Aperture Housing, Vancouver Building Development, Canadian Real Estate Architecture Images

Aperture Housing in Vancouver

New Willow Street Homes in BC, Canada property design by Arno Matis Architecture

2 Jul 2018

Aperture Housing – New Homes in BC

Design: Arno Matis Architecture

Location: 5688 Willow Street, Vancouver BC, Canada

Aperture Housing

Façade openings are programmed to provide passive shading, and act like an Aperture: opening and closing in response to the unique solar exposure of each façade. Apertures are deeper on the south elevation to provide increased sun shading, and more shallow and open to the North, to allow for additional light.

NATURAL WOOD IN GLASS SKIN: Each aperture is framed with natural wood-in-glass; a building skin that is the first of its kind. Two years of R&D resulted in a mahogany veneer encapsulated between two glass layers, the system allows the wood to be preserved in its natural form without staining or color treatment; the richness of the natural wood grain is enhanced through refracted light.

Encapsulated UV glass protects wood from weather exposure, eliminating the need for wood maintenance. The insulated panel also reduces solar gain and increases the thermal resistance of the façade.

RESPONSIVE MASSING: A full city-block located in a “single-family-transitioning-to-urban” neighborhood, the building responds to this context by stepping-down in scale from 6-storey midrise blocks on the busy arterial, down to two-storey villas, sensitive to the single-family neighborhood to the north.

The six building blocks are bisected with water gardens and bamboo courtyards that animate volumes with reflective light. The shallow massing results in bright, light-filled residences.

Stratigraphic architectural themes echo the area’s mid-century modern architectural vocabulary. Cantilever decks and strong horizontal lines and create a sense of lightness and lower the massing profile.

COMMUNITY: The building’s ‘campus-like’ massing creates interstitial social spaces within a traditionally introverted, single-family neighbourhood: landscaped courtyards, mid-block water fountain and seating, and a fully-communal rooftop terrace that includes urban agriculture, a children’s play place and BBQ areas where all can share striking rooftop views.

USER NEED: The project responds to a larger vision of expanding the public transit system and creating walkable, synergistic density around station sites. As a result of focus group research by the architectural team and meetings with community stakeholders, the residential unit mix was designed to fill the specific needs of two distinct demographics: young first-time buyers and down-sizing empty nesters that wished to age-in place in their community.

For the young buyers, smaller units were introduced to improve affordability. A generous, fully-shared roof space on each building increases the community feel and includes urban agriculture and children’s play places.

For the empty nesters, the focus is on mobility and aging in place. These units are slightly larger with fully accessible bathrooms and door widths that facilitate wheelchair access. The lane villa units include power, and shaft spaces with floor knock out panels to accommodate small elevators.

Aperture Housing, Vancouver – Building Information

Project size: 98000 ft2
Site size: 34234 ft2
Project Budget: $30000000
Completion date: 2017
Building levels: 6

Services: Architectural Design
Type: Residential (Multi-Family and Stand-Alone Single-Family Villas)
Size 98,000 SQ FT
Status: Complete 2017
Location: 5688 Willow Street, Vancouver BC
Collaborators: Design Architect: Arno Matis;
Acoustic Consultant: Brown Strachan
Building Envelope: Spratt Emanual
Construction: Urban One Builders
Concrete: Butler Brothers
Costing Consultant: BTY Group
Code Consultant: LMDG Building Code Consultant
Electrical/Mechanical Engineer: Integral Engineering
Geotechnical Engineer: GeoPacific Consultants
Interior Design: I3 Design
Landscape Architect: Phillips Fervaag Smallenberg
Structural Engineer: Fast & Epp Structural Engineer
Sustainability Consultant: Integral Engineering
Traffic Consultant: Bunt & Associates Engineering