Where: 1077 Cordova.

What: Shaw Tower, a 40-storey office/live work tower on the Vancouver waterfront.

When: Opens 2004.

Who: Consortium led by Westbank Project Inc. of Vancouver.

How much: $150 million.

Designer: James K.M. Cheng Architects Inc.

For a brief period the 146-metre-high Shaw Tower, now nearing completion on Vancouver‘s inner waterfront, will hold the distinction of being the highest building in the city.

It will soon lose its crown to a new 60-storey tower at the corner of Georgia and Thurlow, also being developed by Ian Gillespie of Westbank.

The 40-storey residential-commercial tower is unique in the sense that the first 18 storeys –298,000 square feet — will be taken up 80 per cent by Shaw Cablesystems, which gets its name attached to the distinctive, triangular building that will dominate the waterfront and is perfectly situated next to the new Vancouver Convention Centre.

Construction giant Ledcor will take up another 13 per cent and Westbank seven per cent. The upper floors, designed for those who wish to live where they work, will have views of the waterfront and the city.

The live/work units vary from 780 square feet to 6,000 square feet and cost between $350,000 and $5.5 million

The suites include commercial curtain wall construction — rarely used in residential construction — overheight ceilings, air conditioning and 24-hour concierge service.

Architect James Cheng says the design will be a shimmering tower on the water that will be visible from every direction. The building will also contain a 4,300-foot daycare centre, fitness centre and meeting and community rooms.

The tower holds one other distinction has well. Its foundation slab gobbled up 3,000 cubic metres of concrete, the largest single continuous pour in the city’s construction history.

© The Vancouver Province 2004