“They are iconic buildings — and that term ‘iconic buildings’ is sometimes overstated,” he says of the Gehry towers. “But they’ve been designed in a way that responds to the fact they are special buildings on the skyline. And there’s a contribution made to the identity of the city and the structure of the skyline.
Of the unique challenges and their ingenious solutions, Smith says: “I may be a little bit too much of an architectural geek, but I think it’s brilliant.”Community acceptance isn’t as hard as you might assume. Supertalls spring up in areas around other tall towers, Smith points out, so it’s not necessarily a shock to the locals.
“I think if you spend any time listening to Community Council, you’d hear the same concerns about six-storey buildings,” she says. “That development is sort of defining — or creating — an urban area down there. Most of it was surface parking,” Smith says. “And so that’s been an interesting project — architecture, again, has been a big part of it, and community services and facilities that are being provided as part of that project are a big, big part of it. And that all sort of works together with