ROAR_one

Location
Vancouver, Canada
Date
2006
Size
1,950 sq m (21,000 sq ft)
Client
Roar Ventures
Budget
$4,150,000
Status
Complete

The ambition for the Roar_one project is to create a qualitative paradigm shift for everyday urban living and live-work culture through the introduction of choice, flexibility and spatial strategies. The project is situated in Vancouver in the dynamic context of an emerging metropolis on the Pacific Rim. Cultural practices are changing and the city has adapted its urbanity, yet very little of this energy and diversity is being translated into the architecture of innovative residential developments.

For the sustainable metropolis, it seems imperative to develop architectural models that counter urban sprawl, curb commuting and promote increasing urban density. We proposed a departure from preoccupations with representation, material finishes and standardization towards spatial qualities and strategies that are driven by a multitude of live and live/work scenarios in order to allow for unexpected forms of occupation and to catalyze the inventiveness of the tenants.

The absolute maximum permissible building volume was created and then ‘perforated and slotted’ with patios, courtyards and sky gardens for maximum light and air flow. These void spaces, excluded from density calculations, allow for a substantial redefinition and reinvention of an apartment type into the ‘sky house/studio’. Each of them, ranging from 800 to 2000 sf in size, features two levels and double story high interior and exterior spaces in seamless continuity. Aluminum grating sliding screens and extensive bamboo planting is used to regulate seasonal heat gain and to control privacy.

Awards

2008 Governor General’s Medal, Award of Excellence
2006 ACSA Faculty Design Award
2006 Home of the Year Award, Architecture Magazine New York
2006 Lieutenant Governor’s / AIBC Innovation Award
2006 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal, Award of Excellence
2005 National Post Design Exchange Award