London-based design and architecture firm Heatherwick Studio is behind some of the most striking and talked-about buildings in the past few years. The company designed The Vessel in New York’s Hudson Yards (and is currently working on Pier55, a 2.4-acre park in the Hudson River to be completed later this year), the shopping complex Coals Drop Yard in London, the Bund Finance Center in Shanghai, and The Hive building of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. And Heatherwick Studio’s latest project is sure to attract as much buzz as its predecessors.
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The company just unveiled the design for a new residential project in Vancouver that will further modernize the Canadian city’s skyline. The renderings show two high-rise buildings that share a common base before branching out to form a bottleneck six-stories up and then again opening up towards the sky. The zig-zagging balconies and concrete blades that run vertically from street level to the top of the buildings are the towers’ most striking features.
“[…]the concept aims to bring a new level of global design excellence to Vancouver, featuring two curvaceous, light-filled towers and a publicly-accessible ground level plaza for community engagement,” reads an Instagram post on the studio’s page.
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The modern design is largely inspired by the way roots branch out from trees. The mixed-use platform will be publicly accessible and will also have plenty of greenery. According to documents submitted to the City of Vancouver for approval, the towers, currently known as “1700 Alberni Street” will be 385 feet high and include 401 apartments, a childcare facility, and parking spaces for cars and bicycles.
