Harbour Centre

Last updated
Harbour Centre
Harbour Centre, Vancouver, Canada, 2017-08-14, DD 30.jpg
Harbour Centre
Harbour Centre
General information
Type Mixed-use: Observation, office, commercial, restaurant
Architectural style Brutalist / Modernist
Opening1977
Height
Architectural147 m (482 ft) (CTBUH) [1]
Technical details
Floor count28
Design and construction
Architect(s) WZMH Architects
Website
harbourcentre.com

Harbour Centre is a skyscraper in the central business district of Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which opened in 1977. The "Lookout" tower atop the office building makes it one of the tallest structures in Vancouver and a prominent landmark on the city's skyline. With its 360-degree viewing deck, it also serves as a tourist attraction with the Top of Vancouver Revolving Restaurant, offering a physically unobstructed view of the city.

Contents

Harbour Centre is located at 555 West Hastings Street in Downtown Vancouver. It is steps away from Waterfront Station, a major multi-modal transit hub which serves as the Downtown Vancouver terminal for various TransLink operations including SeaBus, West Coast Express, SkyTrain, Canada Line and buses. Simon Fraser University operates its downtown Harbour Centre campus in the adjoining Spencer building and houses the Center for Dialogue and Canadas World.

Vancouver Coast Guard Radio operated until 2015 from Harbour Centre, providing distress watch and vessel traffic services to the North Arm Fraser River, Burrard Inlet, Indian Arm, English Bay and Howe Sound.

History

The downtown Simpsons-Sears department store was located here before it closed in 1987.

During the dot-com boom of the 1990s, it served as the headquarters for several tech firms, including Stormix Technologies, NetNation and others.

Official Height Discrepancies

Designed by WZMH Architects, the building is listed as being 28 stories tall, though the tower/observation deck extends above the 28 office floors (claimed to be approximately 40 stories in total). There is some disagreement as to the building's height. According to the Vancouver Lookout's website the observation deck is 168 m (551 ft) above the 'street level'. The CTBUH however lists the buildings architectural height as actually being 147 m (482 ft). [1] Furthermore, Skyscraperpage lists the buildings height to the roof as being only 139.6 m (458 ft). [2] This is stated to be the height from the Hastings Street entrance while the height from the back entrance on Cordova Street is 146 m (479 ft). It also lists the buildings pinnacle height to the tip of the antenna as being 177.1 m (581 ft). [2]

The building was British Columbia's tallest measured by pinnacle height until the construction of Living Shangri-La in 2009.

Tourist attraction

The Vancouver Lookout tourist attraction, located atop the Harbour Centre business building, was officially opened on August 13, 1977 by Neil Armstrong, whose footprint was imprinted onto cement and was on display on the viewing/observation deck until disappearing during renovations. Glass elevators whisk visitors 168 meters (553 feet) skyward from street level to the Observation Deck in 40 seconds.

In television and film

In Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? , a group of young teenage girls ride the famous glass elevator to the top to dine at the fictional "Above the Clouds" restaurant and the elevator breaks down. (S04E13 - "Above the Clouds"). Harbour Centre can also be seen in the Arrow episode "Dark Waters". The Harbour Centre is visible in the background along with the rest of the downtown Vancouver skyline at the beginning of The X-Files episode "2Shy". This building was also filmed in some episodes from the original MacGyver TV series in and around Vancouver. This building also had some shots from the TV series Danger Bay . There were also some shots from the Schwarzenegger film The 6th Day and the film Blade: Trinity . In The NeverEnding Story , the building is seen in the closing scene, when Bastian is flying with Falkor, to get some revenge over the kids.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CN Tower</span> Communications and observation tower in Toronto, Canada

The CN Tower is a 553.3 m-high (1,815.3 ft) concrete communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway's decision to divest non-core freight railway assets prior to the company's privatization in 1995, it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for the government's real estate portfolio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Center</span> Skyscraper in Seattle, US

