One Wall Centre

Vancouver B.C. ● Commercial

An elegant residential hotel tower located at the south edge of Vancouver’s business district, the 450’ tall One Wall Centre is one of Vancouver’s tallest buildings. The 48 storey structure comprises a 733-room Sheraton Hotel on the lower floors and luxury residences on the upper floors, a curvilinear low-rise podium with commercial and retail space and a central landscaped plaza connecting the slender hotel tower to the existing buildings.

Designed as one of the city’s signature buildings, the translucent, elliptical tower is a bold and exciting architectural statement that required innovative engineering.

Despite its impressive height, One Wall Center was designed to have a minimal impact on Vancouver’s skyline. The resulting 7:1 height-to-width ratio created unique structural engineering challenges requiring innovative solutions to satisfy wind and seismic design requirements. The tower uses an unusual outrigger system consisting of four floors of six-foot-deep concrete beams that connect the central elevator and stair cores to exterior columns, spreading the axial load of the building out to the columns. With this ‘tuned liquid column damper’ and two rooftop 50,000 gallon water tanks – intended to counter any lateral movements in the tower – the structure is designed to withstand a once-in-a-100-year windstorm. The rooftop water can also supplement the tower’s sprinkler system if a fire gets out of control.

One Wall Centre is a landmark building that has been described as the most sophisticated high-rise in the city.