Paul Hillsdon at civicsurrey has a scoop:
We have your exclusive first look at the preliminary detailed design for a new tower in the heart of Downtown Surrey. Developed in partnership with the City, Century Group, and Cotter Architects, this project, if completed, could set a new standard for Surrey. Please bear in mind that the design is subject to change and has not yet been approved.
At 47-storeys in height – nearly 155m high – this tower would dominate the developing skyline and rival the height of most buildings in downtown Vancouver. Higher than Vancouver’s third tallest building, the Sheraton Wall Centre, it would only be shorter than Harbour Centre and the Shangri-La.
That’s the new library in the lower left, with the new City Hall (now under construction) behind, with the new civic plaza at centre.
The Century Tower does three things: (1) It says Surrey is serious about creating a complementary downtown to Vancouver’s central business district; (2) That the time is right for office towers to be built in addition to residential highrises; and (3) Surrey finally gets a new hotel and conference centre appropriate to its needs.
Meanwhile, in downtown Vancouver, the latest tower is just about finished:
Not at all like the ‘Crystal Spike’ proposed by Bing Thom – and used to justify the additional density and height for the site between the Georgia and Metropolitan Hotels – the current building still required the demolition of a parking structure, the first of many to meet the wrecking ball. More here on the change of design, including a pic of the Thom tower.
This office building/condo, while not exceptional, does some interesting things with slanted planes. But those balconies? A little harsh – rather like some spiked desert reptile perhaps.
Note that the Century Tower is largely residential. The hotel is in the shoulder tower – so that’s commercial space, but only a portion of the podium will be office space.
The office tower adjoining City Hall is to be built just to the north of this site.
Also, arguably, the podium (street interface) of the Georgia tower as-built is better than Bing Thom’s, since the as-built version conatins office space and its facade is articulated, while Bing Thom’s contained an above-grade automated parking structure with a flat curtain wall facade. For the as-built version, the developer built expanded underground parking instead.