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 1886The 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.
The World_Tower at 230 m (750 ft) is the tallest residential building in Sydney & remains as one of Australia's tallest.
No Vancouver building makes it onto the first 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.
Although the Houston_City_Hall is of a similar shape to the Vancouver_City_Hall, Houston really started to think big & tall ever since the 1960s. BC only has 1 building taller than the 630 ft (190 m) BG_Group_Place. 1700_Pacific in Dallas would be the tallest office tower if it were in BC. Although Bankers_Hall was never quite the tallest in Alberta it still would be if it were in BC.
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 RBC is about as tall as 650_California_Street: 34 story, 142 m, (466 feet) However, what would still be a tower in Vancouver is almost a stump in SF. 650 California Street opened in 1964 & 5 years later was the B of A tower, or 555 California_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).
The main section has 35 floors, but there is a hidden level below & also above the 35th floor. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=image&id=504517
The floors with windows total 37 which is really at the 39th level, but the overall building is still equivalent to 42 levels. That's because the original owner wanted to credit even the windowless floors. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=image&id=334689
So the top floor window is at level 39 & there is the equivalent of 3 more levels above that.
This is the 42nd floor but some of them simply have no windows. http://www.smithtower.com/Facts.html
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.
Calgary, like Seattle, is not subject to the building limitations of Vancouver. The Pacific_Northwest & Western_Canada continue to develop differently than BC.
The shorter building of Seattle's Union_Square would be among Vancouver's largest office buildings. This is the same case with Calgary's Suncor_Energy_Centre.
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