PHOTOS: Vancouver’s skyline to be altered by futuristic skyscraper

What appears to be a giant spaceship will soon alter Vancouver's iconic skyline.

The spaceship look alike is actually a 56-storey tower that will begin construction in Vancouver’s West End after receiving the green light from Vancouver City Council this week.

Vancouver City Council granted a rezoning application for First Baptist Church at the northwest corner of Burrard Street and Nelson Street following marathon public hearings.

The project calls for a 56-storey tower with 331 market residential units and a seven-storey podium building with 61 units of social housing on a vacant parking lot next to the historic church building.

With a height of 556 ft, it will be the third tallest building in the city, just behind the Shangri-La Vancouver Hotel and Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver, and will even appear taller than it actually is in the skyline because of the site’s high elevation about 120 ft above sea level.

One of the amenities that residents will have access to will be a long two-lane, glass-roofed swimming pool built into the third floor of the tower facing the laneway.

Ample ground-level public spaces with significant landscaping and water features are planned.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of this project revolves around its unique design as the form of the tower takes inspiration from church pipe organs, and there will be open common gardens on each level to provide opportunities for residents to interact with their neighbours.

Now that the project has been approved, construction is scheduled to begin in May 2018 for a completion in late 2022.