Jameson House was an ambitious project with a ambitious scope: build a high density and mixed-use building in Vancouver’s financial district, which both honours the history of the neighborhood and provides contemporary urban facilities for its occupants.
The project is built on a small footprint requiring very efficient engineering solutions. The adjacent heritage building was restored as retail space. In order to avoid building on top of the heritage building, a cantilevered design was used for the office and residential floors. The office section was designed to provide natural light to the office spaces and to fit with the office buildings on the block.
The curved bays of the residential tower feature a one-third concrete support wall, with the remainder constructed of curved glass. This provided support for the cantilevered slabs, eliminating the need for a thicker concrete floor slab. The residential floors utilize post-tension concrete slabs, which helped minimize interior columns and provided for flexible unit layouts. The long cantilevers for the curved bays required a temporary structure be built to support the residential levels during construction.
Below the building is the first fully automated parking system in Canada. The automated system allows for structural optimization of the column grid without the spacing constraints of traditional parking – the perfect solution for the small project footprint.
Images: © Bob Matheson