The digging of a big pit for an underground parkade at what will be B次元官网网址B次元官网网址 tallest building was unprecedented in the cityB次元官网网址 construction history.
Given what happened, it may be the first and only time such an unusual approach is taken.
Ground-shifting caused by the massive excavation at 550 Doyle Ave is believed to have caused cracks throughout nearby buildings, making three of them unsafe to occupy. Two have been demolished and developmentally-challenged residents of a six-storey apartment complex still cannot return home while repairs are made to their building.
The problems at UBC OkanaganB次元官网网址 so-called 鈥榲ertical campus鈥, which will rise 43 storeys to be the tallest building between Calgary and Vancouver, have raised questions about construction methods and the cityB次元官网网址 building approval and oversight processes and, in some quarters at least, prompted a re-think about the desirability of such high towers in downtown B次元官网网址.
At yearB次元官网网址 end, UBC Okanagan has not produced an update on the project in more than five months since it announced in early July that it was giving $12,000 compensation to help dozens of dislocated residents of the Hadgraft Wilson Place apartment building.
鈥淭he lives of this group have been enormously impacted by the evacuation of their homes and the uncertainty that followed,鈥 UBCO principal Lesley McCormack said at the time.
It is unknown how the site problems have impacted the construction timetable for the downtown campus project, which was announced with great fanfare in June 2020. The building will be the universityB次元官网网址 first sizable presence in B次元官网网址 outside the main campus, located at the far north end of the city.
鈥淪ince our creation in 2005, we have grown from 3,000 students to over 11,000 today and we expect our community to continue its development, reaching a population of over 20,000 by 2040,鈥 Deborah Buszard, then the universityB次元官网网址 principal, said at the time.
鈥淲ith this kind of expanded presence over the coming years, it only makes sense that we would create community-facing academic space in the heart of B次元官网网址, in close proximity to many of our community partners working in health, tech, business, and arts and culture,鈥 she said.
Cracks in that lofty vision started literally to appear in April of this year.
A building directly across Doyle Avenue was declared unsafe to occupy due to observable cracks, as was the B次元官网网址 branch of the Royal Canadian Legion across an alley, and the 68-suite Hadgraft-Wilson apartment building, which had opened only a few months earlier, was hurriedly evacuated on Easter Sunday.
鈥淪ome people have been crying pretty much straight since we found out we have to be evacuated,鈥 resident Dale Ramsden told The B次元官网网址 Courier. 鈥淢ost of us, we鈥檙e handicapped. It makes things hard.鈥
Another resident gave a startling account of the damage that suddenly appeared in the building. 鈥淭here are cracks going up from the windowsills to the ceiling, and across the ceiling. The walls are splitting on the sides, and the flooring looks like itB次元官网网址 separating,鈥 one resident told The B次元官网网址 Courier. 鈥淒own in the parkade, you can see that the cement is lifting.鈥
While the university has never publicly acknowledged that the digging of the massive pit is the cause of the problems at nearby buildings, itB次元官网网址 hard to see what else could possibly have led to the damage.
The design of the UBCO tower is different from other high-rises built in recent years in downtown B次元官网网址. Those other towers have their multi-storey parkades above ground, the otherwise unappealing look of the structures disguised and concealed by a variety of architectural treatments.
But UBCO designed its tower with an underground parkade initially planned to have five levels. Putting it underground would make the base of the tower and its lowest floors usable for classrooms, offices, and research facilities. Above the ninth floor, the tower will consist entirely of apartments, to be used by students, faculty, and members of the general public.
While local officials were gushing about the importance and significance of the UBCO project to downtown B次元官网网址, Coun. Charlie Hodge noted that, in some ways, it was more apartment building than university. He was the only councillor to vote against approving the project in September 2022, after the university reduced the towerB次元官网网址 height from 46 to 43 storeys in response to some public concern it was simply too tall.
After work stopped on the tower earlier this year, a team of experts was brought in to analyze the situation and advise on the best way forward. The depth of the excavation was reduced, with the big pit partially filled in. As of last week, construction of the building had yet to rise above grade level.
Meanwhile, the situation has prompted at least some to question whether 40-plus storey buildings can or should continue to be built in B次元官网网址. Plans for a 40-storey residential tower immediately north of the UBCO site caused some unease among councillors at a meeting in early October.
鈥淚 think everybody in B次元官网网址, when they heard about this new tower proposal, had this shakiness to them, like, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to try and put another tower in so close to the one thatB次元官网网址 had issues?鈥 said Coun. Rick Webber.
鈥淚 tell you, my comment, Your Worship, is, 鈥楳an, I鈥檝e been hearing it loud and clear, and I think we hear a lot of it, 40 storeys is not something I would welcome,鈥 added Coun. Gord Lovegrove. 鈥淭hereB次元官网网址 a lot of opposition to more towers downtown of this height.鈥
But other councillors noted the 40-storey residential tower by B次元官网网址B次元官网网址 Mission Group will have a traditional above-ground parkade, the kind of which has not caused problems at other downtown sites. Councillors voted 6-3 to approve the 40-storey high-rise, saying it was a good fit with city policies intended to encourage more people to live downtown.
鈥淚t meets our city policies that we鈥檝e developed, without variances,鈥 said Coun. Loyal Wooldridge. 鈥淚tB次元官网网址 really important that we remain consistent with our policies.鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why we wouldn鈥檛 support this,鈥 added Coun. Luke Stack.
But Lovegrove repeated his opposition to such tall buildings in downtown B次元官网网址: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why itB次元官网网址 a race to the top here in B次元官网网址.鈥
