So far, Vancouver hasn't had the same scale of urban development that's common in several other cities. The
buildings, roads, trains & bridges are half the size of many of the big cities.
Vancouver#Incorporation 1886
Vancouverism :
Urban_planning
Vancouver hasn't entered the big leagues of tall
buildings. By Canadian standards, BC buildings
aren't allowed to be
as tall
as what many other places permit.
{http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2011/05/vancouver-fantasy-skyline/}
The
tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver are among the smaller big buildings of the world.
Seattle,
Toronto &
LA all have an office tower over 70 stories. No office building in Vancouver has been permitted to reach 40 stories, around 500 feet (152.5 m) as of yet. No residential building or any other Vancouver structure is expected to reach
7oo feet (213.5 m) in the near future. The big money of the world hasn't been that interested in Vancouver, but perhaps some year, Vancouver might have an office tower as tall as the 748'
MLC_Centre in
Sydney. However, this would only happen if the big money really wants to change the height limitations, as was the case
for LA
and Sydney.
No Vancouver building makes it onto the first
page. The 1st & 2nd tallest make it onto
the 2nd
page.
Australia, Asaia, Europe & the Americas have so many office towers over 40 stories. It remains part of Vancouver's urban character to not have an office level reaching to or above a 40th floor.
The RBC was
the first office building in Vancouver to have more than 35 floors & reach at least 460 feet. The windows go up to 36 & there are 3
more levels above the 36th. Altogether it rises
39 floors above the street.
The 1914 LCS & the 1973 RBC It took almost 60 years for Vancouver's planning department to allow something on the scale of the 37 story, 1914 Smith Tower is 141 m (463 ft). So the top floor window is at level
39 & there is the equivalent of 3 more levels above that.
While this little white building has become a stump in Seattle, it would still be the tallest office tower in Vancouver.
The RBC is around the same height as
the LCS & when it opened in 1973 it was Vancouver's tallest building.