An Intriguing Intrusion

Ray Spaxman expressed concern (and asked whether anyone else concerned was too) in this post last April about the extension of the Telus building over Seymour Street:

Of course I had seen the projection occurring from the street and as it grew bigger and bigger I got more and more concerned about it, wondering what the rationale could be. What had happened to the numerous urban design guidelines that we had prepared over all those years that have contributed to the overall quality of urban design on Vancouver; where the public realm was valued and the private sector contributed its share of the public good? Is anyone else concerned?

Me? Not so much. This intrusion (which as near as I can tell does not block views of the mountains coming up Seymour) looks like it’s shaping up to be one of the more interesting spaces in the city:

Assuming it is open to the public, it looks like it might be a most dynamic urban space, spectacular from within when looking out, or looking into when in motion.

Yuri Artibise
October 9, 2014 at 1:24 pm

I walked by the site for the first time in a while this morning, and was impressed by how it was shaping up. I agree that it holds promise to be one of the more interesting spaces in the city.

Adam J
October 9, 2014 at 1:41 pm

I’m always suspicious of people who believe we have to stick with old rules because they are old rules. Breaking the traditional grid structure of streets (and the buildings that are bordered by them) is a good thing! It makes our urban space visually less monotonous. Especially in Vancouver, where so many towers attack the eyes with their oppressive, right-angled uniformity.
P.S. Has anyone seen the giant spine-like structure going up on the Telus site, along Georgia street? This will form a large canopy for the plaza below and I think it will be pretty cool!

1. Thomas Beyer
  October 14, 2014 at 9:46 pm
  
  yup, once you leave the waterfront Vancouver is pretty boring, mundane, average .. some nice buildings or interesting streetscapes woudl help here to make it more attractive .. and of course: less cars and more pedestrian zones … did either mayoral candidate actually say that ? .. didn’t think so …
  
Thomas Beyer
October 9, 2014 at 3:12 pm

Indeed far more interesting than many of the square office towers downtown.

Guest
October 14, 2014 at 8:51 pm

They’re meeting rooms – with transparency providing a “semi-public aspect” (for the voyeurs):

As a condition of rezoning, there was to be an increase in the transparency and visual interest for
the cantilevered spaces over city streets, including an aspect of semi-public use for them. The
proposal has revised both sides of the cantilevered spaces and they have been programmed with
semi private office functions. While in the rezoning the version on Richards Street contained a
stair to allow for circulation between floors with vegetation including trees, it now has projecting
pods of meeting rooms within the 4-storey volume. The cantilevered space over Seymour Street
was four levels of general office space and now similarly, incorporates projecting pods of meeting
rooms within a 4-storey volume minus the garden aspect.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvancouver.ca%2Ffiles%2Fcov%2Fcommittees%2F520_West_Georgia_Street-DE415286.pdf&ei=zO09VNi0L8HooAS45IDABw&usg=AFQjCNEwl80WmjpqP1kPOqKFbJfkJ4R1Kw