Vancouver Tall Challenge: Building Higher Downtown

Buildner has launched the Vancouver Tall Challenge: Building Higher Downtown, an international ideas competition organised with the City of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA). It is part of the city’s Higher Buildings Policy Review, which is looking at the role tall buildings should play in the growth, public life and identity of the downtown core. Registration closes on 29 October 2026 and projects are due on 30 November 2026.

Entrants are asked to imagine new approaches to tall buildings in central Vancouver and to show how added height can bring housing, public amenities, cultural space and a better public realm, while dealing with questions of urban identity, environmental performance and everyday street life. The aim is to help define what a made-for-Vancouver approach to building higher could look like.

The competition is open to all, with no professional qualification required, and teams can have up to four members. All material must be in English. Registration currently costs €140 for professionals and €120 for students, plus 4.5% VAT. The CAD 15,000 prize fund is split into CAD 7,000 for first place, CAD 4,000 for second and CAD 2,000 for third, with a CAD 1,000 Student Award, a CAD 1,000 Sustainability Award and six honourable mentions. The jury includes Nathalie de Vries of MVRDV, Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and James Cheng of James K.M. Cheng Architects. Questions can be sent until 3 November 2026 and winners will be announced on 26 January 2027.