Not a Tower -V2
The Vertical Symbiosis: Vancouver Data-Office Tower, Where Digital Infrastructure Warms the Human Experience
Status: Conceptual Design
Project: Urban Data-Office Hybrid
Location: Vancouver, BC
The Not a Tower project by BHZA proposes a new urban typology for 2045 that integrates data centers, media production, and office environments within a single vertical infrastructure. Rather than treating the data center as a concealed technical core, the project positions it as essential civic infrastructure embedded within the urban fabric. Waste heat generated by the data center is recovered and redistributed through integrated heat-recovery systems and community energy networks, including district steam or heat plants, supplying thermal energy to surrounding residential and mixed-use neighborhoods. The tower therefore operates not as an isolated commercial object but as a shared environmental utility, extending its performance benefits beyond its footprint and redefining high-rise development as energy-positive civic infrastructure.
We are redefining the typology of the urban skyscraper. In an era where digital storage is as essential as physical workspace, the Vancouver Data-Office Tower proposes a new symbiotic architecture. Rather than banishing data centers to the windowless outskirts of the city, this project integrates them vertically into the urban fabric, using their operational byproducts to fuel a human-centric workspace.
This is not just a tower; it is a thermal organism. By stacking high-density data servers in a breathable office environment, we create a closed-loop energy system in which the “waste” heat of the digital world becomes the lifeblood of the physical one.
- Skin & Air follow Function
- The tower operates under the principle that skin and air follow function: the low-carbon high-strength reinforced concrete (HSRC) envelope is not a decorative façade but a thermodynamic and structural mediator shaped directly by program, climate, and mechanical demands. Its thickness varies in response to solar exposure, heat load, and wind pressure, providing thermal mass and environmental buffering for office and communal spaces. Carved voids and integrated louvre systems create shaded transitional zones that pre-condition air, enable mixed-mode ventilation, and align with vertical climate chimneys and heat-recovery systems. The envelope flows according to occupant density, mechanical routing, and performance requirements, so that form emerges from environmental necessity rather than visual expression—resulting in a calm, civic, biocentric high-rise where structure, air, and program are legibly integrated.
- The Design Logic: Solid vs. Void
- The tower’s form is a direct expression of its dual function, articulated through a rigorous material logic of Concrete and Timber.
The Data Strata (Solid): The data center floors are expressed as monolithic, protective volumes encased in high-density concrete. These zones feature advanced, micro-louvered ventilation systems seamlessly embedded into the concrete skin—prioritizing thermal mass, security, and infrastructural performance.
The Office Layers (Void): Contrasting the heavy concrete, the office levels are articulated as permeable, light-filled pavilions. Framed in engineered BC timber and wrapped in high-performance glazing, these floors feature deep wood-shading louvers that filter sunlight and frame views of the city.
- Thermal Symbiosis
- At the heart of the tower is an advanced Heat Recovery System. The substantial thermal energy generated by the server racks is captured and redistributed upwards. Through hydronic floor systems, this reclaimed energy provides radiant heating for the office levels above, drastically reducing the building’s carbon footprint and reliance on external energy sources.
- Biocentric Living
- Rooted in the urban context, the tower breathes. Terraces planted with BC native vegetation spiral up the façade, softening the transition between the technological and the natural. From the street-level retail to the cloud-level workspaces, the design prioritises a connection to nature, light, and local materials.
