My Photos - May 1st
Not surprisingly there wasn't a lot of info I could glean, given the "play it safe" reputation of the team involved.
For the building the materials, the cladding on the concrete portion is going to be an (as of yet) unspecified grey stone. Meanwhile, the glazing will be silver tinted with a degree of reflectiveness. Just how reflective it will be is still being decided. However, I was given the impression that, to avoid the potential upset of nearby neighbours, the answer will be "not very."
Illumination is being discussed for the under-portion of the building that will hang over the "urban room". To this end, they have hired a lighting consultant and spoke of a report on the application page- darned if I could find it though. As to whether there will be a lighting feature in a more prominent area of the building, I was given the impression that this was unlikely.
Given the size/shape of the lot, the parking garage will be very tight, with most of the space will be taken up by the ramps themselves.
One interesting tidbit is that the team wants to pool their site's CAC with the nearby Jenga and Cardero Towers to create a "significant" public art piece on the existing flag plaza between Pender and Georgia. I had meant to ask if these other development teams had been approached/ were open to the idea, but it slipped my mind.
On a somewhat silly note, one of the boards made note that the units will sport "healthy materials and finishes." When I asked what this meant, I was told they would try to stay from materials that create toxins and poisons in the air (like materials that contain formaldehyde). When pressed further as to what those material might specifically be, I was told, essentially, that they don't have a clue yet.
Because they irk me with how arbitrary they are, and because I know members on here would demand it, I asked the team if they felt the view cones had limited what they could achieve with the site. As expected, they gave a cookie-cutter response that they were content with the view cones and what they bring to the city. They even went as far as to say they feel the building would not have turned out as well as it had without the view cones. In short, they know how to work the PR with the more conservative members of city staff.
That said, I really like the project; it should really add to the wow factor that intersection will have. While it's made great use of an awkward site, I really feel it's potential has been somewhat wasted by the senseless Granville Street Bridge Viewcones. By the time left at around 7pm there had been about 75 people through the doors. On a unrelated note, the hors d'oeuvres that were provided really were quite good. They beat the heck of usual open house cuisine.
More Renderings
http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applica...2017-05-01.pdf
http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applica...rgia/index.htm
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