725 Granville (Formerly Sears Building) | 7fl | U/C

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Now - what I'm interested in seeing is how the Georgia/Granville rotunda will be treated
- will the first two floors be clad in beige sandstone?, maybe with punched windows?

I'm hopeful seeing the length of time the reno will take that they will also fill in the plaza behind the skytrain station and the rotunda.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

I'm hopeful seeing the length of time the reno will take that they will also fill in the plaza behind the skytrain station and the rotunda.

Good point - it would make sense to coordinate the work so that the disruption occurs at the same time.

[SpongeG]

yeah that would be good, that area is quite dead and useless, except for a good smoking pit

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Eaton's building was quite cutting edge in its day before the renovations big boxified it and the lighting effects fell into disrepair.

If they had repolished the marble aggregate slabs and changed the backlit spandrel panels to colour-changing LEDs - it would have kept the building "current".

See 1981 pic here of the backlit spandrel above each entrance alcove and behind the vertical sign.



The approach taken to the renovation is expected nowadays - reduce the scale of the massing to a "human" scale.
i.e. like Electric Avenue located diagonally acroos Robson Square.

The only recent new build I can think of that does not conform to that principle is the New Convention Centre.

Well, all the nice things we enjoy have been given to us by none other than the Provincial Government and certainly not the City.

BC Place old roof/new roof - province
Canada Place - province, legacy of Expo
Science World - province, legacy of Expo
New Convention Centre - province

Hell, the City of Vancouver was opposed to Expo and the Olympics (at least at the start) and lacks any vision or imagination. Like you said, the one anomaly is Library Square - but that happened under the leadership of Gordon Campbell, who later became the Premier of....

Sometimes I wish the provincial capital were located in Vancouver, or that the Province was running the City - after all, municipalities are creatures of the province and could very well be dissolved through provincial legislation.

[djh]

Originally Posted by mr.x

Well, all the nice things we enjoy have been given to us by none other than the Provincial Government and certainly not the City.

BC Place old roof/new roof - province
Canada Place - province, legacy of Expo
Science World - province, legacy of Expo
New Convention Centre - province

Hell, the City of Vancouver was opposed to Expo and the Olympics (at least at the start) and lacks any vision or imagination. Like you said, the one anomaly is Library Square - but that happened under the leadership of Gordon Campbell, who later became the Premier of....

Sometimes I wish the provincial capital were located in Vancouver, or that the Province was running the City - after all, municipalities are creatures of the province and could very well be dissolved through provincial legislation.

You really shouldn't be surprised. The remit of a commercial operation is to make a functional building that produces the most profit for the investment. Aesthetics are a distant "nice to have" in almost all cases.
Whereas when a government organisation invests in development, high on the priority list will be some sort of description about "uplifting the common man" or neighbourhood or community or whatever - interpret that as "must look good to as many subjective people as possible". So although they'll never please all of the people all of the time, at least they are trying to please some of the people. REITS or Commercial Developers or Investment Trusts will just look at the cost of a Starchitect, sigh, and call the cheaper guy.

[Darren Tate]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

I am so embarrassed for Vancouver. This is taking our reputation for blandness and small thinking to unprecedented (and hitherto inconceivable) lows.

Why on earth would anyone waste so much money on creating absolute nothingness? My God. Compared to this ridiculous proposal, the current facade is vastly more modern and has vastly more potential. If this is all we can expect, then it would be far superior (and far cooler) to just spend a fraction of the budget and simply restore the current facade to its original gleaming state and make intelligent use of some funky colour programmable LED lighting, turning the ivory surface into a dynamic, sparkling gem, thus adding to the electric character of Granville Street, not injecting it with sedatives.

This is so uncreative and small-minded that it is immoral.

