Case Study: West Building VCC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

By Jane F. Kolleeny

The City of Vancouver had been contemplating expansion of its convention center since the mid-1990s, when the original building reached capacity. Years later in 2003, the city was selected to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Having a new convention center completed and opened in 2009 turned out to be a great boon for the city, since the building could be used as a staging area for 14,000 members of the news media expected to descend from around the world to cover the Games. While cost overruns contributed to a final price tag of $804 million, the rewards of the project outshine the obstacles.