Located amongst downtown’s most vibrant streets, Kuma’s
design will see a building that complements the evolution
of the community. With a curved silhouette, the tower’s two
carved semi-inclusions will create the appearance of spatial
balance. The tower’s 181 residential units will be primarily
located in the semi-inclusions and boast substantially sized
patio spaces designed as open gardens to create personal
urban spaces. The mixed-use development also includes a
retail space and restaurant.
“I have always wanted to have a project in Canada because
of its closeness to nature,” said Kuma. “Typologically, this is a
large-scale project in North America, a dream for any foreign
architect.
We have done towers, but not to this scale and level of detail.”
“He is the architect without frontiers,” said Ian Gillespie,
Founder & President, Westbank.
Architect Speaker Series
On April 12th, 1,400 people gathered at the University of
British Columbia’s (UBC) Chan Centre for Small to Large, an
Evening with Kengo Kuma.
Kuma took the audience on his journey from Small to Large,
first exploring the small, soulful scale of his early projects
transitioning to his larger global projects that still retain the
intimate detail of layering and connectivity to location. That
includes the Tokyo National Stadium recently awarded to his
firm and Alberni by Kuma, the proposed 43-storey residential
tower in Vancouver, by Westbank and Peterson.
Westbank initiated the architect speaker series, in partnership
with UBC - SALA (School of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture), to provide an opportunity to discover more
about the local projects that are global influencers and spark
conversations on how to innovate and shape the future
of our cities. It began with Pritzker Prize-winning architect
Tadao Ando, followed by Bjarke Ingles, who has designed
Westbank’s Vancouver House and most recently, Kengo Kuma.
www.westbankcorp.com
Photo Credit: KKAA, Ed White
Page 23 - Archetech