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VisionIn 2040, Britannia will be the vibrant heart o Grandview-Woodlands, seamle
connecting to the neighborhood with lively homes and shops that join the c
the community, and ostering urban habitat with water management and ri
zones.
Goals1. Improve connectivity
2. Increase building density
3. Integrate water systems
4. Integrate uses
Although this design seeks to increase density on the Britannia site, retaininstructures is a priority. Inll i s used to dene entrances on Napier Street and
Street. New buildings block alleys on Napier Street; however, the alleys are s
sible rom Parker and William Streets. The current library is broken up with so
tures remaining to improve connectivity on the site. New buildings have bee
to both increase density and to create a street grid pattern to improve conn
More opportunities or social enterprise have been created by including a Fa
Market, store ronts on Commercial Drive, gallery and perormance space, a
teaching kitchen, and aordable residences. The design includes opportunit
education and personal development, too, with the inclusion o a teaching k
amily centre, technology training acility, and university satellite campus. Fi
elementary school has been moved to an area urther away rom Commercia
into its own campus, to address concerns o parents.
As a result, Britannia is more walkable, legible, and better connects to the su
neighborhood, becoming less o a campus. Increased oot trac in conjunctto better entrances and connections will make Britannia more lively and invi
Ecological-inspired design o stormwater management will encourage more
on the site, as well as tempering hot summer temperatures and dampening
surrounding arterials.
Vision
Napier Street
Venables Street
William Street
Charles Street
CottonDrive
WoodlandDrive
McLeanDrive
CommercialD
rive
Not to Scale
Parker Street
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DescriptionBritannia Community Services Centre Society was created in 1974 to develop
acilitate educational, recreational, library and social services or the commu
o Grandview-Woodland and Strathcona. The Britannia Community Services
Society includes the Vancouver School Board, the Vancouver Public Library B
the Vancouver Board o Parks and Recreation. Together, the Society manages
acre complex which consists o a seniors centre, child care centres, racquetb
and mat room, swimming pool, elementary school, secondary school, comm
inormation centre, our gymnasia, public library, teen centre, learning resou
tness centre, ice rink, and meeting rooms. Currently the Society is undertakpublic process to rethink its acilities and ser vices.
50 m 250 ft
Venables Street
William Street
Charles Street
WoodlandDrive
McLeanDrive
CottonDrive
CommercialDrive
Napier Street
Parker Street
1. High School Caeteria & Gym A/B
2. High School
3. Ice Rink
4. High School
5. Pool & Fitness Centre
6. Gym C
Legend
1 2
3
4 5 6
8
7
9
10
11
12
7. Inormation Centre
8. Elementary School
9. Seniors Centre
10. Gym D
11. Child Care Centre
12. Library
Study Area
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25 Program Requirements
Net Change (m2)
Community 13,201School 460
Retail 2,277
Residential 13,936
Total 29,874
Vision Buildings SummaryThis design retains 9 Britannia Community Centre buildings and adds 16 new
tures. The net change is 15 buildings, plus additions to existing buildings, wi
o almost 30,000 m2 o new space or community programming, schools, ho
shops.
While Britannias campus currently provides just an elementary school, high
public library, and recreational space, this design accounts or the ollowing
Industrial Live-Work
Farmers Market
BCSC Social Enterprise Retail
Cae and Teaching Kitchen
Family Centre
University o British Columbia Learning Centre / Annex Campus
Homes
Stormwater management (bioswales and constructed wetland)
Not to Scale
Community
Garden Elementary School
UBC Annex
Light Industrial Live-Work
Tech Training Centre
Farmers Market
Residential
Perormance Space &Art Gallery
High School
Pool & Gyms
Residential & BCSC Space
Residential &
Retail
Family Centre
Social Enterprise
Library
Residential &Social Enterprise
Cae & Teaching Kitchen
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25 Design Rationale
3 4 5 Mobility
3 4 5 Mobility
Mobility, Waste 2 3 4 Energy
3 4 5 Food
3
Energy 1 2 3 4 5 Food, Waste, Water
Energy, Waste 2 3 4 5 Mobility
3 4 5 Energy, Mobility, Waste
3 4 5 Mobility, Waste
Energy 1 2 3 4 5 Food
Energy 1 2 3 4 5 Mobility, Food
Improve Accessibility
Expand on top of existing buildings
Expand into underutilized and paved land
Provide better socializing and support areas
Create more activity over 24 hours
Improve connection to Commercial Dr
Improve connection to Venables Street
Separate Elementary School
Improve greenspace in Britannia
Provide covered outdoor areas
Integrate food services
Legend
Conflict 1 2 3 4 5 Synergy
Charrette SummaryOn Saturday March 6, 2010, students rom the University o British Columbia and the BCSC Soci
a charrette open to the community to create a vision or Britannia in 2040 and identiy principle
should guide the design process.
