[vanman]

^ Agreed Senakw is too towers in the park. From a recent Globe and Mail article:

Senakw will also be quite literally connected to the earth. Mr. Kokalov, who now leads the firm that was formerly Bing Thom Architects, uses a provocative phrase to describe the scheme: “Towers in the park.” Usually that refers to a modernist trope of tall towers, surrounded by light and air, in a sea of green space. This idea rarely worked well in North America. The contemporary consensus in urban design, particularly in downtown Vancouver, is the opposite: Buildings should present a clear, consistent face to public streets.

The latter is generally a valid approach, but it has its limits. How would it work on a site like this, with oblong fingers stretching in three directions and a bridge overhead? In normal practice this site – if it was developed at all – would have a handful of buildings that are short and squat. Such is the case with a planned development by Concord, next door on the old Molson brewery site.

The Squamish have a different view, Khelsilem said. The Senakw buildings will cover only 10 per cent of the site. And the outdoor spaces around them “will be accessible by the residents and also by the general public,” he said.

Meanwhile stores, restaurants and the bike garage – reached by long, shallow ramps – will sit one level below ground. (Cars, very few of them, will get the next level down.) A series of courtyards will connect the first basement level to the open air and green space above.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...nable-village/