The Columbia Center, formerly named the Bank of America Tower and Columbia Seafirst Center, is a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. The 76-story structure is the tallest building in the state of Washington, reaching a height of 933 ft (284 m). At the time of its completion, the Columbia Center was the tallest structure on the West Coast; as of 2017, it is the fourth-tallest, behind buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jin Mao Tower</span> Supertall skyscraper in Shanghai, China

The Jin Mao Tower, also known as the Jinmao Building or Jinmao Tower, is a 420.5-meter-tall (1,380 ft), 88-story landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It contains a shopping mall, offices and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel which starts from the 53rd floor, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower it is part of the Lujiazui skyline seen from the Bund. It was the tallest building in China from its completion in 1999 until 2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center which is located close by. The Shanghai Tower, a 128-story building located next to these two buildings, surpassed the height of both these buildings in 2015, creating the world's first trio of adjacent supertall skyscrapers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Näsinneula</span> Observation, communication, restaurant in Tampere, Finland

Näsinneula is an observation tower in Tampere, Finland, overseeing Lake Näsijärvi. It was built in 1970–1971 and was designed by Pekka Ilveskoski. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and at present the tallest observation tower in the Nordic countries at a height of 168 metres (551 ft). The tower opened in 1971 and is located in the Särkänniemi amusement park. There is a revolving restaurant in the tower 124 metres (407 ft) above the ground; one revolution takes 45 minutes. The design of Näsinneula was inspired by the Space Needle in Seattle. The idea of a revolving restaurant was taken from the Puijo Tower, which is located in Kuopio, the city of North Savonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanghai World Financial Center</span> Supertall skyscraper in Shanghai, China

The Shanghai World Financial Center is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Company, with Leslie E. Robertson Associates as its structural engineer and China State Construction Engineering Corp and Shanghai Construction (Group) General Co. as its main contractor. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, consisting of offices, hotels, conference rooms, observation decks, and ground-floor shopping malls. Park Hyatt Shanghai is the tower's hotel component, comprising 174 rooms and suites occupying the 79th to the 93rd floors, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. It is now the third-highest hotel in the world after the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, which occupies floors 102 to 118 of the International Commerce Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka Tower</span> Skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Eureka Tower is a 297.3 m (975 ft) skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior was completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon. The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Tower</span> Tall architectural structure in Sydney, Australia

Sydney Tower, also known as Centrepoint Tower, is the tallest structure in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, as well as the second-tallest observation tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Sydney Tower has also previously been known as AMP Tower and Centrepoint Tower, and colloquially as Flower Tower, Glower Tower, and Big Poke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calgary Tower</span> Observation tower, Attraction in Calgary, Alberta

The Calgary Tower is a 190.8-metre (626 ft) free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an urban renewal plan and to celebrate Canada's centennial of 1967. The tower was built at a cost of CA$3,500,000 and weighs approximately 10,884 tonnes, of which 60% is below ground. It opened to the public on June 30, 1968, as the tallest structure in Calgary, and the tallest in Canada outside Toronto. It was renamed the Calgary Tower in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Building</span> Art Deco building in Vancouver

The Marine Building is a skyscraper located at 355 Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada near the Financial District. Completed in 1930, at the time of its opening it was the city's tallest skyscraper and it is listed among the best Art Deco buildings in the world. It owes its name to the plethora of fine marine-themed ornaments that decorate it. Because of its architecture and interior decorations, the building has been chosen as the setting of a number of film and television productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">85 Sky Tower</span> Skyscraper in Lingya, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

85 Sky Tower, formerly known as the T & C Tower or Tuntex Sky Tower, is an 85-story skyscraper in Lingya District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The structure is 347.5 m (1,140 ft) high. An antenna increases the pinnacle height to 378 m (1,240 ft). Constructed from 1994 to 1997 by the now-defunct Tuntex Group, it is the tallest building in Kaohsiung, and the 2nd tallest in Taiwan after the Taipei 101.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baiyoke Tower II</span> Hotel skyscraper in Bangkok, Thailand

