The Salient Group

The Salient Group, Acton Ostry Architects and Donald Luxton & Associates received the Outstanding Achievement award at Heritage BC’s annual ceremony held on September 30, 2011. Handed out for the highest caliber of achievement, the Outstanding Achievement award was given to The Salient Group this year for our contributions to the rehabilitation of the Gastown area.

Every year, Heritage BC presents awards to individuals, organizations, government and businesses for excellence in heritage conservation. We thank Heritage BC for recognizing our efforts. We are pleased with the opening of 21 Doors, and we are proud to contribute to Gastown’s rehabilitation.

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The Alhambra building, at 8 Water Street, was honoured this week as part of the first annual Commercial Building Awards, presented by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.  The Alhambra took home the award for commercial renovation and restoration excellence.  To see the complete list of winners and more details about the awards themselves, see the REBGV’s press release here.

Constructed in 1887, the Alhambra was originally known as Vancouver’s most modern hotel; it’s since housed Vancouver’s first courthouse and jail, stables, restaurants and offices.  The restored building preserves the historic façade, making space for offices and ground-floor retail, and connecting the building to the Gaoler’s Mews Courtyard that runs between Water and Carrall.  More info here.

The adjoined Water Street properties were honoured with the 2010 Lieuntenant-Governor of British Columbia Award in Architecture, and profiled in Architecture BC, the journal of the Architecture Insititute of BC.

One juror’s comment:

“This integrates history, design elements … context, site, and program. What impressed me is how all these elements are integrated while keeping the character of the existing area.”

Congratulations go to Acton Ostry Architects for the honour.

Read the entire issue here: http://www.aibc.ca/member_resources/other_aibc_documents/architecturebc/archBC_awards_2010.pdf

Five Salient Group projects in Gastown have been recognized, as a group, with a 2010 SAB Canadian Green Building Award.  They are Alhambra, Garage, Cordage, Grand, and Terminus.  From the article:

Jury comments: The rehabilitation of existing heritage buildings is always welcomed, and the additional new multi-storey infill construction of this project happily maintains the historic Gastown facade of Vancouver. The new construction is of high quality that does not mimic but rather complements the older buildings. The small, exquisite interior spaces, only three metres wide, feel larger, and the design makes effective use of natural light and thermal mass, geothermal heating, high-efficiency heat pumps, and salvaged building materials.

Architect for all five projects was Acton Ostry; many more interesting details of the projects, and photos, are at the SAB Magazine website.

Image Credit: Stonework on Facade of Flack Block by Renewal Partners, on Flickr

The conservation and rehabilitation of the Flack Block has received a 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award from Heritage BC.  For a complete description of the project, visit the awards page at Heritage BC.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in downtown Vancouver.

For the second consecutive year, Vancouver has been chosen as the “most liveable city in the world”, placing just ahead of Vienna. This is hot on the heels of Vancouver ranking amongst Fast Company’s list of “most innovative cities” last week.

From The Economists website:
“Vancouver is still the most liveable city in the world, according to a new ranking from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Canadian city topped a “liveability survey” of 140 cities, as it did in 2008.

The ranking scores each city from 0-100 on 30 factors spread across five areas: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Vancouver’s average score was 98—0.8 less than last year—but the margins at the top are all tight, with the best ten cities scoring over 96.

Vienna came second (it was top in Mercer’s similar recent study) and Melbourne third. The top ten included three Canadian cities, three Australian ones and four from Europe. High-scoring cities tend to be mid-sized and located in developed countries with a low population density. This means they can benefit from the availability of both cultural and recreational attractions, but with lower crime levels and fewer infrastructure problems than are often found among large populations.

Pittsburgh, in 29th place, was judged the most liveable American city. London and New York were 51st and 56th respectively. Harare brings up the rear, scoring 37.5 points.”

You can read the original story on The Economist’s website, and can see some of the 2008 story here.

The City of Vancouver Heritage Commission has awarded four of the Salient Group’s developments for building rehabilitation as follows:

The Flack Block, 163 West Hastings Street, an Award of Honour for structural, seismic and building systems upgrading, sustainable interiors, locally crafted stone façade components, reinstated areaways, extensive exterior restoration, and a compatible contemporary rooftop addition.

The Bowman Block, 528 Beatty Street, as Award of Merit for the mindful, restrained exterior preservation, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse to commercial and residential, including a compatible contemporary loft addition.

The Paris Block, 53 West Hastings Street, an Award or Recognition for its rescue, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse, and for the social and economic benefit the project provides to the downtown neighbourhood.

The Lumbermen’s Building, 509 Richards Street, an Award of Recognition for its rehabilitation and structural upgrade, including exposing the original banking hall ceiling, and providing high quality ground floor use and office space.

>> See the complete list of our awards on the Awards page.