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OCTOBER 2018 | 45 Victoria International Marina PHOTOGRAPHY BY REUBEN BUTTERFIELD – MICROBRAND AGENCY/COURTESY VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL MARINA Victoria International Marina by LAURIE JONES H aving the designation of being the only one of its kind in Canada, the Victoria International Marina is an impressive luxury yacht haven for the wealthy. The custom-built moorage can accommodate 28 vessels ranging in length from 65 to 175 feet. Built by Community Marine Concepts (CMC), the Marina also offers business facili- ties, an exclusive reception lounge, a private Captain and Crew Lounge for yacht crew, executive concierge ser- vices plus the Waterfront Parlour, which can accommodate private events for up to 100 people for a seated func- tion, or 200 for a stand-up reception. Netta Douglas, marketing director for CMC, says the Victoria International Marina was built keeping super yacht owners in mind, including everything from high-end finishes to the services offered. "When we opened the docks in May, we hosted the Melges 24, an inter- national sailing race from our marina. We had over 160 sailors and about 300 people in total coming and going, plus 40 sailboats coming in and out of the marina for nine days. It was impressive how the facility handled the flow of people with more than adequate space. It's one thing to plan a project on paper, but when the physical form is there and it all worked as well as it did, it is some- thing to be proud of." Douglas adds that CMC CEO Craig Norris engaged Synergy Enterprises for environmen- tal consultation before construction began to influence the design in a meaningful way. Both buildings on the site – the ame- nities centre building and the Boom + Batten restaurant – are supported by 15 pilings, so not being a land- based structure caused some design challenges. "These buildings face onto a stretch of the Songhees Walkway, which is a park, so services for the buildings were very complicated," says Peter de Hoog, principal at de Hoog & Kierulf architects. "We were not allowed to run services through the park so we had to extend them down to the end of the street and back along the foreshore. That required extra con- crete and encasing of pipes and ducts, which also required foundations so they wouldn't slough off into the ocean. But you don't see that when you're walking around the area." He adds the Songhees Walkway is a statutory right of way so the public will always have access to the build- ings in the daytime. "That was part of the requirements when the land was originally zoned. It also meant adding six or eight feet of walkway around the building, which might not normally be done. Between the marina and the shore is a right-of-way for kayakers so if they are coming from the Inner Harbour, they can stay on the inside of the marina and go under these two buildings so they don't have to go into the main channel." The stunning interior of the Victoria International Marina reflects a concept based around a distillation of the Pacific Northwest. "We wanted to acknowledge what we as occupants of the Pacific Northwest most iden- tify with in terms of being proud of our locale," says Ann Squires Ferguson, CEO of Western Interior Design Group. "The palette of this project is a combi- nation of wood, metal, glass, and stone. The furnishings offer the softness and complement the tactile nature of the finishes." She adds the floor in the main event space is a work of art. "We worked hand in hand with Rada Resurfacing to layer multiple coats of the metal- lic pigments and high gloss clear coats. The striations and organic movements are literally an extremely large scale painting. It's intended to be a map of the seabed of Victoria Harbour with aquatic greens transitioning to deep oceanic blue." Adding ambiance to the room is a custom, ethanol gel fire- place with a stone hearth quarried on Vancouver Island by K2 Stone. Also, in the main building is the Captain and Crew Lounge, a home away from home for yacht crew featuring show- ers, a small gym, a prep kitchen, and an area for relaxing with privacy pods where people can watch a movie, have a nap or call home. The interior walls, partitions, and all the pods in the Lounge are DIRTT Environmental Products, manufactured in Calgary. The walls in the crew pods also have a wraparound image created by a local photographer, Leanna Rathkelly, who took photos of the old growth for- est in Goldstream Provincial Park. 9:38 AM

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