The ARC, is a 28-storey mixed-use development located at the Cambie Street Bridge entrance into downtown Vancouver featuring Canada’s highest, large scale glass bottom swimming pool.
The structurally unique building rises from the ground plane as two separate towers with unique lobby structures, and portrays a ‘wavey’ building profile with sloping columns at the upper levels. The two towers are bridged at the 20th level (approximately 200ft above grade) to create an arch containing the iconic glass bottom swimming pool.
The suspended swimming pool provided a structural challenge given the extremely low deformation tolerance of the pool’s acrylic panels. The bridge consists of two concrete beams spanning over 70 ft, supporting multiple levels of residential levels above. To realize the architectural vision, our team carried out several analytical studies and provided creative solutions to control the deformations of the bridge structure during and after construction.
Close coordination was the key to the successful delivery of this project which was completed within a fast track 16-month construction timeline.