Menno Hall
Menno Hall is a mixed-use gateway development within the University Endowment Lands (UEL), adjacent to the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus. Located at the intersection of University Boulevard and Wesbrook Mall, the four to six-storey, 11,000 square meter project comprises 86 units of rental housing, 105 units of student housing and below-ground level institutional space over top of underground parking. The project site area is 3,899 m², and the proposed project floor space ratio (FSR) is 2.52 to provide rental housing catering to the “missing middle” rental housing market. The project showcases mass timber construction + ambitious energy reduction targets and will exceed current sustainability benchmarking requirements. The interior of the site comprises a landscaped courtyard providing stormwater management coupled with an attractive greened open-air extension to the public realm. Response to the Neighbourhood – Density + Intersection with the Surrounding Site The ‘Gateway’ location of the development and its proximity to the surrounding single-family neighbourhoods, informed the massing of the building and the decision to move a portion of the developable area underground. Advantage is made of the street-level energy generated by the movement of pedestrian traffic at this key urban intersection; the public realm flows underneath the housing in an outdoor weather-protected pedestrian quadrangle. A student-run café at ground-level adds to the social energy at the street corner. The building massing transitions from six-storeys at the street intersection to four-storeys adjacent to neighbouring single family properties. The footprint of the building was shifted several meters to preserve a series of mature London Plane trees which act as a visual buffer to the single-family homes to the east of the site. Housing Mix – the “Missing Middle” The project provides badly-needed rental housing options for families and students working and studying at the University of British Columbia. In 2019, the vacancy rate in the UBC Point Grey area was estimated at 0.3% - 0.8%, and the majority of families in Metro Vancouver are estimated to not be earning the necessary income for home ownership. Menno Hall will provide affordable rental housing opportunities for these families. Approximately 52% of the total units are dedicated to student housing; the remaining units are designed in a variety of types and sizes from Studio to 3-Bedroom to provide rental housing for missing middle families and individuals with moderate income. “The Grotto” – Sustainability and Public Realm Integration Environmental stewardship was a core design driver through the design of the project. Green roofs, exposed cross-laminated-timber structure, and stormwater retention and management in an attractive subterranean “Grotto” give residents and visitors to Menno Hall a visual, tactile and auditory connection to sustainable living. The journey to the Student Dining, Living and Lecture Hall is via a bridge over the “Grotto” - allowing views of the open-air courtyard. Menno Hall weaves sustainability into the daily life of the physical and social space of the building by carefully addressing solar orientation, urban context and the unique co-existence of rental housing, student housing and academic/institutional.
Prototype (M5)
A net-zero prototype finds design inspiration in the nature and traditional arts of British Columbia. Prototype (M5) is a Tall Wood Net Zero Lifecycle Carbon affordable rental tower located in Vancouver. Its intention is to be a replicable, open-source prototype and hybrid mass timber case study to help British Columbia achieve a significant reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions, while addressing Vancouver’s affordable housing crisis. A primary objective of Prototype (M5) is to find the most effective way of reducing operational and embodied carbon, and to offset residual carbon with credits through an upgraded on-site district energy plant, ensuring the investment has the greatest impact on carbon reductions. Energy modelling has shown that the project can improve standard sustainability targets significantly, exceeding the requirements of the City’s Zero Emissions Building (ZEB) Plan with a 60% reduction over ZEB compliance, and an over 90% reduction compared to conventional gas heated buildings. Put another way, Prototype (M5) will have almost the same net environmental impact as though it was never built. This new tower will be one of the world’s tallest mass timber buildings and uses an innovative, cost-effective hybrid approach to construction combining CLT floors (cross-laminated timber), steel columns and a low-carbon concrete core. Sustainability is further promoted with a zero-parking strategy, and enhanced bike facilities will support an active bike culture, celebrated throughout the building interiors. By replacing a surface parking lot, Prototype (M5) enhances the area plan which aspires to create a vibrant neighborhood, safe and active at all hours of the day. This project also fits into a larger comprehensive public realm strategy structured around a framework of active ground floor uses and activated laneways, inviting civic spaces and carefully curated public realm programming to encourage participation and collaboration. The project’s provision of purpose-built rental housing further strengthens the community, helping to address housing challenges in Vancouver, with one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the country – averaging 1%. The architecture and tectonics of M5 Prototype find inspiration in traditional weaving techniques and in the sculptural form of pine cones found in BC’s forests. The art of weaving cedar fiber baskets provides an almost water-tight membrane, producing a product that is beautiful and practical. Likewise, the scales of a pine cone inspired the exterior wall assembly panels, designed to protect the interior from rain and cold, and provide solar shading. A series of interlocking panels are “woven” together to create a seamless composition of solid and void that articulate the high-performance envelope. Wherever feasible, mass timber is left exposed as an architectural expression of warmth, texture, and tactility. Prototype received an endorsement from BC’s provincial government in the form of a construction grant. Not only will the project contribute significantly to zero carbon efforts, it also showcases the cost effectiveness, reduced construction elements, and faster construction of mass timber developments compared to conventional methods. Drawing inspiration from art and nature, Prototype (M5) takes us a significant step forward towards communities that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.
