Fire Hall No. 5 (located at East 54th Avenue and Kerr Street) is being replaced with a new, more efficient structure built to LEED™ Gold standards. The new firehall will include a new training room that supports the community with CPR and first aid courses, blood pressure clinics, and training for volunteer emergency groups. There will also be thirty-one suites of social housing for women-led single parent families. The social housing will be managed by YWCA Metro Vancouver
The Fire Hall No. 5 component will be approximately 13,000 sq. ft. The YWCA housing component will be approximately 33,000 sq. ft. which comprises 31 two- and three-bedroom units and amenity space.
Following the upgrade of an existing community center, the Vancouver Parks Board commissioned Walter Francl Architecture Inc. to design the new Trout Lake Community Centre building and Bird Construction to build it. The new facility is a two-storey high 3,448 m2 Community Center including a large fitness centre and training room, gymnasium, dance studio, large multipurpose rooms, art and pottery studios, preschool, meeting rooms, and administration areas. Located in John Hendry Park, Trout Lake Community Centre provides a spectacular gathering place for the community to enjoy.
The Kitsilano Neighbourhood House is a registered non-profit charitable organization and a member of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of British Columbia. A variety of services are provided by Kits House, including childcare, seniors’ services, and numerous community programs and events. The redevelopment of Kits House features fifteen units of new seniors housing, infilled between the existing Community Hall and Heritage House. Both the Community Hall and Heritage House have undergone renovations, providing more comfortable and flexible spaces for their community uses and improving energy efficiency and green building performance.
Located in the heart of Edgemont Village, the recently renovated Capilano Branch Library is a cornerstone of its community. The LEED-EB: O&M certified building has new design features including a reading area, an enhanced children’s section on the main floor, a new Teen area on the second floor, a quiet study room, automated check-outs, public computer terminals, plus a great selection of books, music, movies and much more.
The library has established a Green Cleaning Policy to reduce the exposure of building visitors and staff to potentially hazardous chemical, biological and particulate contaminants. A sustainable purchasing policy was created to reduce the environmental impacts of materials acquired for use in the operations, maintenance, and upgrades of the building.
Completed in 2009, the replacement of Trout Lake Ice Rink at John Hendry Park in Vancouver was the first stage of revitalizing this important civic gathering place. The LEED-NC Silver certified rink and skater’s lounge provided necessary practice space for the 2010 Winter Olympics and now serves the public interest.
In an effort to maximize use of the Park, the building was oriented perpendicularly to 19th Avenue, opening up sight lines and providing a more natural approach and pathway system. The use of wood culled from the Stanley Park windstorm is testimony to sustainability and a West Coast sensibility.
The West Vancouver Memorial Library (WVML) was awarded LEED Canada for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance Silver certification, thereby becoming the first existing building in British Columbia to be LEED Canada EB: O&M certified and the first library in Canada to achieve the status.
The 56,000 square foot library added new mechanical and electrical systems. Between 2006 and 2010, the WVML reduced electricity consumption by 34 percent. The building also adopted a sustainable purchasing policy for ongoing consumables and electronics.
