Telus Garden, Canada's most sustainable office tower, officially opens

Telus Garden,heralded by its developer as anicon of advanced technology, is being panned by a former city planner whoworries its architecture will set an undesirable precedent.

The building has overhangs that stretch onto the street, said Ray Spaxman an urban planner, who was once the planner for the City of Vancouver.

"It's projectingover the public right of way, which in the past we have always tried to keep, because it is a place that we have space, light and air and sunlight and, in some cases, keepthe view down the street."

"How on earth this got approvalI don't know,"he said.

Spaxman says he worries if the city isn't clearon its guidelines, future developers will wind up violating them.

The office tower, situated on 510 West Georgia Street between Richards and Seymour Streets, had its grand opening Thursday.

Spaxmansays he does appreciatemany of the new buildings architectural features and itsindoor and outdoor restaurants, andhopes thesame attention is given to any rebuild ofthe city's iconic structures like City Hall or the Art Gallery.

To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelledTelus Garden building's impact on Vancouverwiththe CBC's Rick Cluff onThe Early Edition.