Famed architect Bing Thom dead at 75
The man responsible for some of Metro Vancouver’s most iconic buildings has passed away at age 75.
Architect Bing Thom died of an aneurysm Oct. 4 in Hong Kong, where he was born. Thom immigrated to Canada as a child and earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from UBC and a master’s of architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. He worked in the offices of Fumihiko Maki in Tokyo and Arthur Erickson in Vancouver before starting his own firm, Bing Thom Architects, in 1982.
Among Thom’s local projects were the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, the Sunset Community Centre, the Surrey City Centre Library, Central City/ SFU Surrey development and several residential towers.
Mayor Gregor Robertson called Thom one of the city’s most accomplished and treasured architects.
“I will remember Bing for his passion to create beautiful spaces and places that better communities,” Robertson said in a statement. “His belief in architecture as a transformative tool not only for physical spaces, but also social and economic ones can be felt throughout our city, from community gathering spaces, residences and commercial spaces, to stunning masterworks like the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.”
–Naoibh O’Connor, Vancouver Courier
Development eyed for Safeway property at Broadway and Commercial
Efforts to “reimagine” the Safeway site at Broadway and Commercial Drive are underway now that city council has adopted the neighbourhood’s community plan. The plan allows for two 24-storey towers on the Safeway site, 12-storey buildings around the edge, space for a one or two-storey grocery store, small retail, offices and a public plaza.
Property owner Crombie REIT and developer Westbank are hosting what they’ve dubbed a “community social” about the site’s future on Oct. 8 to brainstorm “a new urban typology for the city and for family living.” The Bing Thom architecture firm is also involved in the project.
Dorothy Barkley, chairwoman of the Grandview Woodland Area Council, isn’t optimistic about the prospect of the site being redeveloped. Barkley plans to attend the Oct. 8 event, but fears the impact of such a future development in the East Vancouver neighbourhood will prove disastrous.
“My feeling is that it might look very nice. But I think it will be a disaster and the reason is because that is the busiest intersection for pedestrian traffic and public transit right this minute,” she said, arguing residents who move into expensive condos won’t want to line up in endless queues for transit and will use cars instead. “I can understand the logic. I get on a theoretical level you want transit-oriented development around transit stations, but that presumes there’s enough space on the transit to accommodate that increase in population. And that’s one intersection that can’t handle what it’s got now. So I have no optimism about this.”
No one involved in the upcoming meeting would answer questions about the site or its prospective redevelopment other than to say it would be a conversation with residents first.
The “community social” runs from 11am to 3pm at Federico’s Supper Club, 1728 Commercial on Oct. 8. For more information, visit BroadwayCommercial.ca.
–Naoibh O’Connor, Vancouver Courier
