The ground was broken this past Friday on the city's newest hotel, a hotel Canada's largest chain,
Delta, hopes will redefine the brand.
"It will have no exterior walls," says Delta president and CEO Hank Stackhouse, "it'll all be glass." He says the rooms will all be oversized as well, with most being over 400 square feet. "It will also be highly steeped in technology," he says, saying it will have WiFi "top to bottom," though as for the rest of the technological amenities for guests, "as sure as we're standing here today, technology will be different by 2014," he says, of the projected opening date, so he's loath to go into particulars.
The building will be built to high environmental standards, however, with systems for heat recovery ventilation, low-flow water fixtures, a green roof and an "urban forest" of full-grown deciduous trees on about 10,000 square feet of terrace on the third floor.
The building, built on land once owned by
Fairmont, sold to
BCIMC (British Columbia Investment Management Corporation) and now managed by
GWL Realty Advisors, will be 45 storeys high, with 566 rooms, including 24 extended-stay suites with full kitchens.
The building was designed by Toronto's
Page and Steele/IBI Group; the interiors will be by
Champalimaud Design in New York.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Hank Stackhouse
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