From inside a glass-plated, cantilevered room hanging above a reception area, Darren Entwistle remarks how he feels like he’s in a tree house.
“Do you know how we built this (room) originally?” the Telus CEO (TSX:T) asks Business in Vancouver at Thursday’s (Sept. 17) grand opening of Telus Garden, the telecom giant’s new 24-storey headquarters at 575 Georgia St. W.
“Popsicle sticks.”
While the popsicle sticks only stuck around during the modelling process, Entwistle said they still gave way to the tree-house feeling people get when walking into the different cantilevered rooms throughout the building.
The new head office is Vancouver’s first tower to be certified under new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum standards.
A project must meet strict limitations on energy, water usage and carbon emissions to receive LEED certification.
For instance, rainwater is collected as it hits Telus Garden and is recycled into the water system to help the toilets flush.
Nearly 300 solar panels sitting at the top of the 500,000-square-foot development will produce about 65,000 kilowatt hours annually.
And building tenants, which include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Capstone Mining (TSX:CS), will have access to 28,000 square feet of outdoor space such as gardens and patios.
Entwistle said the design was meant to evoke a tree house sitting in the middle of a natural environment. Veggies grown in the building’s outdoor gardens will be sold to employees (proceeds will go to charity) while tropical trees and a koi pond dot the landscape in the lobby.
“Isn’t that beautifully transparent? That sort of fusing of public with private,” Entwistle said.
“It was environmental sustainability and it was creativity at work — and it was with popsicle sticks.”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, speaking at the grand opening in a room packed with politicians and Telus employees, said the building represents a “complete package” for the city when it comes to reaching its sustainability goals.
A parking lot and a low-rise building previously sat on the site of the $750-million development prior to ground breaking at Telus Garden.
“Anytime you want to change a city parking lot into a place like this, come see us,” the mayor said.
Telus and Westbank Project Corp. each own a 50 per cent share in the development, while an adjacent 53-storey residential tower is scheduled to finish construction in early 2016.
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