Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, Canada by IBI Group

Article source: IBI Group

Standing at 50 storeys and 158 meters, this new residential tower next to the historic Hotel Georgia (recently refurbished) cuts a striking profile in the downtown skyline, and is now the second tallest tower in the city. This new mixed-use tower has hotel and commercial office space in the first 11 storeys, with residential units on the remaining 34 storeys.

Image Courtesy Bob Matheson

• Architects: IBI Group
• Project: Hotel Georgia
• Location: 667 & 669 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6J 1C7, Canada
• Client: Hotel Georgia Redevelopments
• Architects/Designers: IBI/HB Architects
• Collaborators: Endall Elliot (Hotel Renovation)
• Project Manager: Scott Construction
• Design Team: James Hancock, Hilde Havaerts
• Software used: Autocad & 3D studio Max for Renderings

Image Courtesy Bob Matheson

• Structural Engineers: Glotman Simpson
• Mechanical Engineers: Cobalt Engineering
• Electrical Engineers: Nemetz and Associates
• Landscape Architect: Perry + Associates
• Interior Designer: Mitchel Freedland Design
• Building Envelope: Morrison Hershfield
• Project End Date: September 2012
• Photographers: Bob Matheson
• Media Contact: James Hancock
• Area: 32,814 sq. m
• Height (to tip): 158.45 m
• Number of Floors: 50

Image Courtesy Bob Matheson

The shape of the tower is innovative in its massing; the first 35 floors dramatically cant out on its south and east sides, providing passive solar shading and stunning views of downtown Vancouver. The top dozen floors of the building lean back such that the balconies of the southeast corner look around the tower to see Seymour and Grouse mountains to the north. The exterior public art component is an LED design that comprises a subtle raindrop effect featured on the building’s north elevation.

Sustainability: With a sustainable agenda in mind, Hotel Georgia is one of the greenest new towers in downtown Vancouver. The tower skin is a high performance curtain wall, with photovoltaic cells incorporated into the building’s southwest elevation, which receive the site’s highest exposure to direct sunlight. The 11-storey podium of the new tower is an architectural homage to the Hotel Georgia itself; terra cotta quoins provide the scale and colour of the elegant stone panels covering its new younger neighbour, reinterpreted in contemporary materials.

Image Courtesy Bob Matheson

Given a building of this size (over 32,000 sq. m) the project used bold and cutting-edge strategies regarding energy use and the adverse effects of conventional HVAC, electrical fixtures, and water consumption.

HVAC: Using geothermal piles beneath the tower, this heat exchange feeds the heat pumps, which then provide heating and cooling to the tower.

Building Automation: The energy collected by the photovoltaics operates the motorized blinds in the building. This intelligent system prevents increased solar heat due to its glazed curtain wall. The building also has operable windows in all the suites, giving the occupants total climatic control of their environments.

Ground Floor Plan

Water: A roof-top water tank and swimming pool provide back-up reservoirs for the building’s fire suppression, along with the installation of low flow fixtures in all the suites. The tower’s porte-cochere features a ‘low flow’ water feature.

Electrical: Hotel Georgia uses efficient electrical fixtures throughout, from those in the suites, to the LED design that will be installed as the project’s public art component.

Hotel Georgia incorporates other sustainable technologies:

• Geo-exchange/heat-pump technology to heat and cool the commercial occupancies only
• Storm water recovery for hotel podium landscape irrigation
• Negative heat island effect by providing green roof on the hotel roof
• Individual gas metering, shown to reduce gas consumption by up to 30%
• Low VOC content in carpets, cabinets, paints and other finishes
• Adjacency to numerous public transit options, and is close to residential areas from which employees of the hotel could walk or bike

Amenity Level Plan

IBI Group is a multi-disciplinary consulting firm offering services in four areas of practice: Urban Land, Facilities, Transportation, and Intelligent Systems. Over the past 38 years we have grown steadily and now have 78 offices throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. We employ over 3,100 professionals internationally including architects, traffic and transportation engineers, land planners, LEED accredited professionals, public consultation/approval specialists, interior designers, landscape architects, and project managers.

Bio of Designer: James Hancock

James Hancock is Director of Design at IBI/HB Architects (a member of IBI Group) and is an Architect who is a highly respected designer of high density residential, mixed use, and hotel projects. He has been responsible for the design of over 100 towers in Vancouver, Arizona, Minnesota, California, Nebraska, as well as China and Abu Dhabi. He has served as Chairman of the Vancouver Design Panel, and advisor to the Development Permit Board, the West Vancouver Design Panel, a guest critic at the School of Architecture at UBC, a member of the AIBC Council, an instructor in the RAIC Syllabus Program, and coordinator for the Canadian Architectural Certification Program in British Columbia, as well as an oral examiner for interim architects seeking registration. He became a Fellow of the RAIC in 2002.

Typical Residential Floor Plan

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South Elevation

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South Elevation

East Elevation

West Elevation

Tags: Canada, Vancouver

Categories: 3dS Max, Autocad, Hotel

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