Archetech Issue 35 2018 | Page 32

the design rationale for the new ‘exchange’ tower is entirely derived from its surrounding context and environment;
in particular the existing old stock exchange building
hArry gugger stuDio
Photos : © haRRy guggeR studio; © cRedit suisse
the exchange
The new tower blends in an establishes a dialogue with this
prominent original building in order to create an overall
composition that looks at once to Vancouver’s future without
obscuring its past.
suRRounded by wateR and framed by mountains, the unique
urban cityscape of Vancouver’s downtown is defined by its
spectacular natural setting. ‘The Exchange’ is located in the heart
of this downtown area. Selected by the city officials as one of a
few new, high density, office developments in the city’s central
business district this new tower will bring valuable diversity,
revenue and jobs to the neighborhood and to the city as a whole.
The design rationale for the new ‘Exchange’ tower is entirely
derived from its surrounding context and environment; in
particular the existing Old Stock Exchange building, which is to be
preserved and rehabilitated on the site. This refined, handsome
and elegant building has facades of carefully composed vertical
pilasters that are designed both to best accentuate its height and
at the same time ground the building within the streetscape of
the city.
By both breaking up the mass of the tower over its entire height
and by recessing its bulk from the perimeter of the site above the
Old Stock Exchange, the new building allows the existing structure
to fully define the streetscape, retaining and confirming its proud
position within the heart of Vancouver’s downtown.
As the form of the tower retreats lower down to better define
the original form and independence of the Old Stock Exchange,
it consequently grows higher above to maximize its potential on
the site. Here at the upper, more valuable floor levels, the tower
steps out in two directions to provide larger, more efficient floor
plates. These steps consequently create terraces on the tower’s