Architects working on redesigning the iconic Beach Towers complex in the West End have been sent back to the drawing board after the City of Vancouver's Urban Design Panel voted to not support Devonshire Properties first proposal to rezone the site. Both of city council's main advisory groups have now rejected the proposal following the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Heritage Commissions unanimous vote of non-support in June.
I think it is great that both advisory panels are taking this rezoning seriously and I think that if something does happen on this site, it sends a clear message to the developer that they want it to be suitable, said Sarah Isaacs, a spokesperson for the West End Neighbours group, who have opposed rezoning the four-building waterfront highrise complex at 1600 Beach Ave. I wouldn't say I was surprised [by the decision] because this is such a prominent site with category A heritage merit. I think what the developer came up with initially really is unsuitable.
Built in 1965 by the Block Brothers and architects C.B.K. Van Norman and Ojars Kalns, the Beach Towers residential complex won the Canadian Housing Design Councils Centennial Award in 1967 and is listed on the City of Vancouvers post-1940s Heritage Inventory. The rezoning application by Devonshire Properties sought to add over 100,000 square feet of residential density on the site, including a four-story building along Beach Avenue, a 10-story building at the corner of Harwood Street and Cardero Street, a one-story exercise facility at the corner of Cardero Street and Beach Avenue, and 11 three-story townhouses circling the base of Columbus House at 1651 Harwood.
I think that the original design was very considerate to people walking by and the neighbourhood, and I think it would be pretty hard to get that much new density on the site as beautifully as they got it the first time around, Isaacs said.
At issue for the Urban Design Panel was the placement and shape of the proposed tower, which would only have been 4.8 metres (16 feet) away from the complexs existing southeast tower. The panel instead would like to see a taller, slimmer structure in keeping with the existing towers.
Both panels advised against the four-story building proposed for the length of the site along Beach Avenue. The 11 townhouses proposed at the base of the Harwood Street tower were also criticized, and will likely be significantly revised or removed altogether in subsequent submissions.
The fate of the 10-story, 94-unit structure proposed for the corner of Harwood and Cardero remains up in the air. Although neither panel approved of the current design, neither appeared to take issue with its scale and density despite the fact this building alone would add 70,000 square feet of residential density to the second most densely populated block in the West End.
The Heritage Commission will meet again on Oct. 23, but may reschedule if a new rezoning proposal hasn't been completed by then.
