I've been looking to get into few buildings in the area, mainly because I wanted to see that view over the False Creek, but failed on several occasions.

Eventually I did find my way into one of them, although I can't say that I got that view I was after. Looking now at satellite view of Google Maps of course I can see that it has an actual rooftop (duh), but I really couldn't find my way there.

Thanks to kind mailman I had no problems getting into the building, but on upper floors I only was able to find the cooling tower room (can be seen on one of photos). To my surprise it wasn't even locked, but leaving later I understood that you need to pull the door very hard to actually close it all the way, I guess I got lucky there. Cooling tower has a net stretched above it, so no actual rooftop. From there I found sort of a small door that leads outside to the area covered with gravel, some ventilation and hooks for works on building's facade. That's the highest I could get.

My main problem was that in the end of the area windows of apartment could be seen (photos provided) and a balcony right above them, so I felt if I would go any further to actually see the False Creek I would invade someone's privacy, and that's the last thing I wanted to do, so I never actually could get a full view of the False Creek and had to slink away from there soon.

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Posted by qwartet I've been looking to get into few buildings in the area, mainly because I wanted to see that view over the False Creek, but failed on several occasions.

Nice explores, man!

For heaven's sake, though, please use the 'Return' key to break your paragraph up into readable chunks.

Posted by flySparro Nice explores, man! For heaven's sake, though, please use the 'Return' key to break your paragraph up into readable chunks.

Thanks! And I sure will do that from now on, noticed only now how fugly and hard to read it is Thanks for the hint!

This rooftop already was featured here, but thought to give an update, since I too thought that there is no more way up there. Turns out you can still get there, but probably only with some luck and self-confidence.

I've been twice on that rooftop before. First time I helped my buddy to bring some equipment up there, so it was rather official visit, but only got to see one side of it, and second time I already went exploring on my own visiting both sides. That was some time ago, but when I tried coming back about 4 months ago I couldn't get much of that visit due to, mentioned here, now alarmed doors and broken staircase, which is now kinda sealed off.

I work close to that building so I casually tried few times to see if anything changed there, with no luck. But I understood one thing while trying to gain access to buildings - patience pays off. On yet another visit some workers were bringing something on carts into one of the structures on the rooftop so I had no problems getting access to one part of the rooftop.

I still wanted to see another one. And staircase wasn't available so I was kinda stuck. Although I remembered that on my last visit on the said side I've seen something like a little patio with a table and some chairs, so there must be access to it. Not sure where that gust of bravery came from but I just decided to go right through the office and see what is there. Didn't even have to go far when before making a right turn in the hallway on my left I saw a room which looks like a chilling/lunch area with a view of the desired rooftop. I just went through it towards the window and saw the open door to aforesaid patio, nobody in the room even looked at me. That door is actually alarmed as well and have a sign pointing that out, but it was wide open, so I'm not sure if I was just lucky or if on warmer days they just open it for personnel. So I stepped out on to the rooftop.

There is a bunch of windows coming out to that side, but looking at them they are all blacked out or frosted windows, except for the chilling room, so staying away from those few windows I actually felt pretty safe there, but can't say that I stayed there for a long time. Can't really describe the feeling I got, but I was really happy to see this rooftop again.

When I was walking through the office first time I saw the notes through the office that said PIZZA and arrows pointing, so for a second I thought that on my way back I should also try and grab a free slice of pizza just to make that visit complete, but I didn't have enough balls for that

I'm slowly gaining more confidence when trying to infiltrate a building and it certainly gives some great results. One thing I've noticed (compared to my first two visits) is that the office is much more crowded these days, depending on your approach it can be a good thing or a bad thing. Plus I've heard recently the owner of the building changed, so I'm not sure if they will change anything in how the office operates.

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ATTA BOY QWARTET!!!!

it is so nice to see my work advancing our hobby

I did often wonder myself during the time in my life when I'd regularly visit The Bight whether I could just sneak through the office and use that patio as you did, but I was rather young at the time and never thought I could pass for an employee.

It's interesting; for years now there have been changes inside and around The Bight that have thrown into question its future accessibility, yet it has always remained open. So while these rumours of new ownership give me slight pause, I'm sure we'll always be able to find a way so long as the building stands.

keep up the awesome posts buddy ;)

Posted by FiverFiver ATTA BOY QWARTET!!!! it is so nice to see my work advancing our hobby I did often wonder myself during the time in my life when I'd regularly visit The Bight whether I could just sneak through the office and use that patio as you did, but I was rather young at the time and never thought I could pass for an employee. It's interesting; for years now there have been changes inside and around The Bight that have thrown into question its future accessibility, yet it has always remained open. So while these rumours of new ownership give me slight pause, I'm sure we'll always be able to find a way so long as the building stands. keep up the awesome posts buddy ;)

Thank you FiverFiver, I'm glad to hear that! And thank you for highlighting The Bight here in the first place, that's the best presentation possible and that place totally deserves it!

