One Wall Centre

Atop the growing pace of “architecturally adventurous” buildings populating Vancouver’s skyline, this 450-feet tall building on the southern edge of the business district seems to stand out, literally.

Considered as one of Vancouver’s signature buildings, One Wall Centre is a 48-storey residential hotel tower located at the southern edge of the city business district. The tower starts with a 733-room Sheraton Hotel dominating its lower floors, while its upper floors boast of luxury residences. A curvilinear, low-rise podium imprints One Wall Centre’s participation in the city’s urban drive – indulging its people with various commercial and retail spaces along a central landscaped plaza.

Apart from its curvilinear podium, one of the most distinct qualities of One Wall Centre is its two-toned, glazed façade. Rather than aesthetics, its curiosity-inducing exterior was a compensation made concerning the initially chosen color and opacity of its glass façade. As a result, a more transparent glass panel was installed on the upper one-third portion of the tower.

Another challenge faced by the tower throughout its design process was the high density of several historic structures in the city, which sanctioned its additional building height. As a solution, its 7:1 height-to-width ratio along with its modest floor-plate and oval configuration created a striking profile amidst a high-rise vista.

Innovative engineering techniques were used to satisfy the building’s wind and seismic design requirements. The tower uses a unique outrigger system made from for floors of 6-feet deep concrete beams joining the stair cores and central elevator to its exterior columns. As a result, the building’s axial load spreads out to the columns. It can also survive a once-in-a-century windstorm, thanks to its tuned liquid column damper and two 50,000 gallon water tanks sitting on its rooftop. Both are designed to counter any lateral movements, protecting the tower from potentially damaging winds.

In a sea of condominiums and high-rise buildings sprouting across different parts of Vancouver, the One Wall Centre and its elliptical, two-toned form truly sat its place on the city’s ever-growing skyline.