Project Tag: Local

East Hastings & Semlin

East Hastings and Semlin is located along a major transit arterial in the heart of the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood, close to the active Commercial Drive corridor. Along with at-grade retail and live-work units, an outdoor ‘urban room’ contributes to the vibrancy of the public realm, anchoring the corner of the building and connecting the building to the life of the street. The idea of movement – referencing the active pedestrian, bike, and vehicle movement along East Hastings Street – is articulated in the building’s facade, where the pattern of angular bays can be appreciated from various speeds and perspectives.

Sawtooth balconies highlight this sense of dynamism while optimizing building energy performance with a simplified envelope. Inspired by the neighbouring light industrial buildings, textured cladding reinforces the building’s angles and adds visual interest throughout different lighting conditions. All units enjoy private outdoor space as well as a shared rooftop amenity terrace with views of Downtown Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains.

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Chilliwack Secondary School

Building on a portfolio of community minded projects, Chilliwack Secondary School seeks to integrate education and community in unique ways. A series of casual meeting areas were combined with a variety of community uses ranging from First Nations educational facilities, a student parent daycare, a hairdressing salon, welding facilities, and incubator ‘shops’ for student-led businesses were incorporated with other more traditional educational facilities.

Together with a sustainable focus on clean air, energy efficiency, and the use of cross laminated timber, the school represents the leading edge of social, physical, and mental health-based learning while also functioning as a community hub.

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The Charleson

Situated adjacent to Vancouver’s thriving Yaletown neighbourhood, The Charleson occupies a small site characterized by a triangulated overhead view cone. Rental and for sale housing is mixed with an active retail podium. The previously dormant laneway is activated with retail and residential components and a critical pedestrian cut-through angled towards the Seawall and adjacent parks.

Each floor plate required careful design to accommodate suites within a constrained geometry and within a very small floor plate. A 43-storey by 30-foot-wide mural by Elizabeth McIntosh highlights the building’s south façade and enlivens the City’s downtown.

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The Shipyards

The Shipyards is a mixed-used project on the North Vancouver waterfront that includes 100,000 sf of mixed retail, restaurant, and hotel space. These spaces wrap around a covered outdoor plaza, which operates as a water park in the summer and an ice rink in the winter. The site itself was the location of the Machine Shop Building of the former shipbuilder that occupied the entire precinct since the early 1900s. This redevelopment imagines the ghost of the Machine Shop being reconstructed to support the next century of activity on the North Vancouver waterfront.

The project is adjacent to the ‘Spirit Trail’ pedestrian and cycling path. The Shipyards is conceived of as a belt buckle of sorts, connecting a series of shoreline public spaces. The project acts quite literally as center ice for the urban public life of the North Vancouver while drawing visitors from far beyond. The project was completed as a collaboration between the City of North Vancouver and Quay Property Management. Shane was the project architect on the project while working at Dialog.

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1188 Bidwell

Mid-century Modernism in English Bay

1188 Bidwell is located at the corner of Davie and Bidwell Streets in Lower Davie Village of Vancouver’s West End. This boutique 21-storey, 108 suite high-rise is detailed to echo the mid-century Modernism that characterized the first significant development of the neighbourhood. As of a new generation of development, it pays homage to its neighbourhood through its form and white pre-cast concrete cladding system, while adding contemporary features of livability, sustainability, and community.

The rental suites are provided with outstanding views, balconies and common amenities such as a sky lounge with roof terrace overlooking English Bay; a fitness centre; children’s indoor and outdoor play areas; and urban agriculture plots. The ground level is animated by local retail space and the double-height residential lobby.

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