The Butterfly tower in downtown Vancouver is nearing completion, and some units in the luxury building have been popping up for sale this week.
The listing photos offer folks a glimpse inside the 57-storey tower by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) and developer Westbank. But not everyone is a fan of the pure white and sleek look of the units, with some online saying the apartments more closely resemble a clinic than a home.
“Feels like a lab,” one person said in a Reddit thread discussing unit 706. “Do not like.”
“Is it a medical clinic? They performing day surgery there?” another added.
“Seems like somewhere you’d wake up in a hospital gown with no memory and a scar on your head,” a third said.
706-1033 Nelson Street (REW)
706-1033 Nelson Street (REW)
One Redditor thinks it bears an uncanny resemblance to the room at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
“I can’t get over how the one-bedrooms are essentially a studio with a glass cage to sleep in,” another commenter said.
Photos from the seventh-floor unit show an interior with gold faucets and a marble-patterned bathroom. Appliances, including ensuite laundry, have also been installed.
706-1033 Nelson Street
Listing agent Cayden Ye is asking $999,999 for the 660-square-foot, one-bedroom unit.
“This unit offers abundant natural light and stunning unobstructed views,” Ye wrote.
“Including a peaceful vista of the 50-metre lap pool.”
A two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit on the 15th floor is also for sale, asking just under $2.4 million. That unit is about double the size of the one-bedroom at 1,200 square feet. It features similar bathroom decor and a white kitchen.
1503-1033 Nelson Street (REW)
1503-1033 Nelson Street (REW)
Daily Hive has reached out to Westbank for more information on The Butterfly’s completion.
The tower is now Vancouver’s third-tallest building, though it appears the tallest on the skyline because it’s built on the hill at Burrard and Nelson. It includes amenities such as a pool with a “rib structure” for the roof. One of the penthouse owners also made headlines earlier this year when they lifted a vintage Porsche into their unit.
Westbank/Submitted
The multi-year construction project also restored the neighbouring First Baptist Church, with the tower itself modelled after the pipes of a church organ.
The project encountered some mishaps along the way, though. In November 2023, three workers were rescued after scaffolding collapsed behind the church and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.