Where the City Meets Nature

Situated on Vancouver’s waterfront with spectacular views of mountains, ocean, and parks, the Vancouver Convention Centre West is designed to bring together the natural ecology, vibrant local culture of British Columbia, and built environment, accentuating their interrelationships through the architecture. The project achieved LEED® Canada Platinum certification, and became the first convention center to gain such a high recognition in the world.

Seattle-based LMN, in collaboration with Vancouver-based Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DA Architects & Planners, designed the Vancouver Convention Centre West as a compelling vision of what a civic building can be – a celebration of people and place and a model of sustainability. The project achieved LEED® Canada Platinum certification, the first convention center to gain such recognition in the world. Opened in April 2009, the Convention Centre West expansion facility triples the total square footage and functional capacity as well as completes the development of the public realm on the waterfront.

In 2010, the Vancouver Convention Centre West will serve as the international broadcast and media center for the XXI Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games. Housing the more than 7,000 media who will be broadcasting live to millions of viewers across the globe, the new facility will be a powerful visual ambassador of the Pacific Northwest region’s commitment to sustainability.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The new Vancouver Convention Centre engages the urban ecosystem at the intersection of a vibrant downtown core and one of the most spectacular natural ecosystems in North America. The project weaves together architecture, interior architecture, and urban design in a unified whole that functions literally as a living part of both the city and the harbor.

The building’s vast program encompasses at once a single building and a new urban district. Occupying a former brownfield site on the downtown waterfront, the CAN $883 million development is approximately 14 acres on land and 8 acres over water, with 1 million square feet of convention space, 90,000 square feet of retail space, 450 parking stalls, and 400,000 square feet of walkways, bikeways, public open space, and plazas. An elevated 6-lane viaduct for vehicles and pedestrians connects the site back to the city grid, while infrastructure for further development extends into the water, creating a base for future commercial and recreational marinas, a float plane terminal, and water-based retail opportunities.

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Materials provided by LMN