Eine Phantastische Kunstwerk
The unique design of the Phantastische Kunstwerk provides the same incredible views for each resident. Depending on the time of day, and the time of the year, your unit will open up views to the North Shore mountains, the eastern valleys, the ocean to the West or the vast delta to the South. The units complete a full 360-degree rotation every week with multiple high speed elevator track running to the interior to ensure you can get home any time of day, no matter where your home is. At 245m in diameter, the Phantastische Kunstwerk will be the tallest condominium tower in Vancouver, and the tallest ferris wheel in the entire world. Setting a new paradigm for condo living with every resident having access to the same view, depending on the time of the week. The project was completed as a fantastical alternative to the densification of Vancouver through the tower podium model. Using our studio as mock selling space, we invited the public to view the project in which we received earnest offers and enquiries to purchase.
Fifteen Fifteen
Like many cities today, Vancouver’s skyline is dominated by verticality, towers that don’t engage their environment and create isolation rather than connection. Fifteen Fifteen’s design opens the inert shaft of the tower to embrace both city and nature in a three-dimensional sculpture which projects the space of living outwards into the surrounding context. A system of vertically shifted apartment modules enables dynamic yet rational and efficient layouts for residential units while the horizontal rotation of these modular elements projects living spaces outwards to introduce the concept of horizontal living in a slender high-rise. The resulting multiple terraces generated from these horizontal shifts create both physical and emotional connectivity between the indoor and outdoor environment. Vancouver possesses a unique balance of urban conditions surrounded by spectacular nature that provides fertile ground for envisioning new possibilities for future living in a cosmopolitan and environmentally conscious city. The design for this building exemplifies an ambition to reconnect architecture with the natural and civic environment and go beyond the hermetic confines of towers that increasingly inscribe our lives. The design of the tower presents a carefully crafted distinctive silhouette that reaches out to engage the space of the city and stands as a new beacon that activates the skyline. The tower opens up to embrace both city and nature in a three-dimensional sculpture, projecting the space of living outwards into the site’s surroundings, responding to the multi-directional context while respecting views to and from neighbouring buildings, and maximising unobstructed views to the surrounding water, parks, and city. The vertical offset of the apartment modules minimizes the footprint of the tower and liberates the ground to provide an open public plaza for residents and citizens alike. An amplified reinterpretation of the existing water cascade along West Georgia builds on the strong architectural heritage of the site, while multiple paths ensure urban permeability. Civic amenities are embedded around the central plaza and the extensive waterscape to engage the community and contribute to the network of downtown green and public space. Special consideration has been given to maintaining existing spatial qualities while enhancing and reinvigorating aspects of the public plaza and its heritage. As a special place in the city for Vancouverites who have fond memories of the existing office building and water cascade by architects Rhone and Iredale, the design retains the modernist Crown Life Place and enhances the qualities of the site and respectfully translates the original character, while offering new possibilities to the community. The minimised footprint of the residential tower touches the ground and embeds itself into a multi-level water landscape. Sustainability strategies for passive and active energy savings are integrated with the architecture to target significant reductions in energy consumption and aspire to achieve LEED Platinum. Renewable energy sources at the top of the building’s sculpted crown generate 100% of the energy for the public amenities at the ground, creating a new model that visualizes sustainability and gives carbon-free space back to the public.
