The Vancouver House Project – Award-Winning Design in Canada

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Thanks to its unusual design that has already won several awards, the high-rise building will become a new landmark in Vancouver. Vancouver House is being built on a triangular ground area of only 557.4 m². The twisted tower transitions from a mostly triangular base to a rectangular top section. This way, the upper floors have a 1,208 m² large floor space – that is approx. twice as large as the foundation area.

Seven levels of underground parking

The Vancouver House's seven levels of underground parking required a 24.4 m deep excavation that was stabilized by a shotcrete anchored wall for the full depth. To tie back the retaining wall, DSI Construction Canada produced and supplied 1,200 strand anchors in lengths of approx. 13.7 m. Due to the changing ground conditions in the excavation area, 200 hollow bar anchors were also installed.

Since the area on the south side does not form part of the owner's property, the use of anchors was not permitted. So the area of the excavation was stabilized by horizontal girders that were diagonally braced at the corners.

Big challenge: Close proximity to Granville Street Bridge approach spans

One of the biggest challenges on this project was the close proximity to the Granville Street Bridge approach spans. The foundation loads of this bridge are transferred to large spread footings that reach right to the edge of the Vancouver House excavation. While the excavation progressed, the bridge was monitored at many different locations for any sign of movement.

Thanks to the efficient stabilization of the excavation, no movement was recorded during the entire excavation process.