SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY RESPONSE 3.0 SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY RESPONSE 58 3.1 Childcare 60 3.2 Community Building 63 3.3 Housing 65 3.4 Green Mobility 68 3.5 Heritage Retention 70 3.6 Heritage Art 72 3.7 Public Art Opportunities POST ON GEORGIA REV 2 - UDP ADDENDUM 57
Childcare Hamilton St The childcare space has been re-oriented to gain a southern exposure and create a more efficient layout. The building has been stepped back along Hamilton St to expand the outdoor space and allow greater access to daylight. Dedicated spaces for preschoolers, toddlers and infants have been identified that meet the City of Vancouver childcare guidelines and provide enhