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OCTOBER 2017 | 55 Parq Vancouver RENDERING COURTESY PARQ HOLDINGS Parq Vancouver by STACEY MCLACHLAN D eveloper Parq Holdings may have launched their Parq Vancouver entertainment complex in late September, but before it was even completed, the project – with its striking copper-tone reflective curtain wall, massive scale and innovative use of green space in the heart of the downtown core – was already a design icon in the city of Vancouver. "We wanted to develop a project that was clearly distinctive from an architectural point of view, without being foreign to the unique characteristics of the city of Vancouver and its region," says Maxime Frappier of ACDF, the original design architect f or Parq in a joint venture with A49. "The goal was to incorporate elegant, perennial and sophisticated architecture t hat would echo the unique Vancouver backdrop of valley-chained mountains, green valleys and other emblematic landscapes of the region." Parq is the largest private development in B.C., containing two luxury hotels (JW Marriott Parq Vancouver and the Douglas, an autograph collection hotel), a multitude of restaurants, 13 ballrooms, boardrooms and meeting rooms (including the largest hotel ballroom in the city), a casino and 30,000-square- foot outdoor space with over 200 native pines. Inside, a curated art collection competes with the views through floor-to-ceiling windows . . . all in all, a complex set of program requirements for the architects to consider as they were dreaming up a design directive. A mixed-use building naturally offers up a unique set of challenges: structural components needed to be distinct from each other in response to programatic uses, efficient distribution of electrical and mechanical systems for all the service areas had to be considered, and the vertical circulation pattern needed to be efficient and respectful of the different clientele. But with strong teamwork and communication, this huge task has proved to be surmountable. "We believe that we have been able to create a well-balanced, mixed-use project that allows synergy between the different programmatic components and conceals the many technical constraints related to such a mixed- use project," says Frappier. "All this enables us to offer unique places and a rich variety of atmospheres." Before the design itself could even begin, however, the site itself proved to be problematic. "It was contaminated," explains Bradley Reid, senior project manager for general contractor EllisDon Tishman. "This was the site of some very old industrial activity and the treatment of the contaminated materials posed scheduling issues with the excavation portion of the

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