This new 40 storey residential tower at 1515 Alberni Street will provide 195 units of residential housing to Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood. The design team is led by Büro Ole Scheeren with Francl Architecture as Architect of Record.
The tower stands on the main avenue into the downtown core from the North Shore and Stanley Park. The design expands the traditional tower shape into a three-dimensional sculpture, projecting living spaces outwards into the surrounding context. The multi-directional design capitalizes on the urban and natural qualities of the West End and Coal Harbour neighbourhoods, maximizing views of the surrounding water, park, and city.
A system of vertically shifted apartment modules enables dynamic yet rational and efficient layouts for residential units. The horizontal rotation of these modular elements projects living spaces outwards, and generates terraces to create unique and physical connectivity between the indoor and outdoor environments.
The vertical offset of apartment modules minimizes the footprint of the tower, allowing the ground to provide an open public plaza that celebrates the existing office tower to the west and the water feature known and loved by Vancouver residents.