Vancouver's new tallest office tower, and Canada's greenest, officially opens

The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Construction officially reached completion on The Stack in late 2022, and an official opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony was held today.

Located mid-block at 1133 Melville Street, just west of Thurlow Street within downtown Vancouver’s Central Business District, this is now Metro Vancouver’s tallest office building, with a height of 530 ft containing 37 storeys.

The Stack is also one of the region’s single largest office buildings, carrying a total floor area of 550,000 sq ft of premium AAA-calibre office space.

Ernst & Young (EY) is the building’s anchor tenant, with its corporate logo sign installed at the top of the tower to signify its major presence. Other tenants include BDC, Blakes, DLA Piper, Canacoord Genuit, Fluor, and Plenty of Fish.

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Most of the building’s leasing was secured over the past year, which provides an example of the trend of companies shifting from older, lower quality buildings to new high-quality buildings with a range of amenities, especially with workplace wellness and quality being a key consideration in the post-pandemic strategy for attracting employees back to the office.

“We’re not quite complete in terms of leasing, but I like our odds, and I think reflecting on this building today, you’d agree,” said Blake Hutcheson, president and CEO of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), during the event. OMERS’ real estate investments are managed by its wholly owned development division, Oxford Properties.

Today's ribbon cutting to officially celebrate The Stack's opening, with building architect James Cheng in the middle. 4/4https://t.co/KFRbEpuOxI pic.twitter.com/o24CjNXnEW

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) September 13, 2023

the stack office tower 1133 melville street vancouver

Exterior of The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

the stack office tower vancouver 1133 melville street

Exterior of The Stack office tower. (Oxford Properties)

Hutcheson, who was previously the head of Oxford, recalled flying to Vancouver in 2010 to consider the acquisition of the potential future development site at 1133 Melville Street, which was at the time occupied by an old 10-storey building with a parkade in the bottom half of the structure and 50,000 sq ft of office space in the upper levels. This previous building, he says, was “the ugliest building in Western Canada.” The Stack is now co-owned by Oxford and CPP Investments.

Construction on The Stack first began in 2018, and its previously scheduled completion by early 2022 was delayed due to the pandemic.

About 3,000 people were involved in the design, planning, and construction processes, and the resulting product has the floor area capacity to provide a workspace for up to 3,000 people.

“We are incredibly grateful for your investment, and your buoyancy and excitement with being part of Vancouver. We want your investment, and we welcome your investment,” said Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung today.

“Prioritizing our economy is the mechanism for providing good quality jobs, supporting innovation, and lifting up the opportunities of Vancouverites.”

Previous condition:

1133 melville street vancouver demolished

The previous parkade and office building at 1133 Melville Street, Vancouver, in 2011. (Google Maps)

Current condition:

Exterior of The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The Stack is designed by renowned Vancouver architect James Cheng, with contributions by Adamson Associates Architects. Ledcor was the construction contractor.

Cheng conceived the design as a stack of varying sized boxes, with slight twists and different volume sizes for each box, which enables the creation of numerous outdoor amenity decks.

“Which one is my favourite building? I can honestly say this is it. It is the most responsive building that I have ever done. It is responsive to the environment, the city, the users, and the construction and everything,” said Cheng during the event.

“You cannot transplant this building to any other place. This building is designed for the Vancouver climate, Vancouver view, and Vancouver people, and we take into account of our neighbours.”

The building has operable windows for natural ventilation, several outdoor terraces, and a landscaped park space on the east side of the property, which doubles as a mid-block pedestrian connection and features a public art installation by Indigenous artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun.

Mid-block pedestrian pathway and park space at The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Public art sculpture within the mid-block pedestrian pathway and park space at The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Mid-block pedestrian pathway and park space at The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Exterior of The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Building users have access to a 5,000 sq ft fitness centre on the main level, 250 secured bike parking stalls, and a health-club quality end-of-trip facilities.

On the tower rooftop, a 6,000 sq ft outdoor terrace — defined by its unobstructed panoramic views of Burrard Inlet, Stanley Park, the city, the mountains, and the wider region — is accessible to all tenants.

This rooftop space will be temporarily closed soon to complete its final furnished design with furniture, planters, a bar, and other features to optimize its uses as an amenity space for entertaining employees and hosting corporate events.

On the ground level, a 5,000 sq ft restaurant space to bring life to the building’s Melville Street streetscape will be occupied by a new expansion location for the Nook restaurant chain.

Existing tower rooftop condition:

Walking around the edge of The Stack's rooftop outdoor terrace. It's amongst the tallest buildings in downtown, so with that comes fantastic views. 2/4https://t.co/KFRbEpuOxI pic.twitter.com/IwCa9bn0d5

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) September 13, 2023

the stack office tower 1133 melville street vancouver

Views from the rooftop of The Stack office tower. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Future tower rooftop condition:

Artistic rendering of the future furnished rooftop terrace of The Stack office tower. (Oxford Properties | Daily Hive photo)

In addition to the size superlatives, The Stack is also Canada’s greenest high-rise commercial building, as it is the first office tower to attain Canada Green Building Council’s (CAGBC) Zero Carbon Building design standard certification, and the first high-rise office tower in North America built to zero-carbon standards.

This project was one of two towers in Canada to be a part of CAGBC’s net-zero carbon pilot project. Additionally, it is built to LEED Platinum green building standards.

Its specific green design features include a high-performance triple-pane glazing window system, the use of smart building technology to oversee and optimize energy use and building systems performance, a rooftop solar panel array generating 26,000 kWh of electricity annually, and a rainwater collection system for non-potable water uses, such as for toilet flushing.

“Our goal was to set a new standard for sustainability, design, and wellness, and we believe we’ve done that. As customers have moved into the building, it has been rewarding to hear the positive feedback,” said Ted Mildon, vice president of office leasing and operations at Oxford Properties.