Baiyoke Tower II is an 88-story, 309 m (1,014 ft) skyscraper hotel at 222 Ratchaprarop Road in the Ratchathewi District of Bangkok, Thailand. It is the third tallest completed building in the city, after MahaNakhon and Magnolias Waterfront Residences at ICONSIAM. The building comprises the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest hotel in Southeast Asia and the seventh-tallest all-hotel structure in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower of the Americas</span> Observation tower in Texas, U.S.

The Tower of the Americas is a 750-foot (229-meter) observation tower-restaurant located in the Hemisfair district in the southeastern portion of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. The tower was designed by San Antonio architect O'Neil Ford and was built as the theme structure of the 1968 World's Fair, HemisFair '68. Originally known as 'HemisFair Tower', it was ultimately named 'the Tower of the Americas' as a result of a name-the-tower contest created by the executive committee. Sixty-eight people submitted the name by which the tower is now known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observation tower</span> Architectural structure

An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least 20 metres (66 ft) tall and are made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches. The towers first appeared in the ancient world, as long ago as the Babylonian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Landmark Hotel</span> Former hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Tallest demolished building in Canada.

The Empire Landmark Hotel, often referred to by its original name, the Sheraton Landmark, was the tallest hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was located on one of Vancouver's busiest thoroughfares at 1400 Robson Street, in the West End of Downtown Vancouver. The building was revolutionary at the time, as it had a revolving restaurant on its top floor, Cloud 9, which was one of only two revolving restaurants in Vancouver, the other being the Harbour Centre. Between its completion in 1973 and the completion of nearby Bentall Centre in 1974, the Empire Landmark Hotel was the third tallest building in Vancouver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanghai Tower</span> Megatall skyscraper in Shanghai, China

Shanghai Tower is a 128-story, 632-meter-tall (2,073 ft) megatall skyscraper located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. It is the tallest building in China and the world's third-tallest building by height to architectural top. It is the tallest and largest LEED Platinum certified building in the world since 2015. It had the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 meters per second until 2017, when it was surpassed by the Guangzhou CTF Finance Center, with its top speed of 21 meters per second. Designed by the international design firm Gensler and owned by the Shanghai Municipal Government, it is the tallest of the world's first triple-adjacent supertall buildings in Pudong, the other two being the Jin Mao Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Its tiered construction, designed for high energy efficiency, provides nine separate zones divided between office, retail and leisure use. The US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat cites it as "one of the most sustainably advanced tall buildings in the world."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tour Bretagne</span> Skyscraper in Nantes

Tour Bretagne opened on November 18, 1976, at 17:00, is a 37-story skyscraper situated in downtown Nantes between a main thoroughfare, Cours des 50 Otages, and Place Bretagne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilshire Grand Center</span> Skyscraper in Los Angeles, California, United States

Wilshire Grand Center is a 1,100-foot (335.3 m) skyscraper in the financial district of downtown Los Angeles, California, occupying the entire city block between Wilshire Boulevard and 7th, Figueroa, and Francisco streets. Completed in 2017, it is the tallest building west of Chicago. Though the structural top of the Wilshire Grand surpasses L.A.'s U.S. Bank Tower by 82 ft (25 m), the roof of the U.S. Bank Tower is still 90 ft above the Wilshire Grand's. The Skyscraper Center lists the Wilshire Grand Center as the 15th-tallest building in the U.S. and the 95th-tallest in the world. It won the Structural Engineering Award 2019 Award of Excellence from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

References

  1. 1 2 "Harbour Centre - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  2. 1 2 Harbour Centre, Vancouver. SkyscraperPage.com. Retrieved on 2014-04-12.

49°17′05″N123°06′44″W / 49.2846°N 123.1123°W / 49.2846; -123.1123 (Harbour Centre)