753 Seymour | 123m | 32Fl | Completed

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

From what I have heard GWL does have plans for that corner. Not sure when they plan to move on them but something is in the works.

Speaking of plans for corners, now that CF has concluded its Nordstrom (and Pacific Centre expansion) file, can we now expect something to finally happen with the rotunda space on the northeast corner of Georgia and Howe?

[LeftCoaster]

Yes

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Yes

Thank you.

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and say Apple flagship.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

From what I have heard GWL does have plans for that corner. Not sure when they plan to move on them but something is in the works.

Nice, thanks.

The ESL school space (former theatres) was up for lease last year and Ithere haven't been any visible exterior improvements (I'm assuming it's occupied)

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

OD, your point is well made and I can see how well the parkade entrance looks. Seems ok. Hope it gets underway asap. Too bad no harmony whatsoever with beige and white of its neighbor, but otherwise a nice cool bit of infill, ... if it is, in fact, considered infill.

Originally Posted by officedweller

Earlier in the thread there was a comment that the owner is considering recladding Scotia Tower.

OD, you mentioned recladding the Scotia Tower. Would this in any way help "unclash" the colour echemes of the buildings as now planned?
I would hope that an attempt to harmonize would have been made, both in colour and structual design. They remain totally different species regarding structure.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by bc2mb

It is very odd to me as well how the proponent wouldn't take advantage of the huge demand for large format retail and build a larger podium... Simons, Uniqlo, Saks... even Loblaw CityMarket wants to get into the downtown core and are having troubles finding suitable space. It would also help animate this block which is pretty dark and dead.

Haven't you noticed that many in Vancouver cannot stomach having more malls or large retail structures built downtown?

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

OD, you mentioned recladding the Scotia Tower. Would this in any way help "unclash" the colour echemes of the buildings as now planned?
I would hope that an attempt to harmonize would have been made, both in colour and structual design. They remain totally different species regarding structure.

I think the designs are so different from one another that they shouldn't be harmonized - they can stand as separate towers when viewed from afar.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by Vin

Haven't you noticed that many in Vancouver cannot stomach having more malls or large retail structures built downtown?

Your reading comprehension skills are sorely lacking.

Others chide your naive perception that the market giddily demands large scale growth. No one seems to be against that growth on principle.

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Nice, thanks.

The ESL school space (former theatres) was up for lease last year and Ithere haven't been any visible exterior improvements (I'm assuming it's occupied)

Exterior improvements, such as better access, are still in the works.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Vin

Haven't you noticed that many in Vancouver cannot stomach having more malls or large retail structures built downtown?

That's kind of true, but what I think perhaps what people might be seeking are small, intimate shopping centres, like Hazelton Lanes or Cumberland Terrace in Toronto.

Originally Posted by officedweller

I think the designs are so different from one another that they shouldn't be harmonized - they can stand as separate towers when viewed from afar.

Hey, you're right, in fact. I as thinking too 'close up'

[officedweller]

From Changing City Updates -

... the cheapening....why not just have the curtain wall come straight down, without the flaring out?
Note also the new canopy for the Scotia Tower.


https://changingcitybook.com/2016/12...eymour-street/

Previous version:

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Looks like this building is back in the news and, yes, the plan calls for keeping the above ground parkade:




Source: https://changingcitybook.com/

[EdinVan]

Looks so out of place. No attempt to complement the Scotia Tower.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by EdinVan

Looks so out of place. No attempt to complement the Scotia Tower.

Prrecisely. A total conundrum. Apples and shoe polish. An exemplar of poor taste. Classic tasteless Vancouver style.
(I was hoping we were outgrowing that hooterville hickishness, but it seems it's still around)

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

That's kind of true, but what I think perhaps what people might be seeking are small, intimate shopping centres, like Hazelton Lanes or Cumberland Terrace in Toronto.

that is what south Granville is for and is very popular.

