, there's another initiative underway which is bringing more immediate improvements to the area over the near term.

This is, of course, the city's Chinatown revitalization project, which has actually been underway since 1999.

Among those improvements that have already been completed are the Chinatown Millenium Gate, which was finished in 2002 and the Silk Road walkway, which connects Chinatown and the Vancouver Public Library.

Looking ahead, the City has extended its Heritage Incentive Program through 2008, which aims to encourage local property owners to restore older buildings in the neighbourhood. There are also plans to link local attractions to form a 'cultural quarter' that connects with the Carrall Street Greenway.

Furthermore, the City is considering ways to bring back the old neon signage that last lit up Chinatown back in the 1960s.

For more information, have a look at the City of Vancouver's specially-designed website which has more details about the project, including links to several GVTV.ca videos.

The Changing City

With all the major development and construction projects that have been announced for Vancouver over the past few years, we thought it would be interesting to take a step back for a moment, to think about how they will eventually come together in the not-too-distant future.

For instance, consider that within four years' time, locals and visitors alike will be able to ride the Canada Line between the newly-expanded airport terminal and downtown Vancouver in just 25 minutes.

The Robson, Yaletown, False Creek South, and Broadway/City Hall stations will be regular subway stops for thousands of commuters, while the proposed downtown streetcar would run along the southern shores of False Creek, connecting Granville Island to Waterfront station.

The new convention centre will be completed by 2008, while the central residential and commercial district of the Southeast False Creek neighbourhood will also be done, once construction of the Olympic Village is finished by late 2009.

If the Whitecaps stadium goes ahead on the Gastown waterfront, new development will flood into that area as well.

In addition to these major projects, at least 62 new buildings (if not more) will have risen within the downtown core over that same period.

Among them will be several landmark structures, not least of which will be the Shangri-La and 1133 West Georgia (if the latter goes ahead) - two buildings that will undoubtedly transform the Vancouver skyline, not only through their design, but by raising it to new heights as well.

Other notable buildings that will potentially become architectural favourites include the Flatiron, Jameson House, the Erickson and the Grace Residences.

There are also a few major developments that will either transform old neighbourhoods, or create entirely new ones. The Woodwards project in Gastown naturally comes to mind, as well as the Firenze, Espana and Spectrum/Costco buildings going up nearby International Village.

Coopers Quay along the shores of False Creek will also bring as many as five buildings to that new neighbourhood. There's another cluster of buildings going up in the Triangle West district, just north of Coal Harbour - the Melville, the Ritz, Cielo and the Flatiron, among others.

Some truly major changes for Vancouver over the next few years, which will unquestionably transform the city that we know today.

Any other major projects that we've missed?  Got some early ideas as to which building will be your favourite? Feel free to add your comments below.

The False Creek Flats

Originally begun in July 2004, the planning process for the 308 acre False Creek Flats industrial area is still ongoing. As per the Planning Department's website, the district is 'bounded by Main Street to the west, Clark Street to the east, Prior/Venables Streets to the north, and Great Northern Way to the south.'

According to this brief history (pdf), the Flats were once a tidal basin that reached as far inland as Clark Street. In 1913 the Great Northern Way, which was initially a railway, was extended out over the flats into the False Creek area via piles and low trestles. Between 1916 and 1917 much of the area was filled in, and by the 1920s 'the rail presence in the flats was firmly established.'

Today, although many of the properties are vacant, roughly one third of the businesses in the area are in the warehouse-wholesale industry, while a little more than 20% are either retail or manufacturing firms.

The most recent land use guideline (pdf), which was drawn up by the city in 2002, calls for the creation of greenways and parks, as well as the extension of the Millenium Line Skytrain line beyond the VCC station. Indeed, one of the key initiatives for the Flats is to 'increase accessibility for pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles throughout the area'.

Another related proposal is to include the False Creek Flats, Southeast False Creek and North False Creek neighborhoods as part of an 'Energy Precinct' that aims to develop the remaining lands according to high standards for energy conservation and smart growth. Such development would serve as a model for other cities in North America.

Among some of the specific projects that have been proposed for the area include the creation of a technology park, the relocation of Saint Paul's Hospital, and the construction of the new Whitecaps Stadium.

One of the few projects that have actually been realized is the Rocky Mountaineer train station - a revitalized CN locomotive maintenance building - which makes the False Creek Flats the principal Vancouver gateway for tourists arriving in by rail from the Rockies.

Update: The Convention Centre

The suffering people who live nearby the new convention centre construction site have a little more than one month more of pile driving to endure, as the City has extended the developer's permit until May 31st.

Then again, pile driving (1000 in total) was originally supposed to be done by the end of 2005, so who knows when it will really end. 'Challenging site conditions and the availability of pile driving equipment' are apparently to blame. Nonetheless, the project director assures everyone that the convention centre will still be completed by Fall 2008.

In the meantime, this update (link to pdf) from last November also tells us that the convention centre's exterior design plans have been finalized, while work continues on the interior design.

It's hard to tell from the renderings (page 3) if they managed to reduce the thickness of the green roof - a major shortcoming of the original design.

Other press releases tell us that a Surrey firm will be responsible for growing the green roof's greenery, while special 'extra clear' glass is being designed for the exterior windows. Glass installation is set to begin by this November, which means the building should rise quite quickly, once the pile driving is done.

For more than 70 photos of the construction site, visit the photo gallery here.

Original Post:

Construction of the long-anticipated expansion to the Vancouver Convention Centre has been underway since November 2004. Estimated price tag for the bigger digs: $565 million.

Set for completion in 2008, the expansion will more than triple the original convention centre's function space, from the current 134,000 square feet to 529,000. According to the business plan, the expansion should pay for itself in approximately 10.7 years.

