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[GK86]

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Architect Ole Scheeren has unveiled his first solo project outside of Asia – a Vancouver skyscraper that will feature a series of offset apartments protruding from the facade in a cluster of irregularly stacked glass boxes (+ slideshow).

Proposed for 1500 West Georgia Street in one of Canada's most densely populated cities, the skyscraper is described by Bruo Ole Scheeren as a "new typology for vertical living in Vancouver".

Its form, with multiple cuboid projections piled on top of each other, reflects the irregular arrangement of the living spaces inside, making the project the latest in a series that use this stacked-box approach.

Earlier this week Danish firm BIG unveiled its stacked design for its World Trade Centre Tower, and other examples include SANAA's New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, which was completed in 2007.

Rather than creating an entirely stacked form, Scheeren's glass skyscraper has protrusions concentrated on one side. The roofline of the structure is also a cluster of cubes.

"A system of vertically shifted apartment modules enables dynamic yet rational and efficient layouts for residential units, while the horizontal rotation of these modular elements projects living spaces outwards to introduce the concept of horizontal living in a slender high-rise," said a statement from Buro Ole Scheeren.

"The resulting multiple terraces generated from these horizontal shifts create both physical and emotional connectivity between the indoor and outdoor environment."

The building will include 48 floors of residential space housing 235 apartments, above two floors of mixed-use space at ground level.

Six basement levels will house parking space, bringing the total size of the building to 30,200 square metres.

It is designed to act as a beacon for the entrance to Vancouver's centre from the North Shore and Stanley Park, at the point where the city's urban grid begins to widen out.

"Like many cities today, [Vancouver's] skyline is dominated by verticality – extrusions of generic towers that don't engage their environment and create isolation rather than connection," said the firm.

"Ole Scheeren's design opens up the inert shaft of the tower to embrace both city and nature in a three-dimensional sculpture which projects the space of living outwards into the surrounding context."

By offsetting the living spaces further up the building, the design aims to create the maximum living space while maintaining a small footprint at ground level to make way for a new public plaza.

"An amplified reinterpretation of the existing water cascade along West Georgia builds on the strong architectural heritage of the site, while multiple crossing paths ensure urban permeability," said the firm.

The building will replace an existing 20-storey office block owned by the project's developer Bosa Properties. Construction dates have not yet been confirmed.

Scheeren founded his Beijing-based studio after leaving Dutch firm OMA, where he was the partner in charge of projects in Asia. He recently revealed plans for a combined auction house and museum beside Beijing's Forbidden City, and completed The Interlace in Shanghai – a prototype housing development where horizontal buildings are stacked diagonally across one another to frame terraces, gardens and plazas.

 

[NH Apache]

Is there an advantage to the design or is it just for aesthetics?

 

[AlexMeloche]

The longest bar bothers me for some reasons. It's not really aesthetically pleasing, it should be a bit shorter.

 

[Dennis]

NOPE

Spoiler

Yes

 

[Nivash]

While I love this kind of cutting edge architecture I can't help but picture the architect, after spending months in a creative block, one night looking at his kids playing Jenga and going "fuck it, it's better than anything else I've come up with recently".

 

[Veritigo_X]

Looks cool as hell.

 

[GK86]

Is there an advantage to the design or is it just for aesthetics?

The offset helps make a smaller footprint, apparently.

 

[terrisus]

Is there an advantage to the design

Depending on where you are, you can look in other people's windows.

 

[purg3]

The living space from the inside would probably be awesome, but not feeling the look from the outside.

 

[Syncytia]

The top halfish needs to be fixed. It's good up until the longest piece, then it just looks odd until the top. The roof needs to be at an angle, or some more lines to draw everything up to the roof.

 

[Warm Machine]

Aww. They are going to take down the cool low rise modern kitchen store to put that in.

I thought for sure it was going to go where the White Spot restaurant is that is wasting tens of millions of dollars of land.

 

[Stet]

I hate these long tube apartments. The window space is always woeful.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

Looks fucking awesome and frightening at the same time.

 

[cameron]

Rather than creating an entirely stacked form, Scheeren's glass skyscraper has protrusions concentrated on one side. The roofline of the structure is also a cluster of cubes.

Might look better if more apartments were offset, all around, instead of one side. The last pic doesn't look good.