Quite frankly, I had doubts about going through the office, but I think decisive moment for me here was the outfit, since I was dressed appropriate for my office job. Generally people have much less questions to men wearing business formal attire, for some reason

But you are right, that rooftop is somehow dear to my heart, so I'm sure I will be coming back one way or another. Probably I will take a break for year or so and will try it again next spring or summer, we'll see what the policy will be under new ownership.

Posted by qwartet Quite frankly, I had doubts about going through the office, but I think decisive moment for me here was the outfit, since I was dressed appropriate for my office job. Generally people have much less questions to men wearing business formal attire, for some reason

Hahah, that's the tactic of a true ninja. Blending in plain sight so nobody notices you're there.

There's a quote somewhere that goes something like:

"You'd be surprised where you can go with a loud radio and a high vis vest. If anyone asks you what you're doing, just complain about the low wages." — Banksy

Posted by flySparro "You'd be surprised where you can go with a loud radio and a high vis vest. If anyone asks you what you're doing, just complain about the low wages." — Banksy

Sounds like a recipe for success!

So far all authors writing about the social engineering I've came across mentioned something about the importance of blending in. So I take that aspect very seriously.

I'd certainly agree.

Interestingly urban exploration has led me to a new perspective on the issue of privilege of ethnicity and gender.

I myself am of a certain ethnic background that our Western society generally does not vilify or stereotype as threatening, and I am also a man. These two things combined I would guess have given me an air of authority that I would not otherwise enjoy were my appearance different.

Though Vancouver is probably one of the most open-minded societies in the world, I am still thankful that when I wear a hood to obscure my identity on an explore I have no fear of being viewed as a "thug", and I have sympathy for those who do not enjoy the same privilege.

Posted by FiverFiver I'd certainly agree. Interestingly urban exploration has led me to a new perspective on the issue of privilege of ethnicity and gender. I myself am of a certain ethnic background that our Western society generally does not vilify or stereotype as threatening, and I am also a man. These two things combined I would guess have given me an air of authority that I would not otherwise enjoy were my appearance different. Though Vancouver is probably one of the most open-minded societies in the world, I am still thankful that when I wear a hood to obscure my identity on an explore I have no fear of being viewed as a "thug", and I have sympathy for those who do not enjoy the same privilege.

You are very much so right. Although, taking into consideration that all that crazy roofing stuff happening around Vancouver that gets publicity is mainly done by younger folks, wearing hoodies and such, that situation can change soon. Managing companies get into a shitload of trouble when something like that goes viral and consequently trust fades away.

Sometimes you prepare for something and study a subject of interest, but in the end things workout much easier than what you anticipated. So for this building I had few approaches planned in my head, didn't really need any of them in the end.

The main entrance door turned out to be simply open and the foot traffic is pretty heavy. Kinda knowing a bit the layout of the building now, it appears that when you enter there is a locked up door right in front of you and stairs on your left lead to the second floor where the office is, which would be a logical thing, but it might be somewhere else, fact is that it is not on the first floor.

Moment I walked through the main door some sketchy looking dude opened the secured door from inside asking if anyone wants to buy chocolate bars, so I got two Mr Bigs from him for $2 and just walked inside. Elevator was right away there on the left, so for once I decided to take elevator and not to look for the staircase, yet at least. Not always a good idea, I guess I just felt lucky at that moment.

While actually being in a pretty decent shape, the building looks like a mess, thanks to the tenants. Occupants are very loud and obnoxious, there's lots of garbage, while making my way from entrance to the top floor I've seen two empty mickeys of vodka laying around, and people are clearly smoking inside of the building. So not much difference from what is happening outside. It is just so hard to believe that once this place was a fine establishment even hosting members of the royal family at some point. But as I said earlier, building itself is in much better condition than many other buildings in the area.

Once again it took me much longer than what I expected to find the access to the rooftop. Older buildings sometime have them at the most random place. The pathway to the roof was very narrow and involved climbing a ladder, just the way I like it. The rooftop itself is pretty cool giving you a nice view, and one side of it doesn't have any walls or railings, so it's 9 stories drop, something to keep in mind.

I've encountered several residents while being inside, so had few short friendly conversations with them, all went smooth. But I don't think I'll be taking elevators any time soon, even if they don't need a fob, risk of bumping into management is just too high, and in such buildings I believe they know all of their tenants.