Click here to see floor plans and more photos of the project's model.

Click here if you want to see what's going on at the construction site this very minute (select "view the live webcam"). Check out the zoom feature on the right to get a closer look at any part of the site. The Time Lapse feature at the top of the screen is VERY cool (select the Viaduct structure as a start). The picture at left is from the photo album.

Mole People

If you're out for a stroll this weekend, you might be interested in ambling on over to downtown Vancouver's Mole Hill neighbourhood, located between Bute and Thurlow streets in the West End.

There, you'll find more than 30 Victorian and Edwardian heritage buildings, all of which were originally built between 1888 and 1918. 

According to this brief history of Mole Hill (link to pdf), beginning in the 1950s, the City had started purchasing land in the area with the intention of building a public park and school. Over the years, residents fought to save their neighbourhood, until 1996 when city Council decided to renovate the heritage homes and set them aside as affordable housing.

Completed in 2003, the development restored 27 heritage buildings, creating as many as 170 multi-unit dwellings for low income residents in the area. All of the houses now rely on geothermal heating, while the neighbourhood has its own greenway and community gardens.

For more information about the area, have a look at the Mole Hill Community website here. We've also got an old post about the Leslie Lane House, which was relocated from Yaletown to Mole Hill back in 2002.

For some great photos, check out this article about the neighbourhood, that was published last November in Canadian Architect.

Update: Vancouver Olympic Village

...and the winning bid goes to the Millenium Development Group. As part of their $193 million deal for the central site (Sub-area 2A) of the SEFC neighbourhood, they'll get to develop the Vancouver Olympic Village. The next closest bid was by Concord Pacific, which offered $170 million plus a profit sharing deal.

Link here (pdf) for the full Vancouver City Council report, which notes that 'the RFP was not structured to be a design competition; rather it was set out as a performance-based evaluation that measured abilities, commitments, and deliverables.'

This means that design plans for the site haven't yet been drawn up, however according to the report, they must now be prepared for a public hearing by 'early fall 2006'.

As for Millenium's prior experience, the Vancouver Sun reports that although they have not done a lot of construction in Vancouver, their Hermitage en Ville development was well received by the city planning department last year.

Millenium has selected Merrick Architecture as their architect for the development.

For a five minute video on the future Olympic site, go to  www.gvtv.ca, click on the 'video archives' tab, and scroll down to 'Olympic Village'.

Original Post:

According to VANOC's latest update on the status of the Vancouver Olympic Village, construction won't begin until late this year or in early 2007.

As of November 2005, a short list of four developers submitted their detailed RFPs for the Olympic Village site, while the winner was supposed to have been selected in January of this year. So far, however, there's been no word yet on whose bid won, nor on what they have planned for the future site. (The picture below is simply a preliminary artist's conception).

Among the things we do know: the Olympic Village will be the first project to be completed within the larger redevelopment of the Southeast False Creek neighborhood. The broader project will cover an 80 acre area when it is completed by 2018.

One of the main features of the original Vancouver Olympic bid was the promise to create an Olympic Village that would serve as "a model of environmental, social and economic sustainability." This includes the requirement that all buildings be built according to gold or silver LEED standards of environmentally friendly construction.

In total, a minimum of 564 housing units will be built for the Olympic Village, along with commercial and retail space. Temporary structures will also be going up at the site, which will subsequently be removed after the Paralympic Games finish in April 2010. Reconfiguration of the athletes' accomodation will also occur, as the housing units are converted to be sold to the public.

Technorati tag: vancouver

Uncle Homer's Day Care

Incredible as it may seem, marketers are telling us that it is still possible to buy a new condo in Yaletown, in what will probably be one of the last great opportunities to purchase an apartment in the neighbourhood. Ever.

The new Homer and Helmcken building (also known as 'H+H', for those who don't have enough time to pronounce the full project name), will be 16 storeys (146 feet) high, with 192 new condo units.

Significantly, 85 condo units will have two or more bedrooms, making it an appealing place for families, with an unspecified portion set aside for social housing. More information is available in the Development Permit Staff Committee report, here (link to pdf).

With a rooftop playground being thrown in as well, the building will also have a convenient place for yuppie children to receive their daily beatings from working class kids. ("Two kids enter, one child leaves!")

As part of the marketing inanity, this 'advertorial' (link to pdf) from the Real Estate Weekly excitedly proclaims that Yaletown has been named one of the top five neighbourhoods on the continent by Good Morning America.

No doubt the rigorous study and discerning tastes of GMA staffers (again, abbreviated for those who are tight on time) can probably be trusted. After all, these geniuses are able to pump out three hours of drivel, five days per week.

Correction: We'd previously reported that 35% of units were set aside for social housing, however the Development Permit report (page 9) says that 35% of the units on the lower 8 floors have two or more bedrooms. No specific portion is mentioned as being set aside for social housing.

Space Shuttle to Land at YVR

Probably one of our favourite April Fool's jokes of all time:

Back in the early 90's, when the space shuttle was still flying regularly, one particular mission had been in the news because persistently bad weather at both Cape Canaveral and Edwards Air Force Base had prevented the shuttle from landing as scheduled, for a few days running.

On April Fools Day, one of the local Vancouver radio stations led off their morning newscasts with the 'top story' which reported that due to diminishing supplies, the shuttle was being routed to land at Vancouver International Airport instead - supposedly one of the few backup landing sites in North America, to be used only for extreme emergencies.

Apparently more than a few good citizens were unable to put the pieces together between stumbling out of bed, loading the kids in the car, and driving themselves out to the airport.

As a result, the radio station had plenty of irate and disappointed people on their hands. Those who did make it all the way out to YVR to watch the shuttle 'land' were at least given t-shirts and coffee for their trouble.

Brilliant.