Glotman•Simpson project, The ARC, a building at the foot of the Cambie Street Bridge and entrance to downtown Vancouver is set to be an architectural icon.  The slender design, by Francl Architecture, will define the City’s central skyline, overlooking the inner harbour of False Creek and the fringes of Yaletown.

Not only will The ARC be a visually stunning building, it will also have some impressive features – including a glass bottomed swimming pool suspended 200 feet from the ground on the 20th floor as part of an ultra luxurious Sky Club fitness facility.  Andy Stern, from The Speaker, interviewed Peter Webb of Concord Pacific and Geoffrey Glotman of Glotman•Simpson recently and reported:

The architects of Concord Pacific’s upcoming building are sacrificing residential space for iconic impact.  It is estimated that  the space unused inside the building’s “arc” would be worth millions if developed into dwellings, but in order to create a distinctive impression, the company is foregoing the revenue. “What we realized is that there’s an opportunity here where if we actually have these two towers that are, in fact, connected at a higher level, we could put the amenity up there and all the residents from their homes could go up and enjoy the views and outlets from this higher level amenity”, said Concord Pacific Senior Vice President, Peter Webb.  In order to manage the “arc” structure, the building will include giant steel and concrete beams that will be made at the building site.  Glotman•Simpson is taking on the engineering work for these elements as well as the 60 foot horizontal span that will sustain the pool area. “In this particular case, we really challenged our office and went back and forth with Walter and Peter to try and create a space that gave them what they wanted, which was this really cool clear span space that’s high, that has the ability to put a pool in it, between the beams,” said Geoffrey Glotman, “and to do that overall was a really interesting, exciting opportunity for us.”

Glotman•Simpson Consulting Engineers

Location: 89 Nelson Street, Vancouver, BC
Owner / Developer: Concord Pacific
Architects: Francl Architecture
Structural Engineering Consultant: Glotman•Simpson Consulting Engineers
Images:  ©Concord Pacific