A classmate and I ran a conceptual design discussion station. The purpose o our station was to
ideas rom community members attending the charrette about what the Community Centre m
like in 30 years. We placed a 1:400 scale aerial photograph on a table surrounded by 8 chairs.
We acilitated three rounds o discussions at our stations. Generally, each o the discussions oll
the same ormat, and we had about six to 8 people per session. First, we introduced ourselves. Tdescribed the purpose and goals o our discussion station, and explained that since we only ha
talk about a ew o the goals, we could to ocus on environmental areas on the site, housing an
opportunities, and community spaces.
Second, we introduced the aerial map, including the main streets and our location on the map.
was clear that people knew where the various buildings and roads were on the map, we placed
tracing paper on the map and spread pens around the table. We invited community members tpens and identiy areas during the discussion.
Third, we started the discussion around the table by asking people about Britannias uture ent
the heart o the Community Centre. We wanted to nd out i people thought that in the uture
would have the same entrances or whether they would change. We also wanted to know where
o Britannia would be in the uture. Two o the three groups identied that the heart o Britanni
uture would be where it is now between the library and the seniors centre on Napier Street. group identied the uture heart o the community as being between the elementary school a
southeastern corner o the high school.
Finally, we introduced the topics o environmental sustainability, business, and housing opport
Talking about environmental sustainability was challenging, because the topic i s large and vag
The community goals list to the let emerged out o the discussions at this discussion station. T
bars under each goal illustrates the impact the goal has on energy, water, waste, mobility, and
systems. Generally, a yellow rating means that the goal has a neutral eect on the system. Red m
the goal is in confict with the system. For example, creating more act ivity over 24 hours leads t
energy use, which is in confict with an ecient energy system. Green means that the goal suppsystem. For example, improving connections to Britannia rom arterial streets is synergistic with
As a result o organizing community priorities and eedback in this way, I decided to ocus on imthe water systems in Britannia while also seeking to improve connectivity, increase density, and
uses on the site.
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25 Improve Connectivity
Primary Path
Secondary Path
Pedestrian-Oriented Street & Bike Path
Car-Oriented Alley
Interaction with Grandview-Woodlands
Destination within Britannia
Legend
DescriptionCurrently, Britannia is hard to navigate on oot. The site rests on a slope, with
lowest point on the western portion o the site sitting 16 meters below the h
point on the east. As a result, the site is divided by staircases and dead ends,
make it dicult or people unamiliar with the site or with mobility challenge
navigate.
This new design seeks to give the Britannia site a block pattern, increasing th
number o paths within the site and connections with the Grandview-Wood
neighborhood. The design preserves automobile and emergency access to t
on two North-South streets. Access to commercial and light industrial alleys preserved, though the alleys have been blocked o to Britannia in order to imthe pedestrian experience.
The new grid pattern also create paths that end at popular destinations, suchrink, the library, the swimming pool, the high school, and the elementary sch
A new path created to connect Napier Street to McLean Drive bisects a soccewith micro soccer pitches. The path can be accommodated by moving the so
while retaining pitch size.
Component Width (meters)
Primary Path 6 to 8
Secondary Path 2 to 4
Pedestrian-Oriented Street & Bike Path 4 to 6
Car-Oriented Alley 4 +
Pedestrian-Oriented Street wi
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25 Increase Density
DescriptionThis design seeks to retain as many existing structures as possible, while also
increasing density, mixing uses, and creating a better street grid pattern. The
buildings are new structures. The buildings highlighted in green have been m
The library, or example, has a wing removed on Napier Street in order to imp
pedestrian experience on Napier, by opening up views o downtown Vancou
West. Other existing structures have additional foors to accommodate resid
community uses. The additional foors could be airy glass and steel structure
on top o existing buildings to avoid triggering seismic upgrades. The new e
school buildings take advantage o a 4 meter drop in elevation and could bevered over a pond or wetland area at the bottom o the drop.
