Vancouver Convention Centre

The new Vancouver Convention Centre engages the urban ecosystem in the capital of Canada. In fact, this was the stated goal of the expansion project to “bring urban ecology into the downtown core” as well as serving for the XXI Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games in 2010.

Designed by LMN Architects and Musson Cattel Mackey in partnership with Downs / Archambault, the building was completed in April 2009. The convention center program emphasizes spaces for both public and private events. It was also designed in an architectural approach to create a public experience that is simultaneously a building, an urban place, a park, and an ecosystem. Indeed, the building’s landforms fold in specific ways to embrace the downtown street grid and preserve view corridors out to the water.

The Canada Green Building Council gave the Vancouver Convention Centre the LEED Platinum certification. The projects has received many over sustainable prices and was the first convention center in the world to receive this highest level of LEED certification. In fact, originally, they went for LEED Gold, but won Platinum. 

Moreover, with this new infrastructure, the City of Vancouver passed an initiative to become the “greenest city in the world” by 2020, releasing a 10-part action plan addressing carbon, waste, and ecosystems.

The designer wanted to avoid the use of a metal vertical structure to strengthen the façade. The entire perimeter enclosure of this expansion is an ultra-clear glass system, visually reinforcing the integration of urban and waterfront context into the user experience of the building. Hence, the use of 19mm SGG SECURIT®-H safety glass stabilizers allowed reinforcing the glazing and bringing design, aesthetic and optimum safety to the facade.

Thanks to the use of extra-clear SGG DIAMANT, the occupants can enjoy the natural light of the surroundings. These glass units were combined with high performance coatings that have solar control properties. About 14,000 m² of this high performance thermal insulating glass were manufactured by Glassolutions Austria. 

This project is a good example towards sustainable habitat. It shows us that using the right materials, and especially the right glass for a building’s facade, is a way to combine both functional and sustainable design.