Condo buildings go up all the time around Vancouver.

But it's much rarer for a new office tower to be built in the city's downtown core.

On Friday (February 12), Endall Elliot Associates and HDR|CEI Architecture Associates announced that the new 16-storey Manulife building has been completed at 980 Howe Street.

This news will come as a relief to motorists who've endured had to endure delays on their way home to the West Side over the Granville Street Bridge.

The building includes an all-glass, triple-glazed curtain-wall structure to enhance energy efficiency.

"Triple-glazing—essentially three panes of glass separated by argon gas—offers better insulation than the more common double-glazing," the architects stated in a news release. "It also provides additional surfaces for low-e coating, which prevents interior heat loss and mitigates solar heat gain."