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Height of Luxury
By Cheryl Mah
With its exceptional blend of location and contemporary design, The Private Residences at Hotel Georgia is set to take luxury condo living to new heights.
Designed by IBI/HB Architects, the Private Residences is being built in the heart of downtown Vancouver at Georgia and Howe. The 48 storey tower will offer 156 condos and 60,000 square feet of office space. When completed, the 500 foot tower will reshape the skyline as one of the city’s tallest buildings.
“The Private Residences at Hotel Georgia will place the city’s favourite heritage hotel next door to a daring, contemporary highrise design,” says Bruce Langereis, president of Hotel Georgia Development Ltd.
The $480 million project, being developed in association with Delta Land Development Ltd., includes construction of a reinforced concrete commercial and residential tower along with the restoration of the historic Hotel Georgia. The iconic landmark will be transformed into a luxury boutique hotel with 154 guest rooms by Endall Elliot Associates.
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Built in 1927, the hotel is one of the few remaining Georgian Revival structures on the West Coast. Protecting the hotel’s heritage elements was a critical part of the project, notes Langereis, and one of the first things to be done when Scott Construction broke ground in 2007.
The hotel’s exterior and interior will see a number of heritage feature elements reconstructed and restored to its original appearance. The 14 storey building has also undergone a multi-million dollar seismic upgrade which included the installation of heavy reinforcing rods 80 feet down.
“The seismic work was a lot more than what we anticipated,” says Langereis. “It’s been a complicated structural exercise.”
The parking structure immediately north of the hotel was demolished to make room for the new tower. The architects were challenged to fit multiple programs on the constrained site.
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“The main difficulty on that project was the extremely small footprint and figuring out how to get an underground parkade and a 500 foot tower to fit on the tight site,” says Hilde Heyvaerts, an associate with IBI/HB Architects. “That was the first hurdle to overcome. It was tough but we made it work right down to the last inch.”
The project was a two year design process for IBI/HB Architects, who came on board in 2005. Redevelopment of the site has been in the works since 1997 with a previous design that was not built.
The small footprint also required an unconventional approach to the tower’s form and mass.
“If we had gone straight up it would have given us a small tower plate which is not very efficient,” explains Heyvaerts.
Instead, the tower flares out as it ascends, creating a distinctive sculptural form with canted facades. At night the high performance curtainwall will be lit up with LED light displays. The top of the building will be lit up with changing colour LEDs while the northwest corner will have a vertical column of LED lights to create a “soft trickling raindrop effect,” describes Heyvaerts.
The base of the tower is mainly terra cotta panels — a modern brick panelling system that visually ties in with the current brick of the hotel.
Taking advantage of the deep excavation for the eight level underground parkade (the deepest in Vancouver at 100 feet), a geothermal system was installed using a hybrid drilling rig to avoid any construction delays. Another green feature is the use of photovoltaic technology on the south west elevation to minimize solar heat gain. Commonly used in commercial applications, the solar cells will be a first for a Canadian residential building. Motorized blinds on that elevation will be powered by the solar power.
One of the key design features will be the vaulted porte-cochere accessed off Howe St. The 32 foot high structure, with lots of natural lighting, will act as a third and prominent entry into the hotel and tower, says Heyvaerts. To visually minimize the presence of the loading dock at the end of the porte-cochere, a series of water jets will act as a water fountain feature when the dock is not in use.
Linked to the hotel at level four, tower residents will have access to all of the services and amenities offered by the hotel. Amenities include a nightclub, a courtyard garden, the Hawksworth Restaurant and 24 hour concierge service. Within the tower, other amenities include a spa, fitness centre and an indoor swimming pool.
“We believe the five-star quality of the hotel will have a direct impact on the residential,” says Langereis.
The Private Residences, starting on the 14th floor, occupies the top 35 floors. The elegant and timeless interiors by Mitchell Freedland feature exceptional attention to detail. From hardwood flooring and custom shop finished millwork to the latest technology, nothing has been overlooked.
“The client was looking for something contemporary but transitional that would appeal to a wide range of buyers,” says Gerald Day, senior designer at Mitchell Freedland.
The residences offer 17 floor plans with suites ranging in size from 630 square feet to the 7,100 square foot penthouse. Oriented towards the views with floor-to-ceiling windows, the high end well appointed suites are designed to maximize the use of space. Suites will come with a large balcony or deck and are available in one, two and three bedroom sizes.
“There was a large variety of suite types requested and different floor plates which was challenging but once we got through that space planning process, material selection went smoothly,” recalls Day.
Oversized mahogany doors, limestone thresholds and millwork oak paneled entry ways lead into open plan entertainment sized living rooms and kitchens that transition to intimate bedrooms and spa style bathrooms.
The gourmet kitchens with custom cabinetry and stone countertops are fitted with premium appliances from Miele and Subzero. Bathrooms feature luxurious soaker tubs and separate glass showers with beautiful white marble cladding.
Two colour palettes are available for the suites — a dark smoky oak and a traditional light oak.
“Every piece and every corner in the suites have been well thought out,” says Day. “We’ve used some classic materials in terms of marble and stone and updated it with additional millwork features. It’s elegant and has a very open feeling.”
The tower is slated to complete in spring 2012 while the hotel is scheduled to complete for an opening for 2011. To be managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the fully restored hotel will be known as Rosewood Hotel Georgia.
“We’ve been stalwarts in terms of keeping the project on track and on budget,” says Langereis. “Trying to work through the financial storm was probably the biggest challenge — a test of commitment more than anything.”
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games in February will have some anticipated minor impacts on construction, notably the loss of use of Howe Street.
“We had to move some of our staging and our construction activities off of Howe Street,” reports Langereis. “It’ll cause a bit of a slowdown - moving trucks in and out without having Howe available but we’ve already built that into our schedule.”
To support Canadian athletes, the hotel was wrapped last October on two sides with the world’s largest Canadian flag. The vinyl building wrap measures 105 ft high x 210 ft long (larger than an Olympic hockey rink) and was installed over two days.
Langereis says with a laugh that the corner of Georgia and Howe Streets has been renamed “Canada Corner.”
“We’re really excited about the Olympics. We’re proud Canadians and we’re demonstrating that with one of the most visual patriotic gestures,” he says. |
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