PUBLIC REALM

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park by Louis Kahn, Constructed 2012

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INSPIRATION

Louis Kahn’s design for the Four Freedoms Park is a powerful triangular form stretching into New York City’s East river with a tapering allee of trees, culminating at a civic space.

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC REALM

Strengthen, connect, and open this unique triangular setting

WEST GEORGIA STREET

WEST PE

NDER ST

REET

PUBLIC ART SITE

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CONCEPT

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC REALM

The principle concept is to strengthen the Public Realm at this unique and highly visible triangular setting at the western gateway to downtown Vancouver.

• Maximize open space on the site and visually expose the merger of these two important streets

• Strengthen the connection between Georgia St. & Pender St.

• Create an Urban Room under the elevated tower floors with landscape features, accessible to the public

• Engage Flag Plaza to complete the triangular, ‘Flat Iron’ setting

• Introduce a significant Public Art work at Flag Plaza, at the western tip of this triangular setting

• Transform the existing solid, service-oriented Pender St. frontage into an open, landscaped courtyard

• Create a welcoming arrival experience for residents and visitors under the cover of a sculpted wing of the tower

• Introduce the city setback from the Pender St. property line to widen the public sidewalk and introduce street trees

• Widen the Georgia St. sidewalk at the west end of the site and introduce street trees

• Integrate the landscape with the tower form to express the triangular and sloping nature of the site

1 PEDESTRIAN PLAZA

2 PUBLIC ART

3 BICYCLE LANE

4 BOLLARDS

5 STEPPED RAMP

6 STEPPED FOUNTAIN

7 STAIRS

8 SLOPED WALKWAY

9 DRIVE COURT

10 GEORGIA ST SECONDARY ACCESS

11 MAIN LOBBY AT PENDER STREET

0 10’ 20’ 30’ 40’ 50’

WEST GEORGIA STREET

NIC

OLA

STR

EET

WEST PEN

DER STRE

ET

1

2

3 4 5 6

8

7

9

Note: Intersection redesign is part of a separate City-led process. The final design and materials are subject to change.

11

10

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ILLUSTRATIVE PLAN

The Landscape Plan reinforces the site configuration with a series of triangular, folding planes, comprised of both greenspace and water, addressing the multi-sloping nature of the site.

• There is a 16 foot drop from Georgia St. to Pender St. along the east side of the site, creating a bi-level open space

• Pender St. is the principal arrival level to the lobby and underground parking

• Residents and Visitors arrive by car, bicycle or on foot to the lobby under the weather protection of the tower’s folded glass foil

• A 7 foot (2.1m) setback along Pender St. facilitates a widened sidewalk and new street trees

• The Pender street frontage is transformed from the existing solid, service-oriented facades into a triangular, landscaped drive court

• A secondary pedestrian access is provided from Georgia St., introducing views and sunlight to the drive court below

- This upper level access is defined on the south by a greenspace that folds to meet the sloping grades along the Georgia St. sidewalk and, on the north, by a green roof concealing service spaces below

• An open Urban Room is featured under the elevated tower, visible and accessible to all flanking streets

- Access through the Urban Room is provided by a mid-block stair next to the tower core, an on-site walkway that parallels a widened Georgia St. sidewalk and a diagonal, stepped walkway connecting to the Pender St. lobby level

- A cascading water feature follows the sloping site grades, providing noise abatement to the surrounding traffic and a visual feature for the Urban Room and the lobby seating area

• The landscape plan engages Flag Plaza to complete the triangular setting

- The design proposes sloping up the cycling and driving surfaces to match the sidewalk level for a seamless connection to the proposed public art site at Flag Plaza

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC ART

RESIDENTIAL

AMENITY LEVELS BELOW TRANSFER

SLAB

FLAG PLAZAURBAN ROOMPORTE COCHERE & MAIN LOBBYDRIVE COURT

OUTLINE OF GLASS FOIL ANGLED TO CREATE A GLASS COVER AT ARRIVAL

West Pender Elevation

GEORGIA STREET ARRIVAL AREA

INTEGRATED SIDEWALK

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THE URBAN ROOM SETTING

Elevating the residential tower floors 80 ft above street level creates a sense of openness at the public realm and contributes to the downtown network of plazas and green open spaces. This is consistent with the General Policy for Higher Buildings.

• Minimizes the tower footprint at grade

• Maximizes pedestrian and vehicular views through the site

• Introduces a visual outlook for neighbouring towers

• Contributes to neighbourhood green spaces in keeping with the Georgia Street Character Area policy

• Introduces an Urban Room public focus for pedestrian and motorists approaching the downtown from the west end of Georgia St.

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC REALM

B’

BA

A’

SECTION A-A’ SECTION B-B’

10’ 20’ 30’ 40’ 50’

GEORGIA ACCESS

MAIN LOBBY ON PENDER STREET

URBAN ROOM

WEST PE

NDER ST

REET

GLASS CANOPY

DRIVE COURT

COVERED ARRIVAL

35.0’

51.75’ 38.5’

WEST PENDER STREET

COVERED ARRIVAL

44’

35’

MAIN LOBBY ON PENDER

STREET

WEST GEORGIA STREET

GEORGIA ACCESS

51.75’35’

URBAN ROOM

CLASS ‘B’ BIKERACKS

LOBBY VESTIBULE

SLIDING PANELS TO LOADING GARBAGE + RECYCLING

TRIANGULAR LANDSCAPED WEDGE

STONE WALL WITH CLIMBING LANDSCAPE

U/G PARKING ENTRY/EXIT

GEORGIA ACCESS

LOADING AREA, GARBAGE + RECYCLING

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ILLUSTRATIVE SECTIONS

As with many properties in Triangle West, 1445 & 1455 West Georgia St. has significant grade changes along its edges.

• 16 ft (4.88m) drop from West Georgia St. to the West Pender Drive Court provides the opportunity to conceal the service functions (garbage, recycling & loading) below the Georgia St. landscaped green space

• Custom sliding panels that access the service functions, provide a backdrop to the Drive Court

• Pedestrian access is introduced on the site through the Urban Room, linking Georgia St. to Nicola St. and to Pender St., under the weather protection of the elevated tower floors

• Landscaped triangular patterns define both vehicular and pedestrian movement through the edges of this flat iron site

PUBLIC REALM

PUBLIC REALM

A. Georgia St. looking west B. Pender St. looking west C. Pender St. looking east

EXISTING VS PROPOSED

A. Georgia St. looking west B. Pender St. looking west C. Pender St. looking east

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1415 W. GEORGIA ST (PALAIS GEORGIA)UNIT LR/DR (BLANK FACADE)

T.O. NEIGHBOURING WALLEL. 60.71’ (18.5m)

TERRACEEL. 58.38’ (17.8m)

GLASS CANOPY OVER RAMP TO PARKING

DRIVE COURTEL. 35’

RELATIONSHIP TO NEIGHBOURING BUILDING

• This section illustrates the relationship to the east neighbouring building. • Three comparisons (opposite page) illustrate existing and proposed

streetscapes

BEGINNING OF RAMP TO U/G PARKING

Section C

C C’

Note: Terrace and top of neighbouring wall elevations at 1415 Georgia St. taken from survey. Levels below terrace level are illustrative only

Key plan

View of drive court from north side of Pender StreetView of Urban Room from Flag Plaza

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STREET VIEWS

PUBLIC REALM

• Visual interest for pedestrians and motorists is provided into the site’s Urban Room from all streets, consistent with the Georgia Street Character Area Guidelines

• Pender St. is transformed from a solid, service oriented frontage into a landscaped drive court and arrival area