ORMIDALE BLOCK

Ormidale Block is a four storey Edwardian commercial building on the southern edge of Vancouver’s historic Gastown district. The existing building has deteriorated considerably over the years so the primary goal of this project is to rejuvenate the site. The existing façade facing West Hastings Street will be retained and restored to its original heritage value.

Behind the heritage façade, the deteriorated structure will be demolished and replaced with a new, six storey office building. This new building will be a hybrid structure consisting of an innovative wood-concrete composite floor system supported on steel beams and columns. This floor system allows for exposed wood ceilings throughout the office floors, a nod to the heritage aspect of this project, while achieving increased load-carrying capacity and stiffness by compositely connecting the concrete slab to the wood panels.

• Location: Vancouver, BC
• Architect: B+H Architects