Coming up with an accurate biography of Westbank (@westbankcorp) is challenging. We’re many things, depending on the type of projects that we’re working on, the locations we’re working in and what we are trying to accomplish. We don’t think of ourselves as being a typical real estate enterprise, rather, we are a practice working towards the goal of bringing seemingly disparate elements together, in an attempt to make a meaningful contribution.
Westbank has built a practice around long-term commitments to artistry, sustainability and city-building. These commitments underlie an orientation towards projects like Woodwards, Vancouver House, Mirvish Village, Telus Garden and Oakridge – catalysts for larger change that go beyond the borders of the projects themselves. We are here to create. To provoke. To ignite. We are the vehicle for a new movement of cultural expression.
At any given time, the team is involved in projects at every scale, from the micro to the macro level. We are involved in multiple public art commissions, with nearly 30 installations by some of the world’s most accomplished artists either complete or underway. We are conducting our piano program with Fazioli, building a collection of instruments that exemplify the integration of art and architecture. We are taking on projects like the reinterpretation of a typical Vancouver city laneway, that we’re executing at Telus Garden. At the same time at a larger scale, we have become one of the world’s largest LEED platinum developers, as well as the owner and operator of Vancouver’s district energy system. With a large part of our focus going forward on using this system to instigate a massive reduction of Vancouver’s carbon footprint.
