A successful five storey mixed use residential development that created a new pocket park out of a traffic roundabout – located in a busy inner suburb of Vancouver.
The building is located at the heart of a small retail area, and fronts a busy street and a new pocket park. Development on this site was facilitated by up-zoning along street corridors, and the economy of timber construction in multi-level apartment buildings.
The ground floor of this long building faces the arterial road (Main Street) and is entirely retail. A central arcade running through the building at the ground floor connects to a rear lane. The entrance lobby to the apartments is accessed off this arcade. The development contains 91 single level units of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms over four floors, with 7 townhouses facing a rear lane.
The building is located at a point where Main Street swings to the east, leaving a wedge of space between the street and the building for half its length. This has been taken to turn this previous traffic island into a pocket park, that the south end of the building fronts. All apartments have large balconies, and residents have access to private landscaped areas on roof tops.
Parking is provided in a basement garage via the back lane built as part of the development. Changes in the British Columbia building code enabled the use of timber framing (up to six floors) if provided with sprinklers for fire protection. In this building, the basement parking and the first floor retail areas use a concrete structure, upon which the four residential floors are constructed using timber framing.
Many units include 'flexi space', effectively small rooms that can be used as storage, studies or for other uses.
The project makes significant contributions to the public realm and the pedestrian environment, and achieves good environmental performance, reflected in the LEED Silver certification.