[Changing City]

"... the cheapening....why not just have the curtain wall come straight down, without the flaring out?"

The render is a bit misleading - as we noted in our post, as far as we can tell the face of the building is vertical all the way down, but the lower 14 floors have the building skin angled to the south. So there's no flare out, but an optical illusion that makes it look that way.

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Prrecisely. A total conundrum. Apples and shoe polish. An exemplar of poor taste. Classic tasteless Vancouver style.
(I was hoping we were outgrowing that hooterville hickishness, but it seems it's still around)

Jesus. Tone it down, T. The fact that a preliminary render for an office building doesn't take the surrounding buildings into proper context... doesn't make Vancouver a hooterville hicktown, or whatever. La defense looks pretty out of place in it's surroundings, as does the Tour Montparnasse - it doesn't mean Paris is overrun with yokels and hillbillies...

The thing is, Vancouver has never really been a hicktown in its history. Maybe the surrounding suburbs, but never the city itself. So please stop with the bizarre hicktown comments.

Anyways, we haven't seen a proper render for this building yet. When one becomes available we may decide that the simplified design is rather timeless. Will have to wait and see.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Changing City

"... the cheapening....why not just have the curtain wall come straight down, without the flaring out?"

The render is a bit misleading - as we noted in our post, as far as we can tell the face of the building is vertical all the way down, but the lower 14 floors have the building skin angled to the south. So there's no flare out, but an optical illusion that makes it look that way.

I guess we'll have to wait until the plans are published.
There does look to be an increasing gap as the curtain wall descends, and the angles of the mullions at the bottom edge don't seem to be consistent with an angled / skewed flat facade.

There isn't another building in Vancouver with skewed mullions (where mullions form parallelogram-shaped window bays).
I expect that's because of the difficulty in hanging window blinds in such awkwardly shaped windows.
I would hope the architects would think about that before designing the building.

i.e try hanging blinds in these windows (at Toronto's Emerald Park towers):

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/attachm...142-jpg.83948/

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

Jesus. Tone it down, T. The fact that a preliminary render for an office building doesn't take the surrounding buildings into proper context... doesn't make Vancouver a hooterville hicktown, or whatever. La defense looks pretty out of place in it's surroundings, as does the Tour Montparnasse - it doesn't mean Paris is overrun with yokels and hillbillies...

The thing is, Vancouver has never really been a hicktown in its history. Maybe the surrounding suburbs, but never the city itself. So please stop with the bizarre hicktown comments.

Anyways, we haven't seen a proper render for this building yet. When one becomes available we may decide that the simplified design is rather timeless. Will have to wait and see.

Excuse me. You're absolutely right, really. I just get so disappointed at meird architectural juxtapositions such as this one

[phesto]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I guess we'll have to wait until the plans are published.
There does look to be an increasing gap as the curtain wall descends, and the angles of the mullions at the bottom edge don't seem to be consistent with an angled / skewed flat facade.

The elevation drawings from the rezoning show that the building does flare out from the 15th floor down to the canopy (looks to be about 10-12 feet from the main facade). It looks to be angled so that it appears more flared from the North side.

http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applica...ons-update.pdf

In the UDP minutes it's referred to as a "flared skirt" and the intent was to make it a "foil to the Telus building" (ie. less boxy).

Frankly, I think MCM relies too heavily on using angled features to distract from what are otherwise very boring office buildings designs.

[Changing City]

As we noted in the post, we're pretty certain that the 'flare' of the rezoning version has been adjusted to an 'angled facade' in the DE version. We've updated the blog post to add the UDP model. It looks as if the façade is vertical, but the mullions angle off, leaving a triangular 'wedge' of façade overshooting the south face. Presumably that also adds to the overall floorspace achieved.

The minutes of the recent UDP may make it clear what's happening; the DE may never appear on the City's website, and it may not go to DP Board for approval, so we may have to wait until it's built to be absolutely sure.