O note, three new buildings close o alleys to Britannia along Napier Street.
should improve the pedestrian experience on Napier, which is important giv
this is the main entrance c urrently to Britannia.
New Buildings
Modications to Existing Buildings
Legend
Net Change (m2)
Community 13,201
School 460
Retail 2,277
Residential 13,936
Total 29,874
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Stormwater Management System
Legend
Integrate Water Systems
DescriptionOne o the central design eatures o this site is the extensive use o bioswale
the buildings, which capture runo rom streets and roos. The swales take a
o the sites contours and eed water into rain barrels and the constructed we
the northeastern corner o Britannia. The swales could also be daylighted str
historic river maps show many streams under the Britannia site.
As bioswales are vegetated, their inclusion on the Britannia site addresses a
o community concerns. A major concern o community members is that Brit
eels too paved, so increased vegetation creates a more natural environment
the site. A second concern is that Britannia becomes very hot in the summerconcrete buildings absorb and radiate heat, while there are not many shadeSo, increased vegetation will temper the heat island eect o the concrete an
on site. A third benet o this design is increased habitat space in Britannia.
Water rom rain barrels, having been ltered on green roos, can be used to i
the community gardens and other natural planting on site. The constructed
can unction as educational and recreational opportunities. For example, the
or wetland area on the northeastern corner o Britannia could become a pop
weekend destination, as the area is mainly residential and has a Farmers Ma
perorming arts space, and a gallery.
Daylighted stream with bridge Green Roo
Green Roos
2 meter contour line
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25 Integrate Uses
DescriptionTo improve the pedestrian experience in Britannia, attract newcomers to visi
Commercial Drive and Venables Street, create 24 hour uses, create communi
unctions on under-utilized land, and improve accessibility, this design integ
variety o uses into the Bri tannia site.
Commercial Drive is mainly a retail-oriented street with one, two, and three s
buildings. To improve the entrance rom Commercial Drive into Britannia on
Street, the centres main entrance, alleys have been blocked with ground foo
enterprise spaces and two foors o residential use. The social enterprises in t
location could be yoga studios and a ood cooperative, because they would income or the BCSC Society, t into the existing commercial abric on the Dbring in newcomers to Britannia. The retail uses on Parker Street could be sp
oriented, as many o the recreational acilities are located nearby.
Venables Street is primarily a light industrial corridor. As the City o Vancouv
protect its rapidly dwindling industrial areas, it is important to maintain this
Farmers Market is well-located on Venables, as delivery trucks can enter the
Industrial live-work units on Cotton Drive create another entrance to Britann
celebrate the streets existing use.
The purpose o placing retail, social enterprise, and residential uses on the t w
surrounding Britannia is to attract newcomers to the site. Currently, Britannia
and many people do not k now that it exists. A street ront presence would m
centre more noticeable.
More destinations are added to the site, including continuing education, a co
kitchen, more recreational acilities, an art gallery, and perorming arts space
The inclusion o residences in Britannia, though controversial as community
ear privatizing public space, would make Britannia eel saer at night.
Commercial
Residential
Light Industrial
School
BCSC Social/Learning Spaces
BCSC Recreational Spaces
Legend
Residential/BCSC Mixed Use
Social Enterprise
Industrial Live-Work
Residential/Retail Mixed Use
Residential/Social Enterprise
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25 Section & Detail Plans
Site Section looking North
Detail Plan o residential area and construc
Detail Plan o Napier Stre
Note: The site plan and site section were originally hand drawn a
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25 Shadow Study
21 December, 3 p.m.
21 December, 12 p.m.
21 March, 3 p.m.
21 March, 12 p.m.
21 June, 3 p.m.
21 June, 12 p.m.
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25 3-D Views
Parker Street
Napier Street lo
Cotton Drive lo