You mean you'd prefer to tart up that oppressive structure with tacky multi-coloured lighting? Are you familiar with the term "putting lipstick on a pig"? Even if LED lighting does manage to transform the building into a so-called "dynamic, sparkling gem", it would likely still look like rubbish during the daytime. I would prefer a design that looks good 24 hours a day, thank you very much.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by djh

You really shouldn't be surprised. The remit of a commercial operation is to make a functional building that produces the most profit for the investment. Aesthetics are a distant "nice to have" in almost all cases.
Whereas when a government organisation invests in development, high on the priority list will be some sort of description about "uplifting the common man" or neighbourhood or community or whatever - interpret that as "must look good to as many subjective people as possible". So although they'll never please all of the people all of the time, at least they are trying to please some of the people. REITS or Commercial Developers or Investment Trusts will just look at the cost of a Starchitect, sigh, and call the cheaper guy.

Back in "the day" companies were run by visionaries, rather than by committee.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Darren Tate

Even if LED lighting does manage to transform the building into a so-called "dynamic, sparkling gem", it would likely still look like rubbish during the daytime. I would prefer a design that looks good 24 hours a day, thank you very much.

If the render is remotely accurate, then the proposed design won't look good any time of the day.

What I would prefer is a new design which meets the developer's economic needs while possessing a modicum of style and attitude, considering its location at the very crossroads of Vancouver's cultural and entertainment district.

I think a very modest amount of creativity, vision and effort could achieve both criteria. Other comparable cities do this; so can we.

The lack of imagination, ingenuity and resourcefulness shown by the mediocrities who proposed this generic, suburban design in the beating heart of a cosmopolitan city is astounding.

[djh]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Back in "the day" companies were run by visionaries, rather than by committee.

Hmm, I think that's the re-writing of history that our reminiscing does, when we talk about the "good old days".
Pretty much every stand-out building was disliked in its time - exactly because it stood out. From Gaudi to the Lloyds Building to the CN Tower, the stories are endless.

As has been said earlier, the actual original Eatons building was very original and caused a big fuss. It had a Starchitect (well, before he was a big star), and was very different from everything around it. I too would rather have that building restored and maintained than an everyday plain thing - but I understand that the client wants to make their investment pay for itself. Yes they could have done some relatively inexpensive things to put lipstick on the pig (LED lights were mentioned, so was a curtain wall), so there's still hope that either the developer will want to do something additional, or maybe the anchor tenant will push to make in impact...

[dleung]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The approach taken to the renovation is expected nowadays - reduce the scale of the massing to a "human" scale.
i.e. like Electric Avenue located diagonally acroos Robson Square.

That development was an abomination, as is this proposed reno. I love human scale, but human scale facades are an evil lie. Rather spend the design efforts making the ground floor animated and accessible all around.

Even if a trophy skyscraper can't balance the books for the short term, structural upgrades for a future tower addition better be a part of this.

Skimmed the comments. Glad the LED and reflective-80's-glass people aren't running the show at least.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

I'm hopeful seeing the length of time the reno will take that they will also fill in the plaza behind the skytrain station and the rotunda.

Both plazas will eventually be built out, once proper tenants have been found. Rotunda will likely be first with the Canada line station second.

[itinerant]

Another model for a retrofitted Sears/Eatons building for mixed-use retail/office that keeps the same volume, but alters the whole block would be to do something like Jean Nouvel's One New Change in London. It meets a lot of the criteria for what is contemporary in shopping malls, while also being modern (and modern-ist) at the same time. Its about the same height, a bit larger block I believe (but not too far off), and achieves a similar mix with top 2/3 for office and bottom 1/3 for retail.

One New Change exemplifies the best of what can be done with glass, and incursions to create interest, more light and air, and passages for more retail frontage and office frontage.

This could work for Pacific Centre's Sears retrofit. I would take the opportunity (as already suggested previously) to extend the project partially, but not completely into the plaza at Georgia and Granville. I would suggest creating passageways between 700 W. Georgia (the TD Tower) and Sears and diagonally from Howe and Robson to Georgia and Granville. I'd also do something similar to what is done at One New Change--that is to open the light well down to the underground mall level to increase direct access to the underground mall.

