Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

 “Shigeru Ban has tremendous respect for Arthur Erickson’s work. It was the opportunity to design a building next to one of Erickson’s masterpieces that initially drew him to this innovative project,” said Dean Maltz, Managing Partner at Shigeru Ban Architects Americas.

Shigeru Ban’s new Terrace House, a 19-story, 20-unit hybrid mass timber mixed-use project, nears completion for developer PortLiving in Vancouver and as an extraordinary homage to the legacy of the late Canadian architect Arthur Erickson and his adjacent Evergreen Building.

The building’s form is a direct response to three primary site conditions: the neighboring landmarked building, by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson; the desire not to cast a shadow on the nearby park; and preserving existing view corridors toward the waterfront and mountains. 

The design appears to extrude organically from the 1980 Evergreen, Erickson’s post-Robson Square take on office building as an urban oasis, with terraced gardens sloping down what was an old railway rampart, towards the ocean.

Ban’s design follows the lines of the Evergreen, with its stepped concrete base, and then arcs at a 45-degree angle for the last nine floors, shifting to structural timber. 

The 19th floor is the northwest-facing point of a dramatic isosceles triangle. Interiors will benefit from the commercial height ceilings of the Evergreen, maximizing natural light and water views, with the generous balconies offering indoor/outdoor living at their best.

The building has a concrete structure for the podium, tower, and core, and a timber structure for the building’s triangular apex. 

‘When Ban came to visit Vancouver,’ recounts PortLiving developer Tobi Reyes, an admirer of both architects who was thrilled when Ban agreed almost immediately to take on the project, “he spent a lot of time visiting Erickson’s buildings and just touching the concrete with a kind of reverence.”

According to Reyes and his team, the building also demonstrates Vancouver’s commitment to forward-thinking sustainable design as well as its future focus on timber engineering and construction. 

The city is well on its way to becoming a world leader in this regard. In fact, as Reyes pointed out, given the size of Terrace House, its proximity to the coastline, and its use of materials, it is the type of building that would have otherwise been very difficult to build in North America.

Terrace House will be the tallest hybrid mass timber building in the world upon completion.

Project: Terrace House
Architects: Shigeru Ban Architects
Client: PortLiving