Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/218643
lumic photo Kiwanis Garden Village by Peter Caulfield wo new apartment buildings for seniors are about to open the doors in West Vancouver. The wood-frame buildings – called Cypress and Terrace – in Kiwanis Garden Village are slated for completion in November/ December 2013 and January 2014, respectively. Together the buildings will contain 139 apartments of affordable seniors' housing. Cypress and Terrace are being constructed on the site of six smaller apartment buildings, built about 50 years ago, that were demolished to make way for the new project. One of only three non-profit lowincome housing developments in West Vancouver, Kiwanis Garden Village is located between 21st and 22nd Street at Haywood Avenue. Cypress and Terrace join two seniors' apartment buildings already on the site, Kiwanis Court and Kiwanis Manor. The four buildings that make up Kiwanis Garden Village are owned and operated by the Kiwanis Seniors Housing and Community Services Society of West Vancouver. Bob Heaslip, president of the organization, says, "Together these four buildings will realize one of the Society's long-term goals of creating an affordable community to help seniors age in place in the West Vancouver community that they have lived in and contributed to for years." Tying the new residences to the existing buildings required extensive re-landscaping, which was undertaken by PWL Partnership Landscape Architects Inc. "The community garden is the heart of the project," says Karin T Kiwanis Garden Village p64-67Kiwanis.indd 65 England, landscape architect. "It connects the new development to the existing Kiwanis Court, bridging the gap between old and new. It features garden plots, edible plants, an outdoor amenity patio and a central seating area." England says the landscape has a sustainable design. "We're using permeable pavers on the parking bays to decrease stormwater runoff," she says. "We're also using durable and re-usable materials that reduce long-term environmental impacts and maintenance. Efficient irrigation and careful selection of plant material will ensure that water use will be kept to a minimum." England adds that the biggest landscaping challenge was meeting the needs of the Kiwanis Garden Village residents and the constraints of the site. "Because this is a seniors facility, the slopes on the walkways needed to be kept to accessible standards," she says. "But the site has a lot of grade change – typical of West Vancouver – and getting accessible pathways to connect the buildings was a challenge." The solution was to create level terraces at the community garden connected by a long sloping walk. "This ensures the residents have complete access to the site," England says. VIA Architecture Inc. selected durable, low-maintenance building materials for Cypress and Terrace. "The main building material is wood," says Charlene Kovacs, lead design architect and project manager. "Wood is durable, cost-effective, renewable, climatechange neutral and it helps to support B.C.'s Wood First Initiative." In addition, the new buildings feature exterior finishes of brick, Hardie board and cedar soffits. "The project addresses the fundamentals of sustainable infrastructure with sustainable elements incorporated into the buildings and the site," says Peg MacDonald, project architect. These elements include enhanced building envelope insulation, triplepane low-emissivity windows, energyefficient light fixtures and low-flow water fixtures. "In addition, to reduce the need for electricity, we are taking advantage of daylight by using larger windows and full-wall-glazed amenity rooms," MacDonald says. Sunshades will mitigate solar penetration on southfacing units, and the heat-recovery ventilation system will reduce the energy needed to heat the buildings. Connelly Mechanical Systems Ltd. assisted in finalizing the mechanical design and details. Willie Perez from Perez Engineering had come up with the preliminary design that would conform to the energy modeling requirements, utilizing roof top air to water heat pumps as the primary energy source combined with heat recovery ventilation. "The HVAC systems needed to provide clean, fresh air without breaking the client's bank on energy consumption or install costs," says Chris Gray, president of Connelly Mechanical Systems Ltd. "We provided our knowledge to overcome issues such as materials selection to conform with the FT rated fire stopping of the drainage piping system, efficient domestic water piping and ductwork design. We suggested a standalone Glycol injector system, amongst other ideas." The project is following LEED Silver standards, but will not be certifying with the Canada Green Building Council. When the two new buildings are opened, Kiwanis Garden Village will have a total of 304 residential units around a central community garden. Cypress will have 63 units in a december 2013 /65 13-11-15 4:01 PM