Good article and photos at Architecture Today

One New Change, London


Photo by Hufton+Crow on Architizer


Photo: Paul Riddle for Architecture Today

[trofirhen]

something along these lines - but especially the light, glassy interior, would be good for the Sears site, IMO

[Hed Kandi]

Originally Posted by itinerant

Another model for a retrofitted Sears/Eatons building for mixed-use retail/office that keeps the same volume, but alters the whole block would be to do something like Jean Nouvel's One New Change in London. It meets a lot of the criteria for what is contemporary in shopping malls, while also being modern (and modern-ist) at the same time. Its about the same height, a bit larger block I believe (but not too far off), and achieves a similar mix with top 2/3 for office and bottom 1/3 for retail.

One New Change exemplifies the best of what can be done with glass, and incursions to create interest, more light and air, and passages for more retail frontage and office frontage.

This could work for Pacific Centre's Sears retrofit. I would take the opportunity (as already suggested previously) to extend the project partially, but not completely into the plaza at Georgia and Granville. I would suggest creating passageways between 700 W. Georgia (the TD Tower) and Sears and diagonally from Howe and Robson to Georgia and Granville. I'd also do something similar to what is done at One New Change--that is to open the light well down to the underground mall level to increase direct access to the underground mall.

Good article and photos at Architecture Today

One New Change, London


Photo by Hufton+Crow on Architizer


Photo: Paul Riddle for Architecture Today

Bravo!

I appreciate the man who possesses a great sense of aesthetics.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by itinerant

One New Change, London


Photo by Hufton+Crow on Architizer

Interestingly, the banding on this building is probably similar to that proposed for Sears -
but without the angularity or folds in the facade and roofline.

Of course, the simplicity of this London design is great.

[trofirhen]

All this points up the banality of the proposed Vancouver design! Come on! Vancouver is always being held up as an example of design and urbanism. We can do better than that original sterile-mutant-shoe-box render. Jiminy Crickets !!!

[s211]

Perhaps I missed it, but cannot find mention in this thread of when CF is projecting that office tenants would be able to move warm bodies in. Is sometime during 2014 realistic, or is it possibly 2015?

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by s211

Perhaps I missed it, but cannot find mention in this thread of when CF is projecting that office tenants would be able to move warm bodies in. Is sometime during 2014 realistic, or is it possibly 2015?

I don't think anyone really believes Sears will be renovated into office space.

Idle rumours are that Nordstrom will be taking over the Sears locations that are closing (Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa) and also building a new store in the Toronto area.

There are other other rumours that the Sears Pacific Centre space will be stripped back to bare steel and concrete and also have the exterior skin replaced, so I expect there will be extra time needed for remediation of what they discover (I won't be surprised if they find some 1970's -era asbestos) before Nordstom can build out the space to their standards.

I doubt the gut & reno of Sears Vancouver will be done before 2015.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I doubt the gut & reno of Sears Vancouver will be done before 2015.

That's a heck of a long time for such prime real estate to be empty.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

I don't think anyone really believes Sears will be renovated into office space.

Idle rumours are that Nordstrom will be taking over the Sears locations that are closing (Vancouver, Calgary, ?toronto?) and also building a new store in Ottawa.

There are other other rumours that the Sears Pacific Centre space will be stripped back to bare steel and concrete and also have the exterior skin replaced, so I expect there will be extra time needed for remediation of what they discover (I won't be surprised if they find some 1970's -era asbestos) before Nordstom can build out the space to their standards.

I doubt the gut & reno of Sears Vancouver will be done before 2015.

nordstrom is taking over a portion of the sears store in vancouver - the basement will become mall space for more stores with offices above the dept store

the only 3 stores closing are vancouver, calgary and ottawa and nordstrom istaking over those three spaces

toronto hasn't announced naything but rumour has it they are trying to get the lease out of eaton centre for nordstrom, as well i think its yorkdale is undergoing a large expansion - one for holt renfrew and its rumoured nordstrom will also take some of the expanded space

the last reno - when eatons closed before it reopened as eatons had to have been about 16 months or so wasn't it? it seemed like it was closed a long time and they didn't do much to the exterior that time - i would think it will take 2+ years to get such a large reno done especially if the renders floated about are true and the stone is replaced with glass etc