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-   -   Central (1618 Quebec St.) | 18 & 19 st | Completed (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=190963)

Travis007 May 9, 2011 9:19 PM

Central (1618 Quebec St.) | 18 & 19 st | Completed
 
(I'm not familiar with the Vancouver forums, so apologies if this has already been posted)

http://www.ownatcentral.com/

http://www.vancouversun.com/somethin...687/story.html

And now for something completely different ... in architecture

Proposed waterfront building breaks free of what has gone before, and could be a much-needed bridge to a new city skyline

By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun April 28, 2011

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/somethin...#ixzz1LtMJTGfl


http://www.vancouversun.com/4687688.bin?size=620x400s

In all, the development will rise 18 or 19 stories, and offer 304 units. The top horizontal tower (with eight storeys, two of them penthouse floors) and one of the bottom supporting towers will be residential.

The other supporting tower will be all retail and office space.

renthefinn May 11, 2011 6:35 AM

Wow.. on first impression, that looks awful... especially dislike the spaghetti columns in the middle.... hope this doesn't happen... slabby buildings built atop each other... arg..

SpongeG May 11, 2011 8:51 AM

everyone was just raving about it a few months ago - i like it

wrenegade May 11, 2011 4:04 PM

This was previously called Chopstix. There has been discussion about it in the SEFC/Olympic Village thread. It has been approved (rezoing and UDP), though I am not sure they have their development/building permits yet.

mr.sandbag May 11, 2011 6:55 PM

i was talking to a few of the onni people the other day, they are very close to getting the permit and are currently re-doing thier downtown display center to start selling the units.

officedweller May 11, 2011 7:26 PM

One great thing about this project is that the building fronting Main St. is commerial - which is great to have near a SkyTrain station. It serves to expand the high tech zone that exists east of Main St. on Terminal Ave.

Once neighbouring projects are built out, the "chopsticks" won't be very visible.

officedweller May 11, 2011 11:19 PM

The neighbouring project to the south goes to Council next week for final approval of the rezoning:


Smooth May 12, 2011 12:18 AM

Looks like they plan on keeping the rail ROW through there. I don't see it being used for a long long time but I guess it's worth preserving.

dleung May 12, 2011 1:32 AM

This is the saddest and most Vancouveresque image I've ever seen. What are the setbacks for?!? I can understand them in the case of a typical arterial mid-rise, (to minimize shadow/street impact or whatever), but that logic doesn't apply to a design that already goes out of the way to make more shadows...

And why does it look like they've dropped in a random Vancouver mid-rise (cluttered facades and all) in lieu of the "bridge" component? Wouldn't a monolithic facade system have been the natural thing to go for???

Travis007 May 16, 2011 4:31 AM

http://www.ownatcentral.com/

http://imageshack.us/m/839/43/centralonni.jpg

dreambrother808 May 16, 2011 5:05 AM

Nice font, at least. ;)

The proposal, itself, ain't that bad. It does represent some architectural variation.

officedweller May 16, 2011 5:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleung (Post 5274762)
This is the saddest and most Vancouveresque image I've ever seen. What are the setbacks for?!? I can understand them in the case of a typical arterial mid-rise, (to minimize shadow/street impact or whatever), but that logic doesn't apply to a design that already goes out of the way to make more shadows...

Roof decks and balconies???

jsbertram May 16, 2011 6:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smooth (Post 5274675)
Looks like they plan on keeping the rail ROW through there. I don't see it being used for a long long time but I guess it's worth preserving.

I'm not sure that the old railway ROW is being preserved for future use, but rather the ROW is also the separation between Burger King site to the south and the DeSerres (formerly Loomis Art Stores) site to the north. The rest of the ROW crossing Quebec and into the Olympic Village lands seem to be missing from the SEFC development plans, and the tracks east of Main St for several hundred feet have been ripped up & turned into parking space for Midas.


With the re-development plans for the Burger King site and the DeSerres site (and the old Vancouver Chrysler site further north) far enough along to have public redevelopment planning sessions, its likely easier just to keep the curve of the ROW as the separation between these two properties and use the ROW as 'public access space' rather than sell the ROW & consolidate it with one of the lots on either side of it. If the lots on either side were owned by the same company, then perhaps they could have also purchased the ROW and consolidate the land together to get a larger (better?) development.


