When you visit a new city, the first spots you might be interested in are places where you can stay, such as hotels or apartment centres, eat – restaurants and shopping centres, or educate yourselves – museums or art exhibitions. But usually, the face of the city is its architecture, and sometimes the least exciting places may be the most visually attractive. So you can check this list of the most impressive architectural creations of Vancouver city!
- Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library was the largest capital project undertaken by the City of Vancouver, and architect Moshe Safdie’s winning design was chosen in a competition and built in 1995 at 350 W Georgia St. It’s hard not to mention its visual similarity with Rome’s Colosseum, hence why it’s known as Vancouver’s version of it. The library encompasses an area of 7,000 square meters (75,347 square feet) and is home to 1.5 million books. You definitely won’t be bored with this library!
- The Qube
Unusual office building raised above the ground on the concrete foot was originally built as the headquarters for West Coast Transmission Co. in 1969, the 15-story building at 1333 West Georgia Street was converted to house 180 condominiums in 2005. Its unique architecture is pure modernism with West Coast charm.
- Bloedel Conservatory
One of the most unique constructions on the list was erected in 1969. The Bloedel Conservatory is a tropical paradise located in Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park. Over 200 birds fly free within the domes tropical, rainforest, and desert habitats. The conservatory is composed of 1,490 plexiglass bubbles and 2,324 extruded aluminum tubing pieces. It’s a Triodetic dome, developed and patented by F. Fentiman and Sons in 1955. The dome’s frame was manufactured in Ottawa before being shipped across the country to Vancouver.
- Evergreen Building
Absolutely stand out the building of the usual Vancouver’s steel and glass skyscrapers is an Evergreen Building by Arthur Erickson located at 1285 West Pender Street. Formed in the shape of a pyramid of overflowing concrete gardens, the windows of offices just barely peeking through the greenery. Despite the contemporary shape of the building, it was completed in 1978, and already several times has avoided demolition to make way for new condominiums.
- Waterfall Building
Another Arthur Erickson project, the Waterfall Building at 1540 West 2nd Avenue is a beautiful mixed-use residential project. On the south side of the water, screens are a public gathering space and a popular event venue. In addition to offering a unique visual feature, the water screen acts as a noise buffer from the urban sounds of the surrounding neighborhood and provides a sense of privacy and seclusion.
- Pritzker Prize-winning residential building
The Jameson House was designed by the firm Foster + Partners. Once realized in 2011, the 35-story tower combined residential, office, and retail space, and boasts Canada’s first automated parking system.
This was one of the main projects that formed the contemporary city skyline, that we know today. Also, its unusual shape allowed it to provide absolutely new feel to the residential planning and concept of the comfortable open living space.
Despite the relatively young age of the city, it has lots of memorable places to visit and architectural sights to see. So hopefully you’ll take the time and appreciate the beauty of Vancouver’s architecture.