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While reading the Access All Areas by the great Ninjalicious it occurred to me that active construction is a great way to accessing an active site, and mainly being interested, at the moment at least, in gaining access to the rooftops I thought that applies to my subject of interest as well.

And while I still can't find a suitable construction site with a decent tower on it to try out, I already had two successful attempts at the buildings that are already in use but have some major construction/contracting happening inside.

I work in a totally not related department but at times information about various contracting jobs happening passes through my workplace, so I noted few that are taking place at the upper floors of hi-rise buildings. I still failed to access few of them, at least so far, but two worked out perfectly, and one of them was among the best rooftops I've ever been to, but I'll tell about that one later.

Like many other buildings in DT this one has concierge. I'm not sure why people even hire them, because I've passed by at least a dozen of them and yet to have a conversation with one, they just don't really care, at least that what it seems like. Before I pretended to be talking on the phone (I still do that to enter a building tailgating), now sometimes I don't even bother, unless I still feel like I need to follow a person to find staircase access.

What was interesting about this building is how floors are marked (I've noticed that rather late, so had to confirm on my way down). I know people are awfully superstitious for living in the 21st century, especially some folks from overseas, for example building where I live doesn't have 4th floor marked. But this building doesn't have floors 4, 13, 14, and 24. I guess to make everyone happy.

I wasn't sure about the scale of renovations happening there, but basically half of the PH floor is sealed off, since the staircase door was wide open and I peeked inside a bit. I was there at my lunch break, so I thought that might be not the best time to visit, but actually it was pretty busy and many construction workers were at the site creating all that controlled chaos, which was perfect for me. No questions were asked at any point, no conversations were started. Busy is good.

I got kinda lost once at the top floors, but evacuation floor plan saved the day once again! Love that thing, since I have imbecilic propensity for getting lost, which is absolutely not good in what I do. So the rooftop has all sorts of equipment on it and several mechanical/elevator rooms, and by climbing a ladder you get to the actual top of the building. The view is pretty cool, despite the weather being weird. I've spent good 20 minutes enjoying it. Didn't have time to actually eat my lunch, but no regrets there.

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Posted by qwartet . It is just so hard to believe that once this place was a fine establishment even hosting members of the royal family at some point.

Royal Family? At the Washington/Maple? Do you have any sources for that?

Posted by Mowgli-dog Royal Family? At the Washington/Maple? Do you have any sources for that?

Yeah, I think you are right, that's not the one, especially that in 30's someone was running a brothel on the 4th floor of the hotel, I doubt that any members of royal family ever stopped there. But one of the hotel on Hastings certainly did host such clients at some point, just researching possible ways to access properties around Hastings I've read too much material for my own good, I guess it all just got mixed up in my head. But soon I'll be returning to sources since I want to try few more buildings there and if I'll bump into such info again I'll provide it here. Sorry for the confusion.

Firstly, it seems like some of my stories and photos disturb people and whole organizations, which I never intended on doing, of course. I guess I will be more thoughtful about what I say and where I go.

Secondly, I'm not a good photographer by any means, but at the same time I feel like resized and compressed photos uploaded to UER make them unacceptably botched (maybe because I simply don't do it right), so this time I'll try to upload photos to a third-party image hosting. Let me know if that works.

Soooo.... I've been targeting hotel buildings for quite some time, and I've actually explored quite a few, but never could get to the rooftop. So this time I decided to go for something bigger and something with mixture of residential and hotel sections, which makes it more chaotic and busy. Which eventually kinda complicated everything and it took me at least 2 hours to get to the rooftop and to get out of the building. Also I've seen photos from about two years ago from people who indeed infiltrated that rooftop.

Main problem that I've encountered was the alarmed doors. Maybe there is an easier way to the rooftop (at least to the floor that leads to it), but alarmed doors is a big change of plans and routes. So if you don't know what you are dealing with, I wouldn't recommend trying to infiltrate this rooftop.

I chose busier part of the building assuming, I'm actually not sure why, that it for sure will lead me to the rooftop. As I said earlier, there still might be access to the rooftop from there, however I couldn't find one without triggering an alarm. But also thinking now about the entrance to the rooftop and doors I've seen there I don't think you can enter it from the said part of the building.

To be honest, I was pretty bummed out at that point, but thought to try other part of the building. That's a lot of stairs I've walked that day. But in the end it totally worth it, because there is the way to the rooftop. View from up there is absolutely amazing.

