In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our Architrivia.

Amid a sea of homogenous West End apartment and condominium towers, the 17-storey Eugenia Place at 1919 Beach Avenue is an attention grabber, not the least of which because of its protruding helipad-like roof element and tree. Boasting 22 condominiums above a base composed of four-storey granite piers, the property's extensive landscaping program recalls the coastal rainforests that once occupied the site. And the building's formal name — taken from the mother of Caleb Chan, head of developer Burrard Group — has additional sentimental value.

Eugenia Place, image retrieved from Google Street View

Designed by Henriquez Partners Architects — for which the firm won the Governor General's Award for Architecture — the main level of the building symbolizes the more recent history of the site by reflecting the footprints of the four cabins and the 1940s mock-Tudor apartment building that the Eugenia replaced. A pathway transecting the garden follows the course of a corridor in one of the property's former buildings.

By far its most visible embellishment, the 1987-built tower is topped by a 37-foot-tall Pin Oak tree erupting from a cantilevered cauldron. With the tree included, the building's physical silhouette is meant to represent the height of the old growth forest that dominated the landscape before it was cleared for settlement. A marriage between Postmodernism and Vancouverism, the building is sheathed in a sea-green coloured glass and semi-circular bay window that runs along its height. At the base of the tower, a large concrete conical structure tapers to anchor the building and envelop the main entryway. 

The tree atop Eugenia Place, image by Flickr user Ross G. Strachan via Creative Commons

Though the uppermost penthouse has the unique perspective of watching the deciduous tree go through the seasonal cycles, it also has the inconvenient consequence of being the only access point for arborists, who have to carefully negotiate the halls of this pricey pad without damaging the interior with equipment. Should anything happen to the tree, it must be replaced by order of the original building permit.