Work has begun on The Exchange, the new $200 million Credit Suisse office tower in downtown Vancouver.

Designed by renowned Swiss architect Harry Gugger, working in collaboration with lead consultant Iredale Group of Vancouver, the 31-storey building will be Canada’s second tallest office tower to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

Energy consumption will be half the load of traditional office buildings, with a 35 per cent reduction in energy costs and an 85 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

The development will include Canada’s first LEED Platinum heritage conversion, as the neighbouring Old Stock Exchange (circa 1929) will be renovated and restored as part of the new development

“The Old Stock Exchange is a refined and handsomely crafted building. The new tower will not look to compete with this prominent heritage building, but rather to successfully work with it to provide a composition that at once looks to Vancouver’s future without obscuring its past,” Gugger says.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2016.