However, on my way back I managed to do something utterly stupid. I really need to avoid elevators, that backfired at me few times already, nothing serious though, but still. So on the way back, since I had to walk through one of the upper cross floors at some point, I thought maybe I should just take elevator down, because at that point I was kinda tired walking the stairs. Not sure what happened there, because clearly that elevator didn't need a fob and had all floors marked all the way to the underground parking only missing floors from the first part of the building I explored, but when I tried to go to the ground floor it went one floor down and wouldn't go any lower. But right across there was another elevator so I decided to try it out. It went all the way down, and when the doors opened.... I realized I was in the middle of a kitchen. Lots of people just running around doing their job, few of them looked at me but went back to what they were doing. I started franticly pressing buttons and returned to where I started from. So I switched elevators and went back one floor up and just took the stairs down from there. I agree, that was stupid.

Lovely pictures! Did you get a new camera? This post is certainly the Pinnacle of your photographic achievement.

Posted by FiverFiver Lovely pictures! Did you get a new camera? This post is certainly the Pinnacle of your photographic achievement.

Sharp and vibrant? Yes! Good explore? Yes! Not exactly photographically groundbreaking, given the sorta lame light and normal focal lengths / techniques, BUT. I digress. I like the rusty one of the roof facade supports! The shots look sharp! Hopefully imagebam or whatever you’re using to host them keeps them around for a while.

I’ve never had too many problems just letting UER resize to 800px (or just doing the resize myself so it doesn’t have to change it), this isn’t a photo forum and we aren’t all snarky photo snobs. We won’t judge if there are a few compression artifacts, otherwise we would have left after the 14th year of the same Santa Clause every December.

Great photos, I’m enjoying the effort you’ve gone through to let them shine here! Great work on the explores!

Also, I doubt anyone in that kitchen gave a fuck. Obviously you made a mistake, aaaand back to work everyone goes. Lol

Posted by flySparro "You'd be surprised where you can go with a loud radio and a high vis vest. If anyone asks you what you're doing, just complain about the low wages." — Banksy

Nice quote.... and quite true! While I have not pulled the crap wage line, I do sport a hard hat, vest, and clipboard when draining. I have even had cops patrolling a park give me a wave. First dry spot I can find the clipboard and hard hat are set down, but I always keep the vest. I am half tempted to buy a yellow light for the roof of Ms. Jeepy too....

I don't normally use them for bandos though, as the people that spot you there usually know pretty damn well you don't belong, vest or not.

So..... Hi-vis and no fear for drains, silent stealth ninja for bandos....

Posted by FiverFiver Lovely pictures! Did you get a new camera? This post is certainly the Pinnacle of your photographic achievement.

Thank you! And I guess no pun intended
Well, I had that camera before but mainly took photos with my cellphone, which is not good by any means, simply because my camera was kinda too bulky. But now I switched to a smaller lens so it is easier to carry it around. I'll try to keep up better photos from now on!

Posted by flySparro Sharp and vibrant? Yes! Good explore? Yes! Not exactly photographically groundbreaking, given the sorta lame light and normal focal lengths / techniques, BUT. I digress. I like the rusty one of the roof facade supports! The shots look sharp! Hopefully imagebam or whatever you’re using to host them keeps them around for a while. I’ve never had too many problems just letting UER resize to 800px (or just doing the resize myself so it doesn’t have to change it), this isn’t a photo forum and we aren’t all snarky photo snobs. We won’t judge if there are a few compression artifacts, otherwise we would have left after the 14th year of the same Santa Clause every December. Great photos, I’m enjoying the effort you’ve gone through to let them shine here! Great work on the explores! Also, I doubt anyone in that kitchen gave a fuck. Obviously you made a mistake, aaaand back to work everyone goes. Lol

Thanks man! I just felt like it's about time to step up my photo game, so to speak. And I don't think I will ever again visit many rooftops I already visited, mainly because there are many more I've never been to yet, so it would be nice to keep a better memories of them. Thanks for your kind words, they sure are motivating!

And I'm kinda confused about uploading photos directly to UER. The first topic I started here about abandoned house in Shaughnessy I simply uploaded photos as they came straight from the camera and it was all good, except some photos got posted sideways. But after that when I tried to do the same thing it just wouldn't upload them saying there is some sort of server error. So I tried resizing them a bit and it worked for me for a bit after. But then I updated image editor I've used for resizing and now after editing them to a smaller size it just gives me pretty crappy quality photos. So I guess for now I'll stick to that third-party image hosting. That imagebam thing promises to keep my photos for an eternity, we all know that it isn't true, but hopefully they stay there for a while.

And very true about the kitchen! It just that it was the last thing I was expecting to see so it threw me off and I totally panicked...