Athletes centre will become condos
Derrick Penner
Sun
Wednesday night’s Vancouver Regional Construction Association February dinner at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown Hotel in Burnaby was somewhat of a debutante’s ball for the Olympic Athletes Village project.
Roger Bayley, design manager for the development at Merrick Architecture, was the guest speaker. He brought photographs of site models to give the construction industry its first public introduction to the much talked-about, long-pored-over project.
The project’s builder, Millennium Development Group, is about to tender the contract for elevators, followed by the first main construction contracts. All will be let by July 3, Bayley said.
At a time when the industry is stressed by skilled labour shortages and skyrocketing construction costs, Bayley said the event was important to “fire up enthusiasm and get people excited about what we’re doing.”
And not just fired up about the straight business proposition of building a signature venue for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Bayley said the southeast False Creek village will become Millennium Water, a 1,100-unit market and non-market condominium development embodying the City of Vancouver’s long-held desire to create an environmentally sustainable community at southeast False Creek.
“One of my aspirations is to significantly influence the development industry in Vancouver relative to the acceptance of sustainable design and green-building techniques,” Bayley said. “That’s really the thrust that the whole design team has embraced, and Millennium has certainly made a significant contribution to.”
Four main architect groups are designing the project, including Arthur Erickson with collaborator Nick Milkovich, Stuart Lyon at GBL Architects Group Inc., Walter Frankl and Merrick, which will design the main buildings of the Olympic Village as well as coordinating the design team.
The project will be an experiment in guiding cutting-edge environmentally friendly building techniques through the municipal permit process, Bayley said.
“We are pushing at the boundaries of those issues …. Building-code issues and development permit issues and requirements that traditionally have guided development in the city.”
He added that city has been accommodating to date.
Millennium has about 30 months to complete the eight-building, 1,100-unit project.
Construction association president Keith Sashaw said there is little doubt the 120 general contractors, trade contractors and suppliers at the dinner will be keenly interested in participating in the “flagship” project.
Contractors want to take on challenges such as the Olympic Village, Sashaw added, so they can build a reputation in “being on the forefront” of the latest trends. “Given what’s been happening with the whole discussion around the environment, Vancouver is really getting a reputation for sustainable design and construction.”
Maureen Enser, executive director of the Urban Development Institute Pacific, said the whole development community’s eyes are on the Millennium project. She added sustainable design elements are not new, but the Olympic Village will be the first time they are applied “on a grand scale” in a project pushed through the city’s development-approval process.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
