Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has more high-rise buildings per capita than most North American metropolitan centres with populations exceeding 1,000,000. Vancouver's population density is the 4th-highest in North America and the city has more residential high-rises per capita than any other city on the continent.
There are roughly 650 high-rise buildings that equal or exceed ,
and roughly 50 buildings that equal or exceed 100 metres (328 ft). Vancouver has 27 protected view corridors which limit the construction of tall buildings which interfere with the line of sight to the
North Shore Mountains, the downtown skyline, and the waters of
English Bay and the
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...
. Almost all of Vancouver's buildings that exceed 100 metres in height are located within
Downtown Vancouver.
The tallest building in Vancouver is the 62-
storey
A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US).
T ...
,
Living Shangri-La
Living Shangri-La is a mixed-use skyscraper in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is the tallest building in the city and province. The 62-storey Shangri-La tower contains a 5-star hotel and its offices on the first 15 floors, with ...
;
the building represents the city's efforts to add visual interest into Vancouver's
skyline. The recently completed
Paradox Hotel Vancouver
The Paradox Hotel Vancouver, formerly known as the Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver, is a residential skyscraper and hotel in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The 60-storey, tower in which the hotel is located is at ...
, also known as
Vancouver's Turn, is now the city's second tallest building, at 188 metres (616 ft). The Private Residences at Hotel Georgia, completed in 2012 at and 48 stories, is currently the third-tallest in the city.
One Wall Centre
One Wall Centre, also known as the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre North Tower, is a 48-storey, skyscraper hotel with residential condominiums in the Wall Centre (Vancouver), Wall Centre development at 1088 Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver, B ...
, at tall, with 48 storeys, is currently the city's fourth tallest building.
One Wall Centre has the distinction of being the first building in the world to use a
tuned liquid column damper to control wind vibrations.
Vancouver's history of skyscrapers began with the
Dominion Building (1909), the
Sun Tower
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
(1911) (originally named the World Tower, then the News-Advertiser Tower, after the newspaper it was home to in each case), the
Vancouver Block (1912), the second
Hotel Vancouver (1916)
The Hotel Vancouver, the second of three by that name, was a 15 story (77m) Italian Renaissance style hotel built in 1916 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The architect was Francis S. Swales.
The hotel closed in 1939, when an arrangement ...
and the
Marine Building (1929). The third
Hotel Vancouver
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, formerly and still informally called the Hotel Vancouver, is a historic hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. Located along West Georgia Street the hotel is situated within the city's Financial District, in Downtown ...
was completed in 1939 at tall, and was the first building in the city to have stood taller than 100 m (328 ft).
Building construction remained slow in the city until the late 1960s, other than the completion of the new
BC Electric headquarters (soon renamed
BC Hydro headquarters, and today the
Electra condominiums). From 1968 to 1981, Vancouver witnessed a major expansion of skyscraper and high-rise construction. Many of the city's office towers were completed during this period, such as the
Harbour Centre,
Bentall Centre,
Royal Centre,
Granville Square and
Pacific Centre office tower/mall complexes.
A ten-year lull in building construction came after the expansion, though Vancouver experienced a larger second building expansion beginning in 1991 and continuing into the present.
In the last two decades Vancouver's pioneering urbanism, with its density and innovative developments, has been emulated by major cities throughout the world. As part of the city's push for liveable high-density areas (called
Vancouverism by planning theorists), many mixed-use and residential buildings were built, such as Concord Pacific Place, the largest master-planned residential complex in North America.
One Wall Centre and Living Shangri-La were the city's first buildings to break the and marks, respectively.
__TOC__
While highrise development outside of the downtown core had been nearly nonexistent due to zoning restrictions and view cones, recent transit oriented developments like Marine Gateway and the upcoming Oakridge Park are centered around Canada line stations of the
Skytrain, Metro Vancouver's
light metro system, in order to increase residential density and reduce car reliance. They will have the tallest building heights outside of
Downtown Vancouver.
Tallest buildings
This list ranks buildings in Vancouver that stand at least 100 m (328 ft) tall, based on
CTBUH height measurement standards. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings.
* Indicates buildings that are still under construction but have been topped out.
= Indicates buildings that have the same rank because they have the same height.
Tallest proposed and under construction
Under construction
This table lists skyscrapers that are under construction in Vancouver that will rise over tall.
Approved and Proposed
This table lists approved and proposed skyscrapers in Vancouver that are planned to rise over tall.
Tallest demolished
This table lists buildings in Vancouver that were demolished or destroyed and at one time stood at least in height.
Timeline of tallest buildings
This is a list of buildings that in the past held the title of tallest building in Vancouver.
See also
*
Architecture of Vancouver
The architecture of Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver area holds a combination of modern architectural styles, ranging from the 20th century Edwardian style to the 21st century modernist style and beyond. Initially, the city's architects embrac ...
*
List of heritage buildings in Vancouver
The following is a list of buildings and structures classified as Schedule "A" and Schedule "B" heritage buildings by the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. These are ''designated'' heritage buildings, and as such are legally protected ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Canada
*
List of tallest buildings in British Columbia
*
List of tallest buildings in Burnaby
This list of tallest buildings in Burnaby refers to the tallest buildings in the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia located in Metro Vancouver. With an estimated population of 2 ...
References
;General
*
*
*
;Specific
External links
Diagram of Vancouver skyscraperson SkyscraperPage
{{Vancouver
Vancouver
Tallest buildings
Tallest buildings in Vancouver