Robson Square

Robson Square
Public square
Robson Square Plaza
Features:	Skating rink, waterfalls
Design:	Arthur Erickson (plan) Cornelia Oberlander (landscape)
Opening date:	1983
Surface:	concrete,grass
Location:	Vancouver, BC, Canada
Robson Square Location of Robson Square in Vancouver
Coordinates: 49°16′55″N 123°7′19″W / 49.28194°N 123.12194°W / 49.28194; -123.12194Coordinates: 49°16′55″N 123°7′19″W / 49.28194°N 123.12194°W / 49.28194; -123.12194

Robson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The British Columbia Centre was a development proposal slated to be completed by 1975. At 208 metres (682 feet) it would have been the tallest skyscraper in the city (and taller than the Living Shangri-La, which currently holds the record). With the defeat of W.A.C. Bennett's Social Credit government in 1972, the plan was scrapped just as the construction phase was about to begin. The New Democratic Party government of Dave Barrett responded to fears of the dark shadow that the building would cast downtown, and commissioned a redesign from another architectural firm, Arthur Erickson Architects. The reconceptualization Erickson came up with was of a skyscraper laid on its side, the "B.C. Centre on its back."

Erickson biographer Nicholas Olsberg describes the design as follows:

Arthur came in and said 'This won't be a corporate monument. Let's turn it on its side and let people walk all over it.' And he anchored it in such a way with the courts — the law — at one end and the museum — the arts — at the other. The foundations of society. And underneath it all, the government offices quietly supporting their people. It's almost a spiritual progression.

The new development was completed between 1979 and 1983, encompassing three city blocks and providing 1,300,000 square feet (120,774 m²) of space. The main component is the glass-covered Law Courts, which houses 35 courtrooms in the southern block. It is 42 metres (138 ft) in height, and the glass roof has a size of 420 by 115 feet (128 by 35 m), is supported by a steel space frame structure, covering approximately 50,000 square feet (4,645 m²) of public space.