Fab 40: Vancouver Winter Olympics

By
last updated
in Features

Vancouver’s Olympic architectural legacy is less about starchitects and iconic buildings than about the very Canadian values of community consultation and environmental sensitivity - with locally harvested softwood getting top billing.

Cannon Design’s speed skating Oval, with its unique undulating wooden paneled roof – one of the longest clear spans in North America - wins points for reusing wood salvaged after a voracious pine beetle infestation destroyed half of British Columbia's pine forests.

The Olympic Park Day Lodge, by Merrick Architects, combines cutting edge green design and stunning views of the surrounding Callaghan Valley. At its centre, Glulam beams follow the upward tilt of the roof, engaging with the coastal mountain range and offering a cathedral like sense of spaciousness and majesty.

At the core of the Walter Francl-designed Trout Lake ice rink, is an arch formed from 70-foot Glulam beams and supported by a concrete buttress wall. Geometry in motion, the building almost disappears into the sloped topography. Organic modernism at its best, the curvilinear white clamshell roof echoes the snow-capped mountains.

Finally, the Athlete's Village is home to a community centre designed by the late Arthur Erickson - destined to eventually become a new mixed-use neighbourhood after the 2010 games - along with a 1.2 million square foot waterfront convention centre and the stylish new Hillcrest curling and Kilarney ice rinks. Olympic architouring looks set to be a key event.



www.vancouver2010.com

The Bombardier Learjet

The Bombardier Learjet

(Image credit: TBC)

Interior of the Learjet

Read the article: Bombardier Learjet

Interior of the Learjet

(Image credit: TBC)

The Bombardier Learjet

The Bombardier Learjet

(Image credit: TBC)

The Staircase House by Cindy Rendely, Toronto

Read the article: Cindy Rendely

The Staircase House

(Image credit: TBC)

House exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

The Staircase

(Image credit: TBC)

The Staircase House

(Image credit: TBC)

The Staircase House exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant, Vancouver

Read the article: Coast restaurant

Coast restaurant, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Dinning area of Coast restaurant, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Dinning room

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant, Vancouver dinning room

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Coast restaurant, Vancouver dinning table

(Image credit: TBC)

Dinning table Coast restaurant, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Dinning room

(Image credit: TBC)

Supernova by Douglas Coupland

Read the article: Douglas Coupland's art

Supernova by Douglas Coupland

(Image credit: TBC)

Talking sticks by Douglas Coupland

Talking sticks

(Image credit: TBC)

Penguin Pretty Vacant by Douglas Coupland

Penguin Pretty Vacant

(Image credit: TBC)

Coyote by Douglas Coupland

Coyote by Douglas Coupland

(Image credit: TBC)

Patricide by Douglas Coupland

Patricide

(Image credit: TBC)

Penguin Cumshot by Douglas Coupland

Penguin Cumshot

(Image credit: TBC)

Penguin Clash by Douglas Coupland

Penguin Clash

(Image credit: TBC)

Matricide Silver Skate by Douglas Coupland

Matricide Silver Skate

(Image credit: TBC)

Matricide Beer by Douglas Coupland

Matricide Beer

(Image credit: TBC)

Drip Maple Syrup

Read the article: Drip Maple Syrup

Drip Maple Syrup

(Image credit: TBC)

Drip Maple Syrup

(Image credit: TBC)

Form & Forest by D'Arcy Jones Design

Read the article: Form & Forest

Form & Forest

(Image credit: TBC)

Form & Forest

(Image credit: TBC)

Form & Forest by D'Arcy Jones Design

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior view

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior view

(Image credit: TBC)

Form & Forest by D'Arcy Jones Design

(Image credit: TBC)

The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver

Read the article: Keefer Hotel

The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver bedroom

(Image credit: TBC)

The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Flower vase and black sofa

(Image credit: TBC)

Pool view of The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

The Keefer Hotel, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Laneway House, Toronto, by Kohn Shnier architects

Read the article: Kohn Shnier, Toronto

Laneway House

(Image credit: TBC)

Laneway House, Toronto

(Image credit: TBC)

Laneway House exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Laneway House, Toronto

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic Oval by Cannon Design

Read the article: Vancouver Winter Olympic architecture

Richmond Olympic Oval

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic Oval by Cannon Design

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic Oval

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic Oval by Cannon Design

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic

(Image credit: TBC)

Skating area

(Image credit: TBC)

Staircase

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior view

(Image credit: TBC)

Richmond Olympic Oval exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior view of Richmond Olympic Oval

(Image credit: TBC)

Territory table and chairs by Samare Design, Montreal

Read the article: Samare design, Montreal

Territory table and chairs

(Image credit: TBC)

Territory lounger by Samare design

Territory lounger

(Image credit: TBC)

Territory desk and chair by Samare design

Territory desk and chair

(Image credit: TBC)

R-Mountie bench and throw by Samare design

R-Mountie bench and throw

(Image credit: TBC)

Still House by Level Design, Vancouver

Read the article: Level Design, Vancouver

Still House

(Image credit: TBC)

Still House exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Still House exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Still House by Level Design, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Sunset Cabin by Taylor_Smyth Architects, Toronto

Read the article: Taylor_Smyth Architects, Toronto

Sunset Cabin

(Image credit: TBC)

Sunset Cabin

(Image credit: TBC)

Sunset Cabin by Taylor_Smyth Architects, Toronto

(Image credit: TBC)

Sunset Cabin exterior

(Image credit: TBC)

Exterior view of Sunset Cabin

(Image credit: TBC)

Sunset Cabin interior

(Image credit: TBC)

40R_Laneway House by Süperkul, Toronto

Read the article: Süperkul, Toronto

Laneway House

(Image credit: TBC)

SHIFT Cottage

(Image credit: TBC)

SHIFT Cottage by Süperkul

The Trans Canada Trail

Read the article: Trans Canada trail

The Trans Canada Trail

(Image credit: TBC)

The Trans Canada Trail

(Image credit: TBC)

Nylon Haneda by WANT luggage

WANT luggage, Montreal

Nylon Haneda

(Image credit: TBC)

Newberry White by WANT luggage

Newberry White

(Image credit: TBC)

Nylon Haneda by WANT luggage

Nylon Haneda by WANT luggage

(Image credit: TBC)

Dumont black by WANT luggage

Dumont black by WANT luggage

(Image credit: TBC)

Carl Phare's wooden rollercoaster, designed in 1958, Vancouver

Read the article: Wooden rollercoaster

Carl Phare's wooden rollercoaster, designed in 1958, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Carl Phare's wooden rollercoaster, Vancouver

(Image credit: TBC)

Fashion by Ying Gao, Montreal

Read the article: Ying Gao, Montreal

Fashion by Ying Gao

(Image credit: TBC)

Fashion by Ying Gao, Montreal

(Image credit: TBC)

Fashion by Ying Gao, Montreal

(Image credit: TBC)
Ellie Stathaki

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).

Latest
You might also like
View More ▸