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In the nearly four months since we last visited the frenetic construction site for Boffo Developments' The Smithe, workers have continued to unearth the former home of the Art Works Gallery, and are now close to bottoming out. The deep excavation is necessary to make room for the underground parking garage, which will soon be taking shape beneath the intersection of Cambie and Smithe streets. By the end of February, crews had reached the halfway point of excavation.
The 27-storey addition won't be an aberration in tower-filled Yaletown, but its internal programming will be. Like most of its neighbours, the tower will contain dozens of residential units, 94 two- and three-bedroom units starting from 1,000 square feet to be precise.
But a large podium will also bring commercial office and retail space to the property, with multi-storey columns supporting the tower from a carved-out portion of the volume, where a 4,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor amenities deck is planned.
Residents taking occupancy in 2020 will find a preserved piece of the site's history integrated in the common area's furnishings. During the deconstruction of the old building, demolition crews salvaged the wooden beams that spanned across the ceilings of the structure. The 70 fir timbers were then sent to Western Reclaimed Timbers in the Fraser Valley for sorting, cleaning, and trimming so that they could be repurposed. Boffo selected six of the reclaimed timbers for incorporation into the building.
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