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OCTOBER 2017 | 53 Kensington Gardens RENDERINGS COURTESY WESTBANK PROJECTS Kensington Gardens by ZUZANNA WODZYNSKA E ast Vancouver in B.C. has been quietly redefining itself in recent years. The addition of the latest mixed-use development in the Norquay Village neighbourhood and retail strip is expected to provide a much-needed catalyst for revitalization to the area. Located on Kingsway, a major thoroughfare in the area, Kensington Gardens features retail space at podium level that will house a supermarket and other retail tenants, as well as three residential high- rise towers with 398 units and mid-rise townhouse residences. The amenities are worthy of any five-star hotel, with an impressive set of private residential amenities: a lounge with billiards table; meeting and study rooms; a media centre; and a sauna for personal use, health and enjoyment. An elevated garden courtyard with a private outdoor pool is the undeniable centrepiece of the project, with a hot tub, lounge chairs and outdoor barbecue. Inside, the luxurious touches continue with elegant wide-plank engineered wood flooring in brushed oak throughout the main living spaces and sleek roller-style shades in the wall-to-wall windows. "The homes are intelligently designed with the highest level of luxury and comfort. The floor-to-ceiling windows capture natural light and expansive views of downtown Vancouver, Richmond and Mount Baker beyond," notes Farouk Babul, project lead. Durable kitchen counters made of Corian, Bloomberg stainless steel dishwashers, fridges and freezers, European cabinetry and Miele stainless steel gas cooktops give the kitchens a modern feel. Meanwhile the bathrooms feature a quartz vanity countertop and backsplash, Duravit toilet and undermount sink, bathtub and Grohe shower arm and faucet. "These finishes set a new benchmark for style and sophistication for the neighbourhood," says Michael Braun, Westbank's director of marketing. One of the most distinctive features of Kensington Gardens, however, is the ratio of balcony to interior living space. "Traditionally, condo projects in downtown Vancouver have had about four percent of total space dedicated to balconies," notes Gregory Henriquez, principal at Henriquez Partners Architects. "In Kensington Gardens, balconies account for 10 percent of the total space. That ratio is even higher when you take into account the rooftop and terrace spaces." The green rooftops, communal fruit trees, herbs, berries and vegetables will also help set a new standard for sustainability in the neighbourhood. Mixed-use projects have grown in popularity over the years and the engineering challenges they produce now have well-developed solutions. "It's fairly common to see this type of project in Vancouver where you have more than one tower coming down to a podium, so it's something that we are used to solving," says Fadi Ghorayeb from Dialog. "We just need to be careful when doing seismic design and ensure we have the proper reinforcing details." In this case, where there are four separate buildings connecting at the podium level just above the grocery store, the seismic design does become more challenging. "We created a 3D model of the structure to include everything: the parkade, the retail structure, the podium, the three towers LOCATION 2220 Kingsway, Vancouver, B.C. OWNER/DEVELOPER Westbank Projects ARCHITECT Henriquez Partners Architects GENERAL CONTRACTOR Icon West Construction STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT DIALOG MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Yoneda & Associates ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT Nemetz (S/A) & Associates LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS PFS TOTAL SIZE 406,000 square feet TOTAL COST Undisclosed and the fourth mid-rise structure," notes Ghorayeb. "Using the model, we can then make sure that under varying seismic conditions in an earthquake everything is behaving in a way that prevents collapse or physical harm." As these towers come down to the podium level, the layout changes, and here again, though not atypical, a complexity is added to the project that requires a carefully thought- out solution. "When we go from residential to commercial, all the columns have different spacing and a different structural grid so there's a fairly extensive transfer structure," explains Ghorayeb. "That's where the columns come down and there's nothing underneath so we had to make sure that we're taking that loading and putting it on the columns below through the roof of the retail space." Occasionally, architectural design features require creative engineering solutions. Kensington Gardens features a significant amount of architectural concrete and the design team at Henriquez Partners Architects was very specific about where they wanted to see construction joints. The structural design had to adapt and use a different approach to the typical construction sequence normally used to comply with this architectural concept. "Typically, we would pour the columns, then pour the slab, and then go back and pour the upper columns, creating two joints in the slab," says Ghorayeb. "The architects only wanted to see one joint so we had to come up with special connection details where the slabs and beams connect to the columns." Overall, the project was designed to both stand out as a striking contemporary building in an expanding neighbourhood, and also create a welcoming sense of community. "The neighbourhood is a melting pot of cultures: Vietnamese, Chinese, Indo Canadian, and Caucasian, along with young families, older people retiring, or young professionals looking to be close to downtown," comments Westbank's Braun. Kensington Gardens was designed to appeal to that broad customer base. One thing that will also stand out is the public art installation, 108 Steps by Khan Lee, a 140-foot-tall ladder whose rungs extend upwards into the sky, inviting viewers to reach higher and to imagine what seems otherwise unattainable. The ladder will be installed in a traffic barrier along Kingsway directly in front of the project. The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2018. A 12:51 PM 7:38 AM

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