Vancouver Convention Centre West
Vancouver Convention Centre West
The Vancouver Convention Centre West project is a landmark for Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada through its unique blending of the site, building design and sustainability. Completed in April 2009, the new facility was the International Broadcast Centre for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The 1.2 million square foot convention centre was built on a 3.25-hectare site (plus extension into Burrard Inlet) just to the west of Canada Place. Special care was taken to restore marine habitat built into the foundation of the building. Existing leased facilities within Canada Place (Vancouver Convention Centre East) were renovated and the two sites linked, forming a new integrated convention and exhibition centre. The expansion adds 359,000 square feet, consisting of exhibit space, meeting space, ballroom space and a signature room, to the 133,000 square feet of function space available in the current convention centre, more than tripling the total function space available.
Construction & Development
Broadway and Granville
Broadway and Granville
This landmark building, the first high-rise built under Vancouver’s Broadway Plan, sets a unique precedent for the entire plan. It embodies the “Vertical Block” concept by integrating a mixed-use program centered around transit while being sensitive to the architectural and public realm context of South Granville and Fairview. The building’s vertical stacking includes a transit station, parking, retail, a grocery store, office space, a fitness center, amenities, and both market and below-market rental residential units. Each use connects directly to the street, creating a lively and accessible public realm at the critical Broadway and Granville intersection.
The building’s façade design is meticulously tailored to each segment of the vertical block, reflecting its diverse functions. The office façade draws inspiration from traditional local architecture, incorporating vertical and horizontal Brise Soleil elements for rhythm and solar control, while a silicone-glazed curtain wall contrasts with these textured elements. The residential façade echoes the surrounding heritage buildings with materials and detailing that reinforce the slender verticality of the tower, reminiscent of Art Deco and Neo-Gothic styles. The retail and grocery façades are distinguished by tactile terra-cotta cladding, which provides a contextual echo to nearby buildings as well as adds warmth through textures that reference the abundant masonry structures in South Granville area.
Concepts & Renders
Arbutus and Broadway
Arbutus and Broadway
Situated at the southeast corner of the West Broadway and Arbutus intersection, the project site spans a narrow city block adjacent to the future SkyTrain Arbutus Station, presenting an opportunity for an elegant tower expression at West Broadway. The development comprises a 30-storey tower on the northern half, closest to the transit hub, and a connected six-storey podium on the southern half along West 10th Avenue.
This mixed-use development integrates residential, retail, and the future home of the Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel. The project reserves space for a potential secondary entrance into Arbutus Station as part of the Broadway line SkyTrain extension. A public plaza will be established at the north end of the block, enhancing pedestrian connections across West Broadway to access the main station entrance. The subway construction project will reinstate the Arbutus Greenway’s traffic signal-controlled mid-block pedestrian and cycling crossing across West Broadway.
Varying façade detailing and materiality define the project, with the tower form emphasized by soft curving balconies and a continuous horizontal expression that unifies the podium and tower. A series of natural-colored panels create subtle patterning and visual interest, providing relief to the horizontal banding and contributing to a warm, high-quality material palette that maintains cohesion with the podium. Brick cladding on the lower volume of the podium adjacent to West 10th Avenue draws inspiration from the neighborhood context.
Renders & Development
13511 102 Ave Surrey
13511 102 Ave Surrey
Inspired by institutional-modernist design principles, this tower is envisioned as an integral part of the city center’s contextual architecture. The project’s dark color palette creates a distinct identity by tastefully contrasting with adjacent buildings, while a vibrant interior public realm enhances the overall experience for residents and visitors alike. The site presents unique challenges, bordered by future development on the north and east sides and the SkyTrain guideway on the west. To address these constraints, the massing of the building responds with simple yet refined design moves.
A defining feature of the building is how it articulates its various uses through meticulous massing details. From the public realm to the office, amenities, residential areas, and roof capping, the building eloquently expresses the function of each space through carefully considered detailing and a variation of glazing. The tower’s identity is further accentuated through its skillful use of vertical detailing at the office block and the subtle yet impactful west and east indenting of balconies. The balconies facing south and north not only serve as shading devices but also add texture to the facade along 102 Avenue. The materiality chosen draws inspiration from institutional and modernist expressions, with a particular emphasis on creating a welcoming and engaging ground-level experience.
Renders & Development
107A Avenue Surrey
107A Avenue Surrey
This transit-oriented development, featuring elegant, simple forms with clean contemporary lines, aims to enhance the urban fabric and skyline of Surrey. The proposal defines the future urban fabric and public realm of the block with active retail facing 107A Street, complemented by corner plazas and building entries.
