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FEBRUA RY 2016 | 67 3030 Gordon Project PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY DYS ARCHITECTURE 3030 Gordon Project by ROBIN BRUNET I f it weren't for the fact that it's tucked away on a quiet street just off a main thoroughfare of Coquitlam, B.C., the four-level building at 3030 Gordon Avenue looks like a mid-range hotel with its clean horizontal lines, abundant windows and attractive cladding. But even though the building exudes efficiency and gives off a welcoming vibe, it isn't for tourists; instead, it's for locals. Specifically, locals who have been forced through circumstance to spend their nights in back alleys and doorways. As the latest addition to the portfolio of the non-profit operator RainCity Housing and Support Society, 3030 Gordon Avenue is the first housing project of its kind in Coquitlam. In development since December of 2011, the 35,000-square-foot LEED Gold building contains 30 bedroom shelter units with common washrooms for short-term stays; 30 traditional suites resembling small studio apartments for those who require more time to stabilize their situations; and 30 beds intended for extreme weather situations (30 beds in total, divided evenly into three dormitories). These three residential components are situated on the upper levels and segregated from one another. The ground floor contains a full service kitchen and dining area, administration facilities, space for medical care, housekeeping/laundry and lounge space. Behind the building, the backyard consists of parking, leisure space, and storage and leisure structures. But what is most remarkable about the project purely from a design and construction viewpoint is that RainCity in collaboration with dys architecture, Ventana Construction Corporation and a host of seasoned consultants were able to deliver 3030 Gordon Avenue under fast-track circumstances and for a budget of only $8.5 million. "A lot of our success could be attributed to RainCity's considerable experience in developing shelter housing, and this project had its fair share of challenges, not the least of which was the unexpected discovery that soil conditions were less than favourable and required a rethinking of our design," says dys principal Richard Stout. "Frankly, it's amazing to me that the whole team pulled everything off on time and on budget." 3030 Gordon Avenue is the culmination of a decade-long attempt to secure shelter for the region's homeless, and the City of Coquitlam is credited for providing a property with an asset value of under $500,000 that could accommodate the facility, paid for by the B.C. and federal governments under the Canada-BC agreement for Investment in Affordable Housing. George Simpson, operations and property manager for RainCity, says the efficiencies of development required to create a building with such a modest budget began with basing the design on what they've learned in past projects. "3030 Gordon was based on an existing shelter in Vancouver and shares many design and security elements, with each upper floor more or less being a mirror of each other, in stack formation," says Simpson. Dys, which dedicates a portion of its business to creating non-market housing, was retained for the project in 2012. "In addition to creating an efficient design we also planned for the future," says Stout. "In accordance with BC Housing regulations, the bedroom shelter units in Gordon can be combined into self-contained, longer-term stay studio units down the road: therefore, centre walls are not structural walls, and all the services are roughed in for conversion." Early on, geotechnical consultant Horizon Engineering Inc. discovered that the site had a high water table and sandy soil, and this obliged dys and the owners to reconsider some aspects of the facility. "We couldn't build a basement, so we placed the mechanical room on the roof and created backyard storage for the residents' shopping carts and bicycles," says Stout, adding that the backyard became a design focus. "We also created a smoking shelter/storage facility that resembles a train station due to the property's proximity to railways tracks, and there is even a small car park zone – so instead of a flat, featureless backyard, our space has a strong visual appeal with many cedar details, a generous patio and landscaped green space. Even the benches were milled from salvaged decaying trees on site." The sandy soil required Ventana Construction Corporation to drive piles as deep as 100 feet into the site. "It's a testament to Ventana's expertise that they were able to pull this off and build the facility in a short time frame," says Stout, to which Simpson adds, "Fortunately, the summer of 2015 was long and hot, so the Ventana team had the weather on their side. But still, considering the site was basically swamp land, the builders had their work cut out for them." The same applies to structural consultant Fast + Epp, who designed the piling caps and floating slabs. Another challenge was mitigating the noise coming from nearby railroad traffic. With the aid of acoustic specialist BKL Consultants Ltd., it was decided to mitigate in a variety of ways: by building an eight-foot-high concrete wall around the backyard; creating a six-inch thick block layer between the wood frame of the building and the metal cladding; and by installing special acoustic windows with a larger air space and thicker glass than conventional windows. 3030 Gordon Avenue opened in late December. "If we were to build another shelter elsewhere and had the opportunity to do so, we would use 3030 Gordon as a template. We're very pleased with the way the project worked out," says Simpson. A LOCATION 3030 Gordon Avenue, Coquitlam, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER RainCity Housing and Support Society OWNER DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT CitySpaces Consulting Ltd. ARCHITECT dys architecture GENERAL CONTRACTOR Ventana Construction Corporation STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT Fast + Epp MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Consulting Group Ltd. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. CIVIL CONSULTANT ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT Horizon Engineering Inc. ACOUSTIC CONSULTANT BKL Consultants Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Hapa Collaborative INTERIOR DESIGN Shrubb Design Partnership Inc. TOTAL SIZE 35,000 square feet TOTAL COST $8.5 million 9:12 AM 8:29 AM

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