Waterfall Building

The Waterfall Building's signature water-screen courtyard, 1540 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver.

The Waterfall Building is a mixed-use live/work development at 1540 West 2nd Avenue in the False Creek neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, near the entrance to Granville Island. Designed by Arthur Erickson with Nick Milkovich Architects, it is one of the most heavily used real-world filming locations in Battlestar Galactica, appearing across nine seasons and five production years in roles ranging from Laura Roslin's doctor's office to Kara Thrace's Delphi apartment to her detention cell on New Caprica.

Architecture

The building was designed in 1996 by Arthur Erickson with Nick Milkovich Architects (Nick Milkovich and Wyn Bielaska) and completed in 2001 by developer Hillside Developments. The landscape design was executed by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander between 1998 and 2001, who designed the courtyard planting scheme, a reflecting basin, and roof gardens on all five building structures.

The development consists of five building blocks in concrete, steel and glass organized around a central courtyard. As described by Nick Milkovich Architects: "The courtyard spills into the fronting pedestrian street through an opening bridged by the building. From the curved bridge soffit a curtain of water descends into a reflecting pool animating the opening with reflected light, while the sound offers an acoustic buffer to the courtyard." The units above comprise work/live studios with commercial spaces at ground level; each unit has a double-height space with through ventilation and natural daylight, looking both into the courtyard and out to the surrounding neighborhood.

The building is catalogued by the West Coast Modern League as an Erickson work of 2001. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published a green roof case study on the building in 2001, documenting Oberlander's rooftop planting work.

Appearances in Battlestar Galactica

The Waterfall Building appears in Battlestar Galactica across the Miniseries, Seasons 2, 3, and 4. In almost every case, the same physical spaces — the sloped glass atrium on the ground floor and the loft staircases above — are redressed to serve as different in-universe locations.

Miniseries

The building's sloped glass atrium serves as Laura Roslin's doctor's office, where she receives her cancer diagnosis from her physician. Roslin is seated on a bench in the atrium in the scene. The same space reappears in "Epiphanies" during flashbacks to the same appointment.

Season 2

• "Valley of Darkness" — Kara Thrace's Delphi apartment and the adjacent car garage are filmed here. This is the building's first appearance as a residential location.

• "Black Market" — The building serves as the setting for Lee Adama's flashbacks with his girlfriend, with the staircase areas used prominently.

• "Downloaded" — The outdoor courtyard and one of the loft interiors serve as a Cylon-occupied area on Caprica and Sharon's Caprica apartment.

Season 3

• "Occupation," "Precipice," "Exodus, Part I," "Exodus, Part II" — The same loft room used as Kara's Delphi apartment in "Valley of Darkness" is redressed as her detention cell in the New Caprica Detention Center, where she is held captive by Leoben Conoy throughout the Cylon occupation. This is why the cell bears a resemblance to her Delphi apartment — it is the same room.

Season 4

• "Daybreak, Part I" and "Daybreak, Part II" — The building appears in two separate roles during the Caprica flashback sequences: Kara Thrace's apartment and Laura Roslin's Caprica apartment (specifically the east-side penthouse).

Notes

• The building is located in the False Creek neighbourhood, a short walk from Granville Island in Vancouver.
• Arthur Erickson (1924–2009) also designed Simon Fraser University in Burnaby — the other most-used recurring BSG filming location in the Vancouver area — and the Vancouver Art Gallery building (the former Vancouver Law Courts), used for Caprica courthouse scenes.
• Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921–2021), who designed the building's landscape and roof gardens, also designed the rooftop garden of the Vancouver Public Library (seen briefly in "Bastille Day") and the landscape for Robson Square, which includes the Arthur Erickson-renovated Vancouver Art Gallery.

References

External Links

• Waterfall Building at arthurerickson.com
• Waterfall Building (2001) at West Coast Modern League
• Battlestar Galactica Filming Locations at MovieMaps

See also

• Filming locations (RDM)
• Vancouver Film Studios