Lantern House
The house stands in quiet conversation with its surroundings — a measured presence beneath a canopy of mature oaks. It is an architecture of restraint, one that listens rather than imposes: to the rhythm of filtered light, to the play of shadow on stucco walls, to air drifting between volumes. Set on a generous urban lot in Vancouver’s Westside, the home is a sanctuary for a young family, a place designed to hold silence, shadow, and stillness in balance. At its core is a central void — a clearing in the mass, like a break in the forest canopy — where light pools and filters into the surrounding rooms. This space serves as both an organizing principle and an atmospheric anchor. Around it, rooms arrange themselves with apparent informality, gradually revealing an underlying nine-square grid: a quiet structure felt more than seen. The material palette is limited but expressive. The lower volume is grounded with rough stucco, catching the light in shifting textures. Above, a filigree of cedar slats forms a lantern-like screen that mediates views and enclosure. Board-formed concrete elements lodge into the massing, asserting a tactile presence. These monolithic forms slip past the envelope to frame views, define thresholds, and quietly disrupt symmetry. From the street, the house is enigmatic. A recessed wooden entry offers no view inward. A single band of glass, veiled by the cedar screen, hints at the life within. A concrete wall to the west protects the office and side garden; to the rear, a second volume defines a secluded alcove for the breakfast nook. Inside, movement unfolds in deliberate sequence. A windowless vestibule yields to a softly lit foyer. Then, the main space opens — light cascading from the central void, with apertures modulating brightness through the day. The living room contains a concealed hi-fi station and record collection, hidden behind limewashed sliding panels that allow the space to shift between listening room and quiet gallery. Materials were selected for their ability to age gracefully. Polished concrete floors contrast the warmth of white oak; cream limewashed walls shift subtly in light. A sandstone kitchen island anchors the space, bridging concrete and wood. Custom stainless-steel details remain quietly integrated. The stair marks a transition: light dims, lime wash deepens. Upstairs, light filters through the cedar screen, casting softened shadows. The bedrooms are calm and veiled, attuned to the slow rhythm of the day. This slow progression towards darkness culminates in a hidden tub room — windowless, lined in deep grey plaster, lit only from above. The landscape is loose, informal — a wild garden of native grasses and wildflowers. Passive strategies guide the home’s climate response: deep recesses, operable skylights, and screened volumes ensure comfort with minimal mechanical intervention. Ultimately, the house is not about form but atmosphere. It is an architecture of presence and withdrawal, of stillness and light. A vessel for dwelling — quiet, generous, and attuned to the rituals of daily life.
Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation
Students will embark on a transformative journey upon entering the new eight-storey Vancouver Community College Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation (VCC CCEAI), designed to make interprofessional collaboration and innovative engineering solutions possible. Symbolizing the City of Vancouver’s cultural heritage, the building’s architecture and design incorporates Coast Salish stories and knowledge shared by Indigenous leaders. The intent of the new CCEAI is to bring mixed-use programming under one roof, creating a memorable home for VCC’s students seeking education and training in the construction and maintenance of electric vehicles and clean energy technology. Large visual display zones and transparent elements were incorporated to interconnect diverse program environments. Challenges including accommodating large, industrial clean-energy programs into confined spaces while ensuring accessibility. Manufacturing and fabrication spaces will provide an integral platform for industry collaborations and facilitate the development of alternative energy cells, solar technology, and EV batteries. Creative and adaptable future-proof spaces throughout allow for changing technology and evolving program requirements. To further support VCC’s goal of creating a space centered around green automotive innovation, the building is designed to be low carbon and meet British Columbia’s Step Code 2 and LEED Gold Certification requirements. A major objective is for the CCEAI to become a collaborative heart for student development on campus, offering a dynamic and inclusive social hub for educational engagement and cultural exchange. An Indigenous Gathering Space will provide opportunities for First Nations students to meet, study, gather, and engage with elders and academic support. With convenient access to the larger student body, it encourages cross-cultural understanding. Large clerestory windows at grade provide light into the below-grade clean energy technology spaces, offering a unique opportunity for the public to observe students working and learning. A place designed for healing, gathering, and community Coast Salish site heritage, as conveyed by local Indigenous leaders, is layered into the building’s architecture, creating a cultural beacon for the City of Vancouver. The intent was to incorporate into the design language of the project Indigenous elements such as Skwachàys (spiritual tunnels representing transformation and journey), the Indigenous story of ‘The Serpent,’ and extensive use of local materials utilized historically in Indigenous vernacular architecture. Clad in delicately carved and painted aluminum shingles to represent ‘The Serpent’—a potent emblem of the Coast Salish Peoples—the amorphous form of the Indigenous gathering space commands a prominent position overhead, its shingles reminiscent of sea creature scales and its gentle curves suggestive of The Serpent’s undulating movement through water. Another important symbol in Coast Salish culture is the canoe, which represents life, sustenance and heritage. As a result, incorporated into the design of the new structure are various elements nodding to the traditional significance of the canoe and water. A future-proof campus with flexible classroom layouts, powerful HVAC systems that respond to climate change, and mass timber as the primary structural material in the atrium space, VCC’s new CCEAI will represent qualities of sustainability, connection, and community experience while providing students with an essential education.
Science World (Vancouver)
Science museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Vancouver House
Vancouver House is a neo-futurist residential skyscraper in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Construction of the skyscraper began in 2016 and was expected to be finished by the end of 2019, but completion was postponed to summer of 2020. On April 15, 2021, a water pipe on the 29th floor burst and damaged 17 units as well as several elevators.
