Project Tag: Public

River District Parcel 30

Located in Vancouver’s River District near the Fraser River, Parcel 30 is composed of two residential towers with a podium extension, joined by a single shared parkade. In response to its geographical context, this project is imagined as a tree sitting along the bank of the Fraser River, with a simple core ‘trunk’ and the slabs as ‘bows’ extending out to a lightened point. Like a misty morning on the riverbank, the building is shrouded in lightweight and lightly coloured screens and corrugated materials that obscure the structure behind with different levels of transparency depending on the perspective.

At grade, both buildings provide residential amenity space fronting the courtyard, while commercial retail spaces in the east building and ground-oriented flats in the west building further activate the streetscape. Masonry in warm, natural colours is used at lower down on the building to offer a more tactile and human-scaled experience, while the towers primarily employ cool-toned metal and glass to reinforce the mist-like effect.

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Other Projects

(1) Arbutus Centre Redevelopment (2013)
(2) False Creek Towers (2009)
(3) CBC Building (2009)

In all our work, we strive to create buildings that are connected to their surrounding community, making the neighbourhood a more vibrant and enjoyable place to live. Each project provides a unique opportunity to enhance this connectivity through thoughtful design at all scales.

Projects like the Arbutus Centre Redevelopment, False Creek Towers, and CBC Building all showcase this interplay with the public realm and careful attention to the public/private transition.

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Fraser Mills

Designed as an 82-acre mixed-use development, the design focused on a mix of uses including major employment nodes and light industry as well as up to 5 million sq. ft. of mixed residential uses, highlighted by a three-block Main Street leading to a waterfront pier at the Fraser River Edge.

Flood mitigation and river edge rehabilitation is a major part of this design. The project was focused on two kilometres of continuous publicly accessible waterfront, and a two-acre park. Design work was led by Alan Boniface while at HBBH.

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Planning Projects

(1) Cowichan First Nation
(2) Diamond Ave
(3) Bowen Island Seymour Landing
(4) Leq’á:mel First Nation Deroche
(5) Westbank First Nation Kelowna

Urban design and planning are essential to the creation of healthy vibrant cities. Because of this, we believe in focusing our practice on the large and small city-making undertakings that truly make a difference. We combine this with our core architectural practice to continue our goal of creating locally focused vibrant communities. In our work we have also found that smaller oftentimes forgotten, communities, especially some First Nations communities, benefit greatly from this wholistic approach.

We believe that the best urban environments are vibrant, sustainable, walkable, and designed to grow with the community itself. We work closely with our clients and partners to bring their vision to life, creating joyful, livable neighbourhoods and connected communities.

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JJ Bean

Featured locations: Bidwell, Cambie, Dunsmuir, False Creek, Fraser, Lonsdale (North Van), Marine Building, St. Clair (Toronto)
Not pictured: Railway, Adelaide (Toronto)

JJ Bean built its brand on providing great service, great coffee and food, and great spaces. To deliver great spaces, each location is unique and responds to the neighbourhood or the building it finds itself in. Our work on ten locations in Vancouver and Toronto makes the history, character, and found condition the inspiration for the design.

Each location seeks to provide a memorable and highly particular experience. From a contemporary interpretation of Art-Deco ornament at the iconic Marine Building to an abstracted walk along a forest hiking trail at the Lonsdale store, each design finds a way to link the interior to local character.

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Coronation Park

Boasting mountain views to the west and situated adjacent to Inlet Centre SkyTrain Station, Coronation Park is the ideal location for a people-centered mixed-use development that envisions the transformation of 14.8 acres of an existing single-family residential area into a series of parks, open space, and podium gardens amid low and high-rise residential buildings incorporating office, retail, daycare, amenity spaces, and homes. The project is designed as an essential piece of the Port Moody urban fabric as a place of community interactivity, small-scale commerce, and a sense of home. These critical design elements are not just for those who choose to live and work here, but for the greater community beyond. The Central Green (City-owned park) overlooking the Inlet will become a jewel for Port Moody, locals could gather and take part in any number of diverse activities.

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River Mile Denver

Representing one of the most significant Urban redevelopments in the United States, the Rivermile seeks to reconnect Denver to it’s river edge while providing a publicly focused, sustainable and walkable urban environment. Focused on a approximately 3-acre central park and gathering space, the development seeks to create a thriving mixed-use urban district unlike any other. With approximately 15 million square feet of development, a variety of walkable experiences characterize the spaces between buildings and along the River’s edge.

All of the mile long river’s edge is publicly accessible, highlighted by pedestrian bridges over the South Platte River. Roads have been carefully designed as pedestrian first environments and all parking and loading is accommodated on building sites. Alan Boniface helped lead the project for Revesco in partnership with SAR of Denver.

Visit River Mile

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River District OCP

River District, also known as East Fraser Lands, is embedded in layers of rich history, and meaning. Our design for the Waterfront Precinct seeks to unite the community with the Fraser River, making the riverfront an inseparable part of the East Fraser Lands experience. As the ‘soul’ of the project, the Waterfront Precinct includes the pedestrian-oriented High Street (now named River District Crossing), that gently curves towards the water, opening views out to the river, and terminates at a highly active and unique waterfront area.

The precinct contains the tallest buildings in the East Fraser Lands, making it the focal point of the community. All these buildings feature a mix of uses and a variety of housing tenure options including affordable, rental and market housing units. The Community Centre, local shops and services, waterfront retail, riverfront parks and plazas form part of this area and are key components of this vibrant waterfront.

Area 1’s master plan process (OCP and rezoning) has concluded, while Area 3 is currently in-process.

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Strathcona VPL/YWCA

The necá?mat ct Strathcona VPL/YWCA ‘Cause we Care House’ Project is a joint project of the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Public Library and the YWCA. The building integrates three component parts: a new Library Branch, 21 affordable family housing units, and program space for single mothers and their children operated by the YWCA.

The new Library Branch serves the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona, and Chinatown areas. It provides full library services including a book collection, computers, a children’s programming space, a teen programming space, multipurpose meeting spaces, maker-space, reading areas, and library staff workspace. The project achieved LEED™ Gold Certification.

The architecture was conceived to present a welcoming, double-storey ‘living-room’ open to Hastings Street. The striking faceted glazed library frontage stands out on the block of commercial storefronts to signal its intention to engage with the neighbourhood. A second storey meeting room that is shared by all uses and can be rented by the public is cantilevered over the sidewalk and main entrance to be seen and to project its public function into the street. A neon VPL sign celebrates the local retail signage and character of East Hastings street and its landmarks like the Astoria and Ted Harris Paints. Robust but refined materials, brightly coloured balcony elements and outdoor amenities on the laneway side help to add vibrancy to the area and distinguish the building as a local landmark and community amenity.

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Revelstoke Schools

Centred in a small mountainous community, the Revelstoke schools were designed as the community hub for both scholastic endeavours and after-hours community activities. The structures were designed to LEED Gold credentials and included heating derived from the waste heat of a nearby mill. Significant use of local wood including a unique code allowance for a 3-storey interconnected wood structure in an assembly use were incorporated.

The high school and elementary schools were co-located to allow for cross-over of students and local evening and weekend uses. A community theatre available at all times highlights this critical local functionality. As designed, the schools have become the community focus of the town over time.

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