Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre
Encyclopedia
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
; it is one of Canada's largest convention centres. With the opening of the new West Building in 2009, it now has 466,500 ft² (43,340 m²) of meeting space. It is owned by the British Columbia Pavilion Corporation, a crown corporation owned by the government of British Columbia.
East Building
The East Building is located in Canada PlaceCanada Place
Canada Place is a building situated on the Burrard Inlet waterfront of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the home of the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver's World Trade Centre, and the world's first permanent IMAX 3D theatre . The building's exterior is covered by...
, which it shares with a cruise ship terminal, and the Pan Pacific
Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts
Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts is a hotel-management company with 20 hotels in 11 countries in the Pacific Rim region. The company is a founding member of the Global Hotel Alliance, the world's largest alliance of independent hotel groups. The hotels are usually 30-storey buildings with balconies...
hotel. It has 133,000 ft² (12,400 m²) of space, including a 91,205 ft² (8,500 m²) column-free, dividable exhibition hall, 20 meeting rooms, and a ballroom.
The East building served as the Main Press Centre for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
.
West Building
LMN Architects
LMN is an architecture firm based in Seattle in the United States. The company was founded in 1979, and provides planning and design services to create convention centers, cultural arts venues, higher education facilities, commercial and mixed-use developments....
of Seattle, in association with Vancouver firms MCM Architects and DA Architects + Planners. Morrison Hershfield
Morrison Hershfield
Morrison Hershfield is an employee-owned professional services firm providing engineering and management consulting services in the areas of energy and...
ensured quality assurance and conducted enhanced field review during construction of all building envelope
Building envelope
The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. Another emerging term is "Building Enclosure". It serves as the outer shell to help maintain the indoor environment and facilitate its climate control...
components including innovative curtain wall glazing and green roof
Green roof
A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems...
. On February 9, 2010 the building was certified LEED Platinum
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
by the Canada Green Building Council
Canada Green Building Council
The Canada Green Building Council was created in 2003 to further the expansion of green building in Canada. Prior to the formation of the Council, Canada had participated in the United States Green Building Council through British Columbia's membership in the USGBC's Cascadia Chapter.The CaGBC...
.
The West Building opened to the public on April 4, 2009. It effectively tripled the capacity of the convention centre. The building hosted the International Broadcast Centre
International Broadcast Centre
The International Broadcast Centre is a temporary hub for broadcasters during major sport events.-FIFA World Cup:During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in Germany, the IBC in Munich was host to journalists from around 190 countries. The centre was based at the Munich Fair, in what was formally Munich...
for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
and 2010 Winter Paralympics
2010 Winter Paralympics
The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially the X Paralympic Winter Games, or the 10th Winter Paralympics, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler...
. Connecting to the centre will be The Fairmont Pacific Rim
The Fairmont Pacific Rim
Fairmont Pacific Rim is an upscale hotel and condominium building in Vancouver, British Columbia. It stands at 140 m or 48 storeys tall and was completed just prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics....
hotel.
Adjacent to the West building is the Jack Poole Plaza (formerly known as Thurlow Plaza), in honour of Jack Poole
Jack Poole
John W. "Jack" Poole, OC, OBC was a Canadian businessman who, as the head of the VANOC bid committee, was responsible for bringing the 2010 Winter Olympics to Canada....
, who died of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in 2009. He was responsible for securing the bid of the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
and 2010 Winter Paralympics
2010 Winter Paralympics
The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially the X Paralympic Winter Games, or the 10th Winter Paralympics, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler...
to Vancouver.
Sustainability
The new west Building expansion is certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
) Platinum and is designated a PowerSmart Convention Centre by BC Hydro. It was awarded a "GO GREEN" certificate from the Building Owners and Managers Association
Building Owners and Managers Association
The Building Owners and Managers Association , founded in 1907, is a professional organization for commercial real estate professionals and is the oldest and largest in its field. Its membership includes building owners, managers, developers, leasing professionals, medical office building managers,...
(BOMA) for industry-approved, environmental best practices in building management. The living roof, seawater heating and cooling, on-site water treatment and fish habitat built into the foundation of the West Building make it one of the greenest convention centres in the world. The Centre recycles an average of 180,000 kilograms of materials annually, nearly half of the total volume of waste generated. It avoids canned goods, disposable utensils and dishes, and donates leftover food to local charities.
The 6 acres (24,281.2 m²) "living roof" is the largest in Canada and the largest non-industrial living roof in North America. The roof landscape is designed as a self-sustaining grassy habitat characteristic of coastal British Columbia, including 400,000 native plants and 4 colonies of 60,000 bees each which provide honey for the public plaza restaurant. No public access is allowed to the roof, which made it possible to create a fully functional ecosystem with natural drainage and seed migration patterns using the roof's architectural topography. The landscape functionally connects to nearby Stanley Park
Stanley Park
Stanley Park is a 404.9 hectare urban park bordering downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1888 by David Oppenheimer in the name of Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada....
via a corridor of waterfront parks. Irrigation to the roof is provided by the building's blackwater
Blackwater (waste)
Blackwater is a term dating to at least the 1970s used to describe wastewater containing fecal matter and urine. It is also known as brown water, foul water, or sewage...
treatment plant. In the event that the roof requires additional irrigation not provided by wastewater, a desalinization plant is in place to draw water from the harbor.
All wastewater in the building is recycled through the blackwater treatment plant, reducing potable water use by 70% from a comparable baseline. Because blackwater treatment operates through a “digestive” biological system, it requires constant input, and in periods of low activity the system diverts wastewater from the city sewer.
The building's heating and cooling system feeds through the deep water of the harbor, using it as a constant temperature base to reduce the amount of energy used for heating and cooling.
Along the waterfront, the shoreline ecology is fully restored from its previous brownfield state and supports a historic salmon migration path. An artificial reef structure rings the building perimeter, consisting of a series of concrete steps. Each step is planted with marine species adapted to a specific depth below the water, resulting in a kelp forest characteristic of the natural shoreline and supporting a diversity of harbor fauna. Underneath the building, which is set on pier foundations, runnels are set into the tide flats creating a tidal ecosystem zone that flushes daily and feeds the reef.
The site of the expansion is a former marine and rail industrial area, most of which was covered in impervious surfaces and contaminated. The decrease in site impervious surfaces is almost 30%, mitigating total suspended solids and phosphorus content from stormwater and reducing the site’s heat island contribution.
Cost overruns
Originally budgeted at $495 million, the expansion project's final cost was $883 million. Opposition critic Adrian DixAdrian Dix
Adrian Dix is a Canadian politician, currently serving as MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia and as leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 2005 election.-Aide to Glen Clark:...
called it the largest overrun of any public project in British Columbia history, while Premier Gordon Campbell blamed rising steel and construction costs for the overrun. A report by the provincial auditor said the project was over budget partly because of late design changes and accelerated construction to ensure the West Building was ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
.
Awards
In 2002, and again in 2008, the VCEC was awarded the International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) "Apex Award" for the "World's Best Congress Centre".In April 2010, the West Building expansion received an Award of Excellence from the Urban Land Institute
Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a non-profit research and education organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London...
. It has also received multiple awards from the AIA Seattle chapter.