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A residential/industrial mixed use facility in Vancouvers’ Cedar Cottage district for a sustainable re-integration of life and labour

University of British Columbia

This project developed around the idea that many of our current unsustainable building practices are predicated on ideas of control that are unnecessary. The list of control mechanisms is extensive, these mechanisms are used, to determine privacy and security, to avoid having to adjust to the activities of others (freedom), and to eliminate the variations of weather and climate. Many of these devices masquerade as provision of comfort, but have lead to an alienation from both the physical and social realms. This project develops an exterior courtyard/loading bay area where people must engage and negotiate their needs and desires in a complex world of differing objectives. This world is outside of the prescribed and ordered world of the current zoning practice. It is a space that is small enough for the individuals' voice too be heard, and because the space is so essential to all users—everyone must participate in (and influence) the negotiation of how the space would be used. Many historically public activities such as laundry and bathing are returned to the public realm to aid in resource conservation and to develop social contacts. In turn, loading the courtyard with diverse activities, addresses the issue of activating such spaces without invoking the consumerism that the typical retail solution suggests. Exterior circulation extends the space of the courtyard to every entry and avoids sterile and alien corridors and stairwells. These circulation nodes are enriched with planters to embrace the seasonal and biological cycles, and also provide areas of social contact. Private roof top gardens and greenhouses to provide a counter-point to the extensive public spaces. In addition, the development of this space offers opportunities for food production, and a variety of solar energy strategies.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-20

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6306

Architecture

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace