Vancouver House Sneak Peak!

PFS Studio has been working with Westbank, the design team and the talented folks at B+B Scale Models to create a 1:100 scale model of Vancouver House. You can check out the complete model at the Gesamtkunstwerk Exhibition, opening this Saturday, March 22nd at 1460 Howe Street (between Pacific and Beach). Until then, here’s a sneak peak at some of the public realm and terrace landscapes!

Read more about Vancouver House and the Exhibition from the Vancouver Sun, and on the Gesamtkumswerk website and check out a time lapse video of the chandelier that will be installed under the Granville Street Bridge.

We’re looking forward to seeing the final Gesamtkunstwerk Exhibition, and hope to see you there!

Bow River Bridge wins Wood WORKS! BC 2014 Wood Design Award

Photos by StructureCraft Builders Inc.

 

The winners of Wood WORKS! BC 2014 Wood Design Awards have been announced and Banff’s Bow River Bridge has been awarded the Engineer Award.

“Gerald Epp, of Fast + Epp Structural Engineers, known and respected internationally and whose name is synonymous with innovative engineering solutions, was the recipient of the Engineer Award. His project, the Bow River Bridge in Banff, Alberta, is one of the longest timber bridges of its kind. This beautiful structure was carefully designed, given the highly visible and historically significant location, and through design and construction detailing, thoroughly addressed durability and longevity. The Town of Banff desired natural materials for environmental and aesthetic reasons, and timber was the chosen material.” Read more about the awards in Canadian Architect

The bridge was built one year ago, almost to the day. Watch a time lapse video of the bridge’s installation.

PFS Studio’s role in the Bow River Bridge
PFS Studio was part of the successful team to be awarded the Banff Pedestrian Project through a Township led competition process.

Beyond the need to site a landmark structure within the world renowned Banff National Park, PFS Studio was tasked with integrating the existing pedestrian and cyclist pathways that run throughout the town and park with the new crossing points at the proposed bridge, creating a continuous, safe network of walking, cycling, and cross-country ski routes.

The environmental factors involved in successfully locating this new structure were considerable, as the Bow River is a high value riparian environment that is the central feature to the natural setting of the Town of Banff. PFS provided design and construction strategies to address both in-stream and riparian conditions as well as effective integration into the surrounding upland environment. Best management practices established for the Banff National Park for wildlife movement and other environmental objectives were considered as well as the regulations and guidelines of involved regulatory agencies.

Working closely with the Township, the design team was diligent in selecting the appropriate materials and detailing the finishes to complement and enhance the adjacent existing bridge and scenic surroundings.

Places That Matter Plaque Ceremony – Hinge Park, Vancouver

On Sunday February 23rd, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation hosted a presentation for a Places that Matter plaque at Hinge Park in the Olympic Village. Appropriately it was the last day of the Winter Olympics. Snow was falling and likely discouraged attendance. In the end it was the invited who came: PFS Studio’s Marta Farevaag, Raymond Louie and Andrea Reimer from City Council, John Coupar from the Park Board, and Derek Lee from PWL Partnership, the Landscape Architects for Hinge Park and sponsors of the plaque.

City Council has been a supporter of recognizing and celebrating the industrial heritage in False Creek through many years of policy and planning reports. Raymond Louie recollected the long discussions that Council had to decide which of the heritage structures on site would be retained and rehabilitated; the Canron building was in too advanced a state of deterioration to make the cut. Both he and Andrea Reimer spoke of the loss of industrial land uses and the gritty character that the area once had from their childhood memories.

The Canron Building was on the site of Hinge Park until it was demolished 1998. Karen Estrin from the Vancouver Heritage Foundation noted that it was one of the last survivors from the shipbuilding industry on the south shore of False Creek. During World War I, the shipyard was Vancouver’s largest employer, with a 2,000-strong workforce and construction of the largest tonnage of steel ships in the British Empire. In 1935, a steel fabrication plant was built on the shipyard site. This three-acre plant came to be known as the Canron Building where steel was produced for some of the region’s major transportation routes, including the First Avenue Viaduct, the Pattullo Bridge and the towers of the Lions Gate Bridge.

During the Second World War, shipbuilding returned with fabrication of large sections of 10,000 ton freighters. Postwar, the shipyard site remained operational, employing up to 5,000 workers. During this period, the industry produced steel for iconic structures such as the Alex Fraser Bridge and Canada Place.

Derek Lee spoke of the many design elements in the park that celebrate its industrial heritage: the steel trusses that have become a gateway where the Places that Matter plaque will be mounted, seating walls made of dry stacked pieces of recycled concrete paving, and gabion retaining walls filled with crushed concrete from the foundations. These reused elements are presented without interpretation and require the visitor to observe and speculate on the history of what is incorporated into the park. Reused elements are found in counterpoint to new ones with an industrial character: stainless and galvanized steel details and heavy timbers.

The waterfront open spaces in Olympic Village, designed by PWL Partnership, PFS Studio, and other designers, have found many ways to incorporate the industrial heritage of Southeast False Creek into tangible reminders of its rich and interesting past and to use a contemporary range of materials to convey an industrial character that shapes a renewed sense of place for the Village.