RainCity Rock & Waterscapes

Among the upgrades for 2011, a new Amazon buttress tree will house the new exotic insects exhibit soon to open at the Vancouver Aquarium. The team at Raincity has been working through the winter to upgrade existing favorites such as the Otter Tanks, but the upcoming opening of the Tropical gallery will showcase the majority of the new rockwork. The Anaconda Exhibit, perhaps the most technical tank to operate, mimics the muddy banks of the Amazon River, complete with mangrove vines. Access to the tank is accomplished through a concrete staircase cleverly disguised in the roots and tree trunks. Handlers can even use the vines… Tarzan!

Mark forms the buttress

See the new Anaconda tank and other exhibits in the Amazon Gallery at: http://raincity.pubco.net/gallery_aquarium3.html

The opening of the Tofino Residence, a modern modular home built by prefabricator Preform Construction, was highlighted by a private concert by Vancouver’s favorite band Mother Mother – see http://www.straight.com/bov/category/2010/200 for the Georgia Straight’s Best in Vancouver article. Frontman Ryan Guldemont and the band spent most of the evening after the show around the pool and Raincity’s natural black-rock spa. The three-tiered, multi-faceted grotto spa was a hit with band and guests alike and the locale of much of the evening’s hi-jinx;  not unlike the infinity-edge pool with underwater viewing window from the games room below.

The Robert Lee YMCA building will open next month and include, among other features, a roof-top garden that is part of the new child care facility. 69 full-time child care spots will be available downtown so that staff can care for infants to five years old. Though the rooftop play-area will not be open to the public, the artificial Gulf Island sandstone built by Raincity Rock will provide a safe and natural play area in the heart of the downtown core. The smoothed sandstone faux rock surrounds natural real rock and other landscaping in the atrium. Please read the article online or click below to get a better idea of the innovative design and ethos that informed the work at this very public and urban new building.

Read full Vancouver Sun article here

The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney, BC opened in June 2009 to rave reviews. Raincity designed and built all of the aquarium tank rockwork, including the much-lauded octopus tank, as well as the outdoor tidal pool, which is home to BC’s coastal aquatic life. See the creation of the Marine Centre at: http://www.oceandiscovery.ca/info/creation.

See us on ChekTV and A Channel News.

Mark carves the outdoor tidal pool

The summer filming season in Vancouver saw two big budget movies around town: A-Team and Percy Jackson. Set to be released February 12, 2010, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lighting Thief stars, among others, Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman. Raincity was asked to carve the natural rock spa that is set into the shore of the lake near Camp Half-Blood. In reality, the spa occupied the banks of the narrows on Alouette Lake in Greater Vancouver’s own Golden Ears park. Here are some shots of the spa being constructed. For the final product, you’ll have to check out the movie!

The much-anticipated Robert Lee YMCA buiding at 955 Burrard Street in Vancouver (http://www.vanymca.org/centres/robertlee/) is scheduled to open May 2010. Raincity was contracted to build the outdoor play area for the sixth floor roof-top day care. The sandboxes are framed by a ridge of west coast gulf island sandstone similar to the type seen at Malaspina Galleries on Gabriola Island. The Raincity crew was there in January putting our own unique west coast stamp on a Vancouver institution and new community gathering place. These photos show the crew hard at work carving the concrete being pumped up to the rooftop play area.

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