The Marriott Autograph Collection, Civic Hotel officially opened on Wednesday, becoming the first hotel in Surrey’s new City Centre. While the hotel is now accepting bookings after being delayed for months, much of the building remains under construction. Aside from the condominium and KPU portions of the building which are expected to open later this year, the hotel’s outdoor pool, fitness centre, spa, and rooftop amenity spaces are also yet to open. Dominion Bar + Kitchen did open along with the hotel however, and has already become a hot spot bustling with activity. Prado Cafe while close to completion, is expected to open in the coming weeks.
As for the hotel’s lobby fronting onto Civic Plaza, the high columned ceilings, beautiful detailing, woodwork, art, and lounge spaces create a strong sense of place, flooded with natural light through the podium’s glass curtain wall. The Prado Cafe blends in seamlessly with the lobby, rather than functioning as a stand-alone cafe like their other locations.
Already, only being open a few days, the hotel and restaurant has brought new energy to the area, which will only grow once the rest of the building opens, and bookings begin to fill up for hotel guests and conferences. Bookings for rooms, as well as meetings and other events can be made through the Civic Hotel website https://civichotel.ca. More info on Dominion Bar + Kitchen can be found at https://dominionkitchen.com
Guest business centre in lobby
Prado Cafe still under construction – expected to open in coming weeks
Entrance to Dominion Bar + Kitchen from hotel lobby
The long awaited opening of Civic Hotel may finally be just around the corner. After numerous delays – having originally been set to open back in November – the hotel is finally showing signs that it is nearing completion. This week, fencing came down from in front of the building’s main lobby and Dominion Bar + Kitchen fronting Civic Plaza. In addition, landscaping has been planted next to Dominion’s patio, and a newly opened portion of Central Avenue. Signage for Dominion has also been installed on the awning.
While no official date has been set for opening, according to the Dominion Bar + Kitchen website, the restaurant is tentatively scheduled to host its first event – a comedy show – on April 21, 2018. The Marriott reservations website is now taking bookings for Civic Hotel for dates beginning on March 28, 2018 (although the available booking date has been pushed back in the past).
Despite looking nearing completion, it seems we will still have to wait another month or two before the hotel and restaurant open. Numerous things remain to be finished on the building including a number of additional signs to be installed, the removal of a construction elevator on the condo portion of the building, the completion of Civic Plaza lane on the north side of the building, the construction of Prado Cafe on the north side, and the finishing of numerous retail units along City Parkway. It is clear now that the building will open in phases – with the Hotel and Dominion Bar + Kitchen opening first, retail units along City Parkway likely following later this spring, the Condo tower by summer, and the 5-storey KPU campus this fall.
According to sources working on the project – one reason for the delayed opening of the building has been a water leak, affecting the elevator shaft of the main tower. This has delayed the removal of the exterior construction elevator for several months, as well as the exterior finishing of the north side of the tower, where the future Prado Cafe, and an exterior green wall will be. Rumours on the forum SkyscraperPage this week indicated that the construction elevator may finally be coming down by next week, which would hopefully help wrap up the exterior of the building prior to the hotel’s opening in less than 2 months. Regardless, it seems the building will remain an active construction site (at least on the inside) on the main tower and KPU portion, while the hotel and restaurant open on the other.
Dominion Bar + Kitchen nearing completion fronting Civic Plaza 
Landscaping along Central Avenue next to the Dominion Bar + Kitchen Patio 
Staircase and entry to Dominion Bar + Kitchen Patio 
New sidewalk along Central Avenue next to Dominion Bar + Kitchen Patio 
Dominion Bar + Kitchen + Civic Hotel Entrance along Civic Plaza Lane 
Daytime shot of Dominion Bar + Kitchen – additional signage for Civic Hotel still to be installed on podium 
Dominion Bar + Kitchen featuring numerous doors/windows which will open to the Plaza 
Civic Hotel Lobby 
Civic Hotel Lobby 
Civic Plaza Lane in front of Hotel Lobby
The proposed signage package for 3 Civic Plaza will appear before Council on Monday for approval. The current package is an update to a previous signage package put together back in 2014. The new package presents a more refined and unified look to the signage across the building, which will include signage for:
- Civic Hotel
- KPU
- Prado Cafe
- Dominion Bar & Kitchen
- Various Retail Units
- Various wayfinding signs around the perimeter of building
Already ahead of the Signage Development Permit approval, the main Civic Hotel logo appeared this week at the top of the 52-storey tower on the north side. A similar logo is also set to be installed on the tower’s south side.
Civic Hotel Logo installation underway on October 17 
Civic Hotel Logo installation on top of the 52-Storey tower 
North side hotel logo fully installed on October 19
Proposed Signage Package
Rendering of Civic Hotel signage on podium 
Signage Package fronting Civic Plaza 
Signage Package on North and South sides of building 
Signage Package for retail frontage along City Parkway 
Civic Hotel signage fronting Plaza detail 
Civic Hotel signage on South side of podium detail 
KPU Signage detail on north side of podium facing Plaza 
Wayfinding signage detail 
Wayfinding signage detail 
Retail unit signage detail along City Parkway 
Retail unit ‘Arrival’ signage detail featuring signature guitar pic and diamond perforated pattern
For more details on the signage package:
https://www.surrey.ca/bylawsandcouncillibrary/PLR_7914-0112-00.pdf
A quick photo update of the 3 Civic Plaza development in Surrey City Centre which is now starting to dominate the area and skyline. The building has now reached 31 levels in height and will continue to climb until it reaches its final height of 48 stories, by the end of this year.
When complete, the building will be heavily mixed-use, containing a Marriott brand Autograph Collection Hotel, condominiums, office space, a satellite campus of Kwantlen Polytechnical University (KPU), a health club, restaurant, and retail.