As for keeping it for the future Tram / Streetcar / LRT tracks from Olympic Village to VCC Station, I have seen one set of plans showing the tracks staying on 1st Ave and curving north at Quebec St to get to Main St Stn, with a future extension running straight east on 1st Ave across Quebec, Main and re-connecting east of the Midas site to the old ROW to get to VCC Stn.

Another note on the drawing suggested in the future that the Quebec tracks could be extended south down Quebec to ... ? somewhere south of 1st Ave ?
Broadway?
down Kingsway?
down Main St?

city-dweller May 16, 2011 4:19 PM

The ROW is the important part to save. Any new trolley/streetca/LRT etc. would have new tracks laid. Recall the demonstration line for the Olympics was new including the gravel base, ties, and rails.

SFUVancouver May 19, 2011 12:39 AM

I love this proposal. It is a resounding departure from the Vancouver tower and podium typology while still achieving overarching goals of mixed use, street walls, residential character and commercial expressions to create a legible building with distinct programmatic elements. The bridge will also look quite different than the Quebec street residential mid-rise block and the plan is for quite dramatic international orange balcony and stairwell detailing. The unfortunate decision to abandon the asymmetric columns is the project's lone black eye, but the developer seems to have read the riot act to the architect and said the lower cost columns were the only way the project could proceed based on the building's proforma. The initial UDP entreaties for even more energetic would have required a far more complicated parking garage geometry. Also, the UDP's ultimate preference for a clear span bridge would have required either steel construction for the bridge structure or a much thicker transfer slab upon which the bridge would sit upon, and that would have put them over the site's maximum height, not to mention changing the inefficiencies and layout of the mid-rise blocks to an uneconomic extent, or so was said at the project's last UDP meeting by Onni's VP.

With all of that said, I think this is the first exciting proposal of the decade and one that has the potential to be a game changer for projects that want to avoid the tower-podium building typology. At 380 units and a hefty chunk of office space, this project is programmatically on par with Jameson House or The Georgia, and I think the proposed project deserves to be in this company.

Travis007 May 25, 2011 12:49 PM

New Rendering from BuzzBuzzHome:

http://www.buzzbuzzhome.com/central

http://imageshack.us/m/689/5586/central1.jpg

jsbertram May 25, 2011 4:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by city-dweller (Post 5279378)
The ROW is the important part to save. Any new trolley/streetca/LRT etc. would have new tracks laid. Recall the demonstration line for the Olympics was new including the gravel base, ties, and rails.

why MUST this ROW be preserved for future lrt / tram / streetcar tracks ?

From the plans I've seen of the SEFC full build-out, the ROW west of Quebec is nowhere to be seen, so this ROW beside Burger King has nothing to connect to anymore.

The 1st Ave tracks can simply stay on 1st Ave and continue east across Quebec St and then across Main St, connecting with the old ROW just east of the Midas Muffler shop. Its a simple straight line -- cheaper & easier to build than a curve.

The old ROW can become a walkway or bike-lane between Quebec and Main St.


They could also put back fake rails and cobblestones on Quebec and Main and between the buildings like was done on Pender St to mark that old ROW:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...,0.002747&z=19

(I can't explain the fire hydrant, though)



BTW: Does this ROW beside Burger King have enough room for two tracks? After all, this will be lrt / tram / streetcar tracks, so there should be EB and WB tracks for traffic in both directions.

dreambrother808 May 25, 2011 5:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver (Post 5282919)
The unfortunate decision to abandon the asymmetric columns is the project's lone black eye, but the developer seems to have read the riot act to the architect and said the lower cost columns were the only way the project could proceed based on the building's proforma.

Agreed. I had assumed it was a cost issue. Thanks for the insider's view.

SFUVancouver May 25, 2011 5:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreambrother808 (Post 5291174)
Agreed. I had assumed it was a cost issue. Thanks for the insider's view.

No insider info; it was discussed at the project's public UDP meeting.

Looking at the updated render, it appears as if the international orange details on the bridge portion of the project have been removed. The stairwells from the penthouses to their roof terraces also seem to have been removed, which disappoints. None the less, it's a very interesting project and I'm thrilled it is proceeding.

Travis007 May 31, 2011 4:37 AM

Pretty cool, interactive 360 degrees views feature, on the development website:

http://ownatcentral.com/views/


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