Amazon Warehouse Gets $2 Million Mural in Sidney, BC

Amazon recently completed its $66 million last-mile distribution centre in Sidney, B.C., located on 7.8 acres of Victoria Airport Authority lands, known as its DVV2 Amazon Delivery Station.

The last-mile distribution centre has gained a new mural on its exterior, as it commissioned Vancouver-based Ombrae Studios to create an interesting mural on its exterior. Victoria-raised Roderick Quinn is the principal of Ombrae Studios and came back to his hometown to create the mural.

The technique utilizes punching quarter-sized holes called 3D Optical Tiles into anodized aluminum panels. The punched panels see some pieces partially punched and angled to make up the image, as sunlight and shadows help complete the image.

Overall, 595 panels—measuring 2 feet by 8 feet—were used to adorn the exterior of the Amazon warehouse, Quinn tells the Times Colonist. The result is a 35-foot high mural that spans 462 feet long on the south and east side of the warehouse, depicting mountains, forest and ocean, across 14,000 square feet.

“With prominent imagery of Mount Baker anchoring the primary viewing angle at the corner, followed by a cascade of the Olympic Mountain Range, tapering into the lower foothills across Saanich Inlet, the snow-capped mountains are powerfully depicted in the Ombrae panels,” explains the company.

“When viewed from certain times of day and from certain angles of view, the sky and water actually appear brighter than the Ombrae, which will be primarily in shadow: as though a sunrise is occurring behind the mountain range,” describes the Ombrae website.

You can check out what the mural looks like in the pictures taken by iPhone in Canada below:

The Amazon warehouse project is being completed by York Realty. The site’s completion means an increase in traffic to the west side of Sidney, resulting in a planned roundabout on the east side of the warehouse at Galaran Road.

The roundabout has been a contentious issue for residents on the Saanich Peninsula, as it will be fully paid for by taxpayers in Sidney (40%), the Victoria Airport Authority (40%) and North Saanich (20%) estimated to cost $6.4 million, more than three-times what Amazon spent on its mural design.