The Granville + 70th project features four total buildings of varying heights in South Vancouver. Facing Granville street, a 2-storey grocery store and 20-storey residential tower share a 2 level below grade parking structure. At the rear of the site off of Granville is another residential tower at 14-storeys, along with a 7-storey building set over a shared 3 level below grade parking basement.
Designing the store posed unique challenges, including accommodating the overlap and transfer of a residential tower above the grocery store, integration of seismic building separations, heavy landscape loading, and incorporation of full-height trees planted atop the store’s roof.
At the streetscape of the site, a pair of glue-laminated timber canopies stretch gracefully, soaring over 40 feet above ground and spanning an impressive 75 feet in length. These culminate in a continuous undulating steel plate façade adorned with decorative fins, supporting seamless glazing throughout. The roof over the Safeway building is an expansive vegetated green roof with the amenity space of the adjacent south tower spilling out to partially encompass the roof of the grocery store.
Images: © Bob Matheson