Revised concept slims down new entrance into Oakridge Centre, Canada Line station (RENDERINGS)

Sep 11 2019, 11:01 pm

Redevelopment plans for Oakridge Centre’s prominent northeast corner, where it fronts the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue, have been downsized.

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A revised development application, submitted to the City of Vancouver by local developer Westbank and Henriquez Partners Architects, for this corner gateway parcel of the 28.5-acre shopping mall redevelopment indicates the existing seven-storey office building will be retained and renovated, including seismic upgrades and a new glass curtain-wall skin exterior that replaces the existing brick facade.

Existing Oakridge Centre office building:

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

Existing Oakridge Centre office building at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Google Maps)

Renovation of the existing Oakridge Centre office building:

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

There will still be a staircase entrance to the mall’s new nine-acre rooftop public park, with the skin projecting out over the sidewalk and providing weather protection for the staircase and storefronts at the main entrance.

The previous concept for this parcel was the demolition of the existing building for a brand new purpose-built office and retail podium, with a more well-defined grand staircase leading up to the rooftop park.

Previous concept for Oakridge Centre’s gateway:

Oakridge Centre redevelopment

2018 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment. (Oakridge Centre project team)

New concept for Oakridge Centre’s gateway:

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

Another significant change to the corner’s design is the transit plaza gateway. Several previous concepts showed a drastic, high-ceiling canopy that covered the area of the public plaza and even a portion of the roadway, coupled with a rebuilt and relocated entrance and vertical circulation to the Canada Line’s Oakridge-41st Avenue Station.

But plans for this canopy and plaza, and the accompanying subway station upgrades, have also been drastically downsized.

Instead, there are now plans to construct a smaller, cantilevering canopy — complete with rooftop landscaping, including flowering trees — that only covers a portion of the plaza’s perimeter area.

The canopy is also directly integrated into an upgraded station entrance, which utilizes the existing vertical circulation portal.

New artistic renderings show the existing station entrance roof will be removed, and the existing up escalator and staircase entrance to reach the station concourse level will be replaced with at least three new escalators to provide greater capacity.

Previous concepts for new plaza and Oakridge-41st Avenue Station upgrades:

Oakridge Centre rendering old

Artistic rendering of a previous early design of the Canada Line’s new Oakridge-41st Avenue Station entrance plaza. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Oakridge-41st Avenue Station Vancouver Oakridge Centre

Model of the late-2018 design of the Canada Line’s new Oakridge-41st Avenue Station entrance plaza. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Oakridge-41st Avenue Station Vancouver Oakridge Centre

Artistic rendering of the late-2018 design of the Canada Line’s new Oakridge-41st Avenue Station entrance plaza. (Oakridge Centre project team)

New 2019 concept:

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

As for the main entrance into the shopping mall, the revised design “blurs the boundary between interior and exterior urban experience by establishing exterior retail storefronts that extend into the mall entry.”

“Typical of suburban malls, the current Oakridge mall establishes a clear delineation between the interior retail and the surrounding context. By eliminating the entry facing the Transit Plaza and relocating it further inside of the mall, the plaza is activated by the exterior retail.”

Oakridge Centre Vancouver

September 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment at the intersection of Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue. (Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank / QuadReal)

But as originally planned, some minor exterior upgrades will also be made to the adjacent Terraces Building, the brick residential building that provides the plaza with its southern perimeter and is adjacent to the mall’s main entrance.

Several parcels of the multi-phased redevelopment are going through the development application process, including the northwest corner parcel where a social housing building and community centre are slated.

When all phases are complete in 2027, Oakridge Centre will boast over 4.5 million-sq-ft of new floor area. Approximately 6,000 vehicle parking stalls within underground levels are planned.

The mall’s retail space will be nearly doubled to about one million-sq-ft, and approximately 290,000-sq-ft of office space will be built within the lower podium levels — reaching a height of up to 42 storeys.

one-of-a-kind, 100,000-sq-ft food hall includes 20 food kiosks and a 32,000-sq-ft brew pub. Altogether, the indoor spaces can accommodate 2,600 people, while the outdoor patio that opens to the rooftop park can fit a further 800 people.

Oakridge Centre Vancouver Westbank

February 2019 artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment. (Oakridge Centre project team)

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Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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