A look inside Vancouver's gutted Canada Post building as redevelopment takes shape
'The Post' development will include historical features from the 1950s building, which fills entire city block
At Hamilton and West Georgia streets, adjacent to the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library and Queen Elizabeth Theatre, sits the skeleton of the former Canada Post building.
This is the future site of "The Post", a development that will house more than one million square feet of office space and more than 185,000 square feet of retail space. It will include two towers, measuring 22 storeys and 21 storeys in height, while maintaining the building's facade.
Other planned amenities for the development include multi-use sports courts and a dog-walking area on the roof decks.
Currently, the building stands as a gutted frame filled with construction workers, who are carefully preserving elements of the 1950s structure, which takes up an entire city block.
The redevelopment project is lead by QuadReal Property Group, a locally based real estate investor and development company.
Construction
The construction site currently has four main sections.
In the centre of the building you can see construction of the circular parking ramp that will lead to parking on the fifth and sixth levels of the building.
Construction crews in the southwest end of the building are currently busy building a bank of 10 elevators.
The northeast side of the building will also hold elevator banks. This side of the building has the largest foundation, which took 100 trucks of concrete, two concrete pumps and more than 12 hours to complete.
The Post will also have an outdoor pavilion on its southwest side along West Georgia Street. Renderings show patio tables near large steps for outdoor seating lined with plants. Currently, the pavilion is a giant hole in the ground filled with mud and construction equipment.
Preserved elements
QuadReal projects that approximately 25,000 tonnes of carbon will be saved by retaining the existing structure.
Preserved elements include the building's central podium, welded-steel frame and original artwork such as the relief sculpture of a postal worker and coat of arms.
Take a 360 tour of the northeast side of the building:
Construction of The Post is scheduled to be completed by fall 2023.