The James at Harbour Towers

For more than 40 years, a classic hotel presided quietly over the quaint James Bay neighbourhood, just steps from the sea. Now, this iconic building takes on a new life as a collection of 219 sophisticated rental homes with superb design, hotel-inspired amenities, and plenty of space for connection.

Omicron was engaged to convert Harbour Towers from a 13-storey, 189-room hotel with a 2-storey, 15,000 sq.ft. podium with convention space, office and restaurant to a rental residential building with 219 suites ranging in size from 300 sq.ft. to 1,300 sq.ft. A contemporary build, an L-shaped courtyard has been cut into the podium to create garden style apartments on the two lower floors. The project has 179 off-street parking stalls and 219 bicycle stalls.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS
The total energy consumption of the redeveloped building is roughly 29% lower than the existing building, using IES VE 2019 Energy Modelling software and adhering to the “City of Vancouver Energy Modelling Guidelines.”
The reduction in energy use was largely attributed to greatly improving exterior wall thermal performance by adding interior insulation, designing and implementing efficient systems, increasing roof insulation, installing higher performing windows, and improved lighting efficiency by using LED fixtures.