Pendrell

Henriquez Partners Architects

Short description

A residential tower inspired by its Westcoast maritime context and the modernism of Vancouver’s 1960s buildings.

A backdrop to the vibrant seawall waterfront, Pendrell contributes critical purpose-built rentals to the West End – one of Vancouver’s most densely populated neighbourhoods.

Similar in scale to buildings from the 1950s-1970s, Pendrell’s design is split into two blocks, animated with traditional West End architectural elements including concrete construction, ribbon windows and landscaped setbacks. A unifying steel frame ties these elements together, recalling cargo ships anchored in the nearby harbour. The frame geometry is further punctuated with wooden-slatted privacy screens.

The development has been designed to reduce impact on private views and minimize shadowing on public open space. View corridors to neighbouring parks are carefully preserved, and the western block shifts visibly to the south, maintaining the northern neighbour’s panoramic English Bay views.

Providing a distinctive frontage and visual extension of public realm, ground-level landscaping includes a distinctive laneway activation to provide beach access and car share to residents. A Japanese Zen Garden reinterprets the traditional West End garden with an Asian influence, complementing the clean, modern aesthetic of the architecture. A public art piece, “Still Standing” by Samuel Roy-Bois, evokes cedar shake cottages that populated the area 100 years ago.

Fulfilling an important social sustainability objective in a rental-heavy, low-vacancy neighbourhood, Pendrell introduces 173 new market rental units with 26 units secured as affordable rentals. The unit mix ranges from studio to three-bedroom apartments; approximately half of all units comprising family-sized, two- or three-bedroom units.

The roof terrace’s shared amenity provides urban agriculture, encouraging food security and reducing the ecological footprint in a social, sustainable space. Pendrell also establishes an innovative district energy node as the primary, sustainable energy source for a new hot water network, designed to grow with demand.