155m-tall 'head-heavy' twisted building designed to overcome limited space

To overcome the limited space, Vancouver House was designed with a small triangular base, which then twists and expands with height.

The Vancouver House skyscraper by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in Vancouver, Canada, has an impressive design to suit a challenging construction site, New Atlas reported on November 24. The project is located on a very small plot of land in a cramped area with many other buildings, a river and a large bridge.

Vancouver House, with its twisting and expanding design. (Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu)

Strict local planning laws require that buildings below 30m in height must be at least 30m from a bridge. To address this, BIG designed a structure with a very unique shape. The building rises from a small triangular base on the ground, then twists and widens until it reaches a maximum height of 155m . The specially designed steel facade creates balcony and terrace areas, offering great views of the river and mountains.

"Vancouver House is located at the main gateway to Vancouver, specifically where the Granville Bridge splits into three branches as it reaches the city centre. The remaining triangular plots of land were previously undeveloped ," explained a BIG representative.

When Westbank invited BIG to design a residential building for this complex site, they began mapping out the constraints—distance from the street, 100 feet from the bridge, distance from a nearby park that needed light and couldn't be shaded. What was left was a triangular plot of land that was judged 'almost too small to build on.'

"As a result, Vancouver House rises subtly from the ground and gradually expands in height, like a genie emerging from a lamp. What appears to be a surrealist gesture is actually a highly responsive architecture shaped by its surroundings ," said BIG.

The 49-storey building is mostly residential, with 75 units available for purchase and 106 units for rent. The building also has retail space on the lower floors, office space and amenities.