The towers, with their height and simple massing, have elegant proportions and engage in a dialogue within a strong frame expression and elegant sculptural top. The patterning of the balcony railings provides individuality, allowing each elevation to respond to its solar and view orientation and reinforce its verticality. A cap element punctuates the composition of each tower and screens the rooftop. The podium massing buffers the site from SkyTrain noise and provides natural surveillance to the south. The podium features retail on 107A Avenue, enhancing pedestrian activation adjacent to the public park space. Corner plazas are associated with each residential lobby at the external corners of the site, facing University/107A and City Parkway/107A, respectively. Retail activation is established along the 107A frontage, with townhomes providing streetscape activation to all other pedestrian frontages.
Renders & Development
Calgary Climbing Centre
Calgary Climbing Centre
Establishing a new standard in indoor sports climbing facility, the new facility of Calgary Climbing Centre is located at the gateway to Calgary from the Southwest, along the TransCanada Highway. The building, inspired by glacial erratic formation, is located in the rolling hills of Patterson Heights.
The facility at 24,500 sf, will be one of the largest climbing facilities in Canada. This new facility will have 35 to 65 feet of climbing walls, over 70 ropes of new climbing routes, 150 feet of boulder walls and climb park, a children’s climbing area. The facility includes surface parking, retail store, members’ change rooms, conference and birthday facilities. A feature of this building is the outdoor climbing wall and the large translucent window incorporated into the building facades and host international competitions.
Renders & Development
Anvil Centre & Merchant Square
Anvil Centre & Merchant Square
Located at the intersection of 8th and Columbia streets, Anvil Centre and Merchant Square is a multi-use civic facility. The project’s name was inspired by the anvil’s unique place in New Westminster’s history as a symbol of craftsmanship and strength, recalling the city’s proud roots as one of the province’s original industrial centres.
The Class A, 9-storey tower called Merchant Square, rises above the civic centre with the entire assembly resting on three levels of underground parking. This facility includes a 350-seat non-proscenium theatre, convention facilities and meeting space, purpose-built and multi-purpose rooms for the arts, an art gallery and a new home for the City’s Museum and Archives and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The new facility is a major revitalization initiative for New Westminster and main anchor point from the Columbia skytrain station.
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Vancouver Aquarium Revitalization
Vancouver Aquarium Revitalization
The ambitious expansion and revitalization of Vancouver Aquarium focused on creating a higher degree of civic clarity for the Aquarium’s identity and imagery, an international destination within Stanley Park. The Masterplan consists of a new Arctic Canada Habitat exhibit, revitalized and expanded BC Coast exhibits, and the development of three free public viewing areas.
In addition to the new and expanded exhibits, the first phase, now completed, consists of a new entrance configuration, accompanied by a public plaza, new washrooms, and bistro restaurant to enhance the public’s experience to the Aquarium. This addition has not only expanded the Aquarium but has visually and physically reconnected the different areas that had become increasingly disjointed over the years.
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Centre for Digital Media
Centre for Digital Media
The 4-storey wood frame structure, 51,000 sf building state-of-the-art multi-media training and research facility for the digital arts fields (video game creation, animation, film, etc.) as well as residences for students registered in the Program. The project is the result of a collaboration between the BC Provincial Government, Industry, and four of BC’s major postsecondary institutions; the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The long-term goal for the Great Northern Way Campus master plan (designed by MCM) is to create a world-renowned digital media cluster. The Centre has 16,000 sf of teaching, meeting and studio space on the ground floor. The design focuses on smaller collaborative spaces for students to work together on projects with specialized labs, classrooms, theatre space, offices and other related space accommodating approximately 130 students currently in the Master’s program. The upper three floors have 76 units of student housing.
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Burnaby Fire Station No. 7
Burnaby Fire Station No. 7
Located in the City of Burnaby, BC, the design of this new fire station is based on post-disaster design criteria. It will provide an apparatus floor with three drive-through bays for fire trucks and living quarters accommodating up to 16 firefighters. Besides basic supporting spaces and facilities for the apparatus bays, this station will also include offices, exercise and dining components, as well as surface and underground parking spaces.
A design challenge for this project was the limited footprint of the site and adjacent traffic along a busy main street. The architectural design continues the theme of recent Burnaby fire station designs and exhibits the harmony amongst existing stations.
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