GESAMTKUNSTWERK

Westbank has built a practice around long-term commitments to artistry, sustainability and city-building. These commitments underlie an orientation towards projects like Woodwards, Vancouver House, Mirvish Village, Telus Garden and Oakridge – catalysts for larger change that go beyond the borders of the projects themselves. We are here to create. To provoke. To ignite. We are the vehicle for a new movement of cultural expression.

As the practice matures, we have become more ambitious. With every new project reflecting our commitment to the philosophy behind Gesamkunstwerk, or in our recent work the Japanese philosophy behind layering, the net effect is that our work becomes much more complex and far-reaching.

The core of Westbank’s mission is to create a body of work with a high degree of artistry that helps foster more equitable and beautiful cities. Westbank is active across Canada and in the United States, with projects including luxury residential, Five Star hotels, retail, office, rental, district energy systems, affordable housing initiatives and public art. Established in 1992, we are one of North America’s leading developers, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and over 25 billion dollars of projects completed or under development.

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Philosophy
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November 20, 2015

Vancouver’s Most Visible Grand Piano

TELUS Garden, part of the million square foot, mixed-use TELUS Garden development is not your run of the mill office tower. In every way it has been designed to inspire the workforce that inhabits its walls, from advanced environmental sustainability features (it is Vancouver’s first LEED Platinum office tower), to leading communications technology befitting a building that bears the TELUS name.

The office tower features a custom grand piano intended for music events and performances in the lobby and plaza.

Westbank commissioned Gregory Henriquez to design TELUS Garden and a one of a kind Fazioli piano to be a centre piece for the office lobby. An unusual feature for an office building, the piano enlivens the public realm inside and out and adds to the urban theatre in the heart of downtown Vancouver. Probably now one of the city’s most visible pianos, it can be clearly seen by the 80,000 daily passersby on West Georgia – between Seymour and Richards.

Gregory drew inspiration for the design from the design of the office building. Rather than opting for traditional black, Gregory chose a natural wood finish, echoing the dramatic, sculptural glulam beams of the expansive plaza canopy. The legs supporting the piano mimic the distinctive V-shaped concrete structural supports that are an integral part of the tower’s design. And in a nod to the high-tech features of TELUS Garden office, the inside panel of the lid will be mirrored, providing viewers with a clear view of Fazioli’s expert craftsmanship.

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