Save
E-mail
Print
Most Popular
RSS
The 1.2 million-sq.-ft. venue, designed by LMN Architects, features a six-acre living roof landscaped with 400,000 native plants that serves as an insulator and contributes to the building’s stormwater utilization. The living roof is the largest in and the largest non-residential living roof in North America.
Other sustainable design features include a foundation that incorporates a marine and shoreline habitat restoration, black water treatment and desalinization systems to reduce water use up to 70 percent over other convention centers, use of local materials such as Douglas fir and Hemlock wood finishes, energy efficient fixtures and management systems, and natural daylighting and ventilation.
“For sustainability in our culture to be successful, it must be integrated at every level including building design, operations, public infrastructure, natural ecosystems, and urban systems. The size and complexity of this project offered a rare opportunity to demonstrate the integration of sustainability in all of those realms in a project that engages the unique qualities of Vancouver and enriches the civic life of the community," says Mark Reddington, FAIA, LMN partner. "With this being touted as the greenest Olympic Games ever, it is particularly exciting to have such a strong example of sustainability for visiting media from around the globe to experience firsthand."
The Vancouver Convention Centre West project, which tripled the existing space of the east facility, was completed in 2009. It has won multiple awards, including the 2009 AIA Seattle Chapter Honor Award and a 2009 IIDA InAward Honorable Mention for the Design InPublic Category.
