1468 Alberni: New York-style condo towers for downtown Vancouver

The new development will be located in the 1400 block of Alberni and Nicola Street in Vancouver’s West End. The proposed design incorporates historical masonry, sculptural details, and iconic crowns over the two building towers. The building will be the world’s biggest and tallest ultra-low energy building that requires little energy for space heating or cooling. Its unique design will integrate well in the West End neighbourhood. The developers, Landa Global Properties and Asia Standard Amercias proposal consist of 43 and 48-story towers.

Location

1468 Alberni Street, Vancouver BC

Artistic rendering of 1468 Alberni

1468 Alberni will provide 580 new homes to the urban neighbourhood. The development will also incorporate family-oriented homes, a 10,000 square foot childcare facility, and a new park on Nicola Street. The project is designed by New York-based Robert AM Stern Architects, with local firm MCM Partnership acting as the architect of record.

There will be a mix of market strata units and 129 market rental units, which is a replacement of the existing number of rental homes on the site. The unit mix includes 34 studio apartments, 167 one-bedroom apartments, 188 two-bedroom apartments, 34 three-bedroom apartments, 16 four-bedroom apartments, and four penthouse suites. The project’s entire floor area will span 647,000 sq. ft and have six levels of underground parking.

” The prosed design celebrates the diverse architectural styles in the city and provides a unique contrast to the Vancouverism style of glass towers,” reads the architects’ design rationale.

” A key material element that is unique in contemporary Vancouver high-rise design is the use of limestone cladding on the whole project- providing a direct link between the proposal and the historic Vancouver icons from which it draws its inspiration. This material strategy of quality and authenticity is carried forward into other major materials such as granite accents, rubbed bronze spandrels, and steel details.”

Development

Asia Standard Americas

Landa Global Properties

An artistic rending of 1468 Alberni

Architecture

Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA)

Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership (MCMP)

It is anticipated that the superior building envelope, insulation, and a design that optimizes solar gain and shade will reduce the amount of energy required to heat and cool the towers by nearly 90%.

” Vancouver is famous for its concrete glass towers, a building model that has been exported around the world, but the buildings themselves aren’t good for the planet,” said Eesmyal Santos-Brault, a passive house consultant.

“If we can build a tower that still makes money and is good for the environment and doesn’t consume much energy or carbon, that’s a win-win for everybody.”

Vancouver’s zero-emissions plan

Vancouver’s city council adopted a zero-emissions building plan in 2017 that aims for the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions in all new construction by 2030.