The Beach and Howe Tower is located next to the interchange at the entrance to the bridge over the Fraser River, and the property owned by the developers is divided into several parts by this interchange. To protect future residents from the noise and dirt of traffic, the architects chose an extreme, triangular piece from several possible ones for the skyscraper itself.
As it grows up, the house gradually transitions from a triangular plan to a rectangular one. In volume, this is expressed as a cantilever extension, and the outlines of the building depend on the point of view: it can be either a monolithic block or a strongly curved plate with an almost sharp edge.
The building is 49 floors (150 m) high with 600 apartments. In addition to them, three triangular buildings with offices, cafes and shops will be built in the spaces between and under the interchange lanes. Courtyards and pedestrian alleys will be arranged between them. Some of them will be under an overpass, which will create a convenient solution for the harsh Canadian climate: these public spaces will be almost all-season.
The roofs of these low-rise buildings will be landscaped to spice up the top-down views from both Beach and Howe and adjacent residential towers.
N. F.
