Büro Ole Scheeren has just unveiled the brand new designs for residential twin towers in Vancouver, Canada. The towers’ designs promote social cohesiveness in a dense urban context.
Named Barclay Village, the twin towers will be situated amongst Vancouver’s vibrant West End. Drawing inspiration from the surrounding urban environments, which were once two historic horizontal villages, the two vertical villages will seamlessly integrate with the local bustling neighbourhood. The mixed-use developments integrate residences with public amenities, communal spaces and a network of green areas that extend to the building’s top floors.
Image Courtesy of Büro Ole Scheeren.
The buildings were commissioned by Bosa and Kingswood Properties, who mainly focus on integrating social housing, market rental and condominiums for sale in a residential complex that goes beyond the stratified apartment block and instead focuses on offering a multitude of shared spaces for ease of social interaction. Other various amenities include a gym, retail and recreational facilities, as well as a daycare centre on the upper levels, which extends to the courtyard.
“Whereas tower typologies by default reinforce isolation and division, ‘Barclay Village’ proposes a design that becomes an extension of the local neighbourhood and community and that opens up the confines of the tower to reconnect architecture with its natural and social environment,” commented the architect Ole Scheeren.
The intriguing exterior design of the project resembles stacking cubes or various sizes to form two towers with easily-recognisable silhouettes. A multi-layered bridge physically joins the two structures, creating a ‘semi-internal’ courtyard, which is accessible via the street.
“Through the integration of nature on the various terraced spaces of the twin towers, we are extending the typology of the ‘tower in the park’ defined by Vancouver’s West End Plan through the idea of bringing the ‘park into the tower,’” said Mr Scheeren.
