What Makes It Green? Vancouver Convention Centre West

The design of the new Vancouver Convention Centre West presented an opportunity to fully engage the urban ecosystem at the interface between a vibrant downtown core and one of the most spectacular natural ecosystems in North America. Certified LEED® Canada Platinum, the project weaves together architecture, interior architecture, urban design, infrastructure, and public life in a unified whole that functions literally as an ecologically integrated system at the intersection of the city and the harbor. Vancouver Convention Centre West received a 2011 Top 10 Award from the AIA National Committee on the Environment.
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What Makes It Green?

Ecological Context
The site is located in Coal Harbour, which is part of the Burrard Inlet that forms Vancouver’s central marine waterway. Coal Harbour is also in recent years the name of the neighborhood adjacent to its southern shoreline, which was redeveloped into an upscale high-rise condominium district in the early 1990s. In recent years prior to the project outset, the site was a brownfield with extensive contamination left over from its history of industrial uses and adjacent train yard activities. Its downtown location is central to the commerce of the city, traditionally serving as a marina and float plane dock at the terminus of Burrard Street, a main downtown thoroughfare. Connecting to the existing harbor greenbelt, it continues the public promenade and bike trail across the site, completing an important link in the city's park system.
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The downtown location is central to the commerce of the city.

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