Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is known for getting creative with cardboard and wood, fashioning low-cost materials into emergency housing and restored cathedrals, just to name a couple of recent examples. A newly announced mixed-use building for Vancouver will continue in this vein, combining wood with glass and concrete to create what the developers describe as the tallest hybrid timber structure anywhere on Earth.
Dubbed the Terrace House, the project is Ban's first on Canadian soil and will be built in Vancouver's Coal Harbour neighborhood. The project will be headed up by local developer PortLiving, which has brought together a team of hotshots that includes Cornelia Oberlander, the landscape designer behind the landmark Evergreen Building which sits alongside the site.
The hybrid housing complex pays homage to the neighboring Evergreen Building by way of terraces that align "almost seamlessly" at each level. Its angular design heavily features triangular shapes and greenery, while all timber is locally sourced from British Columbia.
The Terrace House building will contain 20 unique homes and according to Daily Hive, it will also feature retail space on the ground floor and three levels of underground parking. The first 12 stories will be constructed with traditional concrete and steel, while the remaining seven will feature exterior and floor plates cut from timber, with a concrete and steel core in order to meet seismic building codes.
There is no word yet on when construction will get underway, but PortLiving says further details on the project will be released in the coming months.
Source: Terrace House