"The resulting multiple terraces generated from these horizontal shifts create both physical and emotional connectivity between the indoor and outdoor environment."

That's nice. Wanna ride bikes?

 

[Shaanyboi]

huh.... i'm into it.

 

[Dazzler]

looking forward to these all being purchased by people who will never actually live in them

 

[Gr8one]

This. Looks so ugly in a good way, I like how unsymmetrical it is. But I wouldn't want to live there, because i'd be in fear I was living in a jenga tower.

 

[Azzurri]

So 2 million a pop for the cheapest?

 

[MMarston]

looking forward to these all being purchased by people who will never actually live in them

The truth.


It hurts.

 

[theechrisfox]

This usually doesn't end well, bad selling point for sure!

 

[verdures]

I like the people in the mock-up who are just chilling on the offsets, 20 stories up and no guardrails in sight.

 

[cardinalmind]

Damn those are some huge firewalls. I think this will look more mundane than cool, unless they can hide or somehow make those firewalls look pleasing.

 

[djplaeskool]

Skyscraper design seems to finally be hitting a special degree abstract futurism

looking forward to these all being purchased by people who will never actually live in them

Real Estate is the new currency.

 

[AlexMeloche]

I like the people in the mock-up who are just chilling on the offsets, 20 stories up and no guardrails in sight.

There are tho. They're made of glass.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

In a vacuum? Maybe. In a city with other buildings around? That's downright hideous.

 

[HylianTom]

Real Estate is the new currency.

God, is that an understatement.

...
It looks neat, but my main issue with futuristic buildings is that they often look dated and maybe even hokey decades later, like The World of Tomorrow at Epcot.

Gimme more Art Deco. Timeless.

 

[blackjaw]

Looks like the cover of "Ready Player One" with all the trailers stacked on top of eachother

 

[Stinkles]

I want a glass floor in the bathroom.

That way I can shit myself while I shit myself.

 

[beat]

Looks fucking awesome and frightening at the same time.

Well, at least Vancouver's not in an earthquake zone. Ahem.

 

[NinjaFridge]

There's a place in New York that's doing a similar type of thing but I can't remember the name.

 

[Savitar]

Looks like a building with tumors or some deformities.

 

[temp]

I'm no architecture guy, but it kind of makes you think of that ol' Soviet style

 

[Futureman]

Looks like the base is larger than any part of the actual building above it. Which contradicts part of the stated reason as to why it has this design.

 

[Vilam]

I absolutely love it. We need way more unique skyscraper architecture in North America.

 

[Princess Carl]

I can't wait to never afford it.

 

[cdyhybrid]

 

[Damaniel]

I like it. I'd never be able to afford living in it, but the design is great.

 

[Crud]

ASS UGLY

 

[entremet]

Can't wait until rich foreigners buy the available lot and only use it for two weeks out of the year!

 

[broncobuster]

No upstairs neighbors on lower floors must be nice.

 

[Archer]

Link.

I used to live across the street from this space, on Pender and Nicola. Damn glad I moved. The space now is already great with foubtains and a skater park.

They're gonna have a wicked view of White Spot and Chevron.

Lol

 

[AtomicShroom]

Meh, it's been done before!

 

[bearythebear]

Sure why not. I enjoy looking at crazy architecture.

 

[DOWN]

architects doing too much these days. looks so out of place. unify that style y'all

I want cities to look like Illium

or Vancouver from Mass Effect

 

[sikkinixx]

looking forward to these all being purchased by people who will never actually live in them

QFT. Go Vancouver.

In a vacuum? Maybe. In a city with other buildings around? That's downright hideous.

That's my thoughts. In a city of all new age, goofy modernist wet dreams it would be kind of cool. But in 20-30 years it's going to be an eye-sore just like SFU or the Province newspaper building.

 

[freakzilla149]

What a piece of garbage. I swear architects have some of the worst aesthetic sense of any group of people tasked with creating something beautiful.

Stop trying to create some kind of retarded "architectural picasso" and instead actually focus on the aesthetics. Jesus.

 

[Nozem]

Looks great! Kind of futuristic, I like it.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Vancouver architecture is incredibly boring so this is a very welcome change.

More international architect work in Vancouver pls. Bring it on.

 

[TCRS]

ugly as fuck