heart of grandview - britannia urban design project

8/7/2019 Heart of Grandview - Britannia Urban Design Project

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Heart of Grandview Design or Britannia Community Services CentreDaniell

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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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25 Britannia Today

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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25

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

heart of grandview - britannia urban design project

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