Vancouver Aquatic Centre
Pursuing North America’s highest-performing aquatic centre through a design that honours and reflects the deep history of its shoreline site. Located in one of Canada’s densest neighbourhoods on a prominent site along Vancouver’s English Bay waterfront — beloved for its sweeping beaches, ocean views and popular seawall trail — the project seeks to reconnect with the iconic shoreline landscape, honouring its timeless indigenous history and culture while delivering a world-class aquatic centre for both community wellness and high-performance sport. Expressing and reflecting the boundless Coast Salish history of the site and shoreline. The City of Vancouver commitments to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s 94 Recommendations and UNDRIP strategies were made central to the project as part of a larger ambition to indigenize and decolonize the design process. Through a collaborative process, including our engagement team and Indigenous Cultural Advisors and Artists, the team worked with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations representatives, knowledge keepers, and the City’s Indigenous Relations staff to most embed knowledge, meaning, and cultural expression into all aspects the process and design. From the formal expression and tectonic language of the cladding to the procession from city to shore within the building, the project seeks to reflect and honor Indigeneity and Coast Salish knowledge throughout its design in both bold expressions and subtle details. Balancing high-performance sport with enhanced community amenities and inclusive wellness programming. The existing 1974 Aquatic Centre currently falls short of competition standards, seismic standards, operational efficiency, air quality and occupant comfort and is literally crumbling. Driven by ambitious goals, the initial project phase focused on maximizing the retention and renewal of the existing structure, while elevating the facility to world-class sustainability and comfort standards. The initial exploration ultimately concluded that renewal options surpassed budget constraints, while a new-build facility offered a faster and more efficient path to maximizing project value and delivering community amenities. The new facility will balance community leisure and fitness programs with high-performance sport training, offering a diverse range of activities for the entire community. World-class 10m platform diving, synchronized springboard diving, and short-course swim training facilities will provide a striking backdrop for families, youth, and seniors participating in health and wellness, learn-to-swim, and leisure swim programs. Pursuing North America’s first Passive House aquatic centre with best-in-class emissions reductions and occupant comfort. The project’s ambitions for ultra-low operational energy and world-class comfort and air quality are driven by three bold sustainability goals: (1) Delivering the Western Hemisphere’s first Passive House aquatic centre—and the world’s first to include Olympic platform diving—achieving the highest levels of energy efficiency, cost savings, and occupant comfort. (2) Implement passive inBlue Drum filters, achieving best-in-class outcomes in water and air quality, energy and water consumption, and operational efficiency. (3) De-carbonization via a fully electrified design that taps into British Columbia’s renewable hydroelectric grid, achieving zero operational emissions as well as delivering on the City of Vancouver’s 40% embodied carbon reduction mandate—an ambitious goal for a building typology traditionally marked by significant embodied carbon.
Telus Garden
Mixed-use building in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Butterfly
The Butterfly celebrates beauty and nature and promotes social connection. This iconic development combines a 57-storey tower with a 7-storey rental midrise building and the restoration of one of Vancouver’s oldest churches. Located in the heart of the downtown peninsula, the site is a transition point between the central business district and the historic West End neighbourhood. The design team worked closely with the clients, the community, and municipal officials to create a development that satisfies density ambitions while also enriching the public realm and providing ample community amenities. The tower form responds with a five-storey public amenity podium and three dramatic chamfers at streetlevel that yield space for a public plaza and pocket park, while preserving the larger floorplates for the residential levels above. This project reinvents the tower typology to deliver a high-density urban form that improves quality of life for residents by dissolving social barriers and reconciling the separation from nature—two challenges typically inherent to vertical communities. This is accomplished by splitting the floorplate in two, creating shared exterior spaces at each level where nature runs through the building. Skygardens on each floor provide a welcoming patio-like space that encourages neighbours to pause and connect. The breezeways also provide natural cooling, ventilation, and daylight, enhancing the resident experience and reducing energy demands.
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Open in Atlas MapFrequently Asked Questions
How long does the Vancouver architecture walking tour take?+
The self-guided walking tour covers approximately 4.4 km with 3 stops. Allow approximately 2 hours including 20 minutes of viewing time per building.
Is the Vancouver architecture tour free?+
Yes, this is a completely free self-guided walking tour. You can view the route on the interactive map, export it to Google Maps for navigation, and explore at your own pace.
Do I need to book the Vancouver architecture tour in advance?+
No booking is required — this is a self-guided tour that you can start at any time. All buildings can be viewed from the outside. For guided tours with expert commentary, we recommend checking GetYourGuide for local architecture tours.
What is the best time to do the Vancouver architecture walking tour?+
Morning light (before 11am) is ideal for photography of building facades. Weekdays tend to be less crowded around commercial buildings. Allow a full morning or afternoon for the complete tour.