A couple days ago, and I joined a group of 30 or so young architects, planners, developers, and other community members on a tour exploring unique forms of housing in Strathcona and Railtown. The tour was put on by LoHA, the , which is a local non-profit focused on exploring and building housing alternatives for creative and emerging professionals (i.e. me, and probably a bunch of you as well).
The tour started off at Strathcona fav , where we meandered down the block to the Schoolhouse building at E Georgia and Princess. Mark and Leslie Shieh of , the people behind this project and a few others ( at Westminster Quay), explained how the project was inspired by traditional Chinese family courtyard housing, and showed off some of the neat adaptive spaces they designed into the units. Need more office space? Just move the wall!
One of the really cool things about this project was the focus on bringing the heritage value forward, rather than simply restoring the 1940s schoolhouse to its original state. Strathcona is changing, and this project was intended to be a case study of how new, multi-generational housing could be sensitively and beautifully added in established communities. Probably my favourite feature of the project is the ground-floor community space which was built to accommodate a huge range of uses including a restaurant or a cafe - it's already been used as a daycare, yoga studio, art workshop, and pop-up restaurant, to name a few.
Next we wandered around the corner and down an alley to find one of the oldest existing laneway homes in the city - a super cute, laneway cottage from the 1890s (renovated in 2006) with a small bedroom loft and gorgeous garden patio. While new laneway homes are popping up all over the city (1049 permits have been approved since the City's EcoDensity program began), it's great to see examples from previous generations receive the love and attention they deserve.
Jake Fry, , prompted us to really consider the size of the space (400 sq ft), and how much space we use on a daily basis. Small isn't a compromise as long as it's designed well - cozy spaces really emphasizing quality and comfort can easily end up being more enjoyable than larger, poorly designed spaces. If you're curious to learn more about Vancouver's laneway housing initiatives, check out the City's .
From there we headed off to Japantown to take a look at a pretty awesome (seriously though) building recently completed by at Powell and Jackson. It's the shipping container housing you may have heard about in the news earlier this year - the first of its kind in Canada. Atira, a not-for-profit organization committed to the work of ending violence against women, operates the adjacent heritage building and the newly added homes in the 12 shipping containers.
Janice Abott, Atira, took us through the process of realizing the project - from finding the containers, to putting in the finishing touches. A few benefits of using shipping containers as the frame in which to create a home included the low cost (around $83,000 per unit), quick construction time, and durability of the containers. These things carry cargo across the roughest seas in the world in stacks of up to 8 containers - there are few safer places I'd rather be in an earthquake. Thanks to the low construction costs and work of Atira, the surprisingly comfortable 280 sq ft units go for as low as $600/month, dependent on income.
More than simply container housing, this project creates safe space for women who call the Downtown Eastside home - and women who have an invested interest in mentoring the young women next door in the Imouto Housing for Young Women through Atira's Intergenerational Mentorship program. I really think this is a phenomenal project and can't wait to see more like it! to learn more.
The final stop on our tour was The Edge building at Gore and Alexander. This one really blew some of us away - even Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»nerds like me who thought we'd seen everything in this city! Khang Nguyen, and resident of The Edge, invited us into his gorgeous loft and told us about the amazing diversity of stuff going on in the building. It's a live/work building with a range of different units and a jaw-dropping 7,000 sq ft of amenity space which included a gym, metal shop, woodworking shop, pottery studio, darkroom and large format printer, recording studio, and on and on! My jaw was on the floor.
In the world of increased liability, many don't think it's likely a similar project could be built today - and even the current strata has had to change some rules here and there (for instance, as more families move into or mature in the building, access to some of the workshops needed to be restricted to 18 and up, unless accompanied by an adult).
What can we expect with the future of housing in Vancouver? We're more than just a city of glass condo towers - if you don't believe me, head out on your own and learn a little more about the sites we visited, or just take a wander around an unfamiliar neighbourhood and you'll be sure to discover a thing or two. As the city gets more connected, more amazing community-supported projects are bound to spring up.
If you'd like to learn more about LoHA take a look at their website at . Make sure to keep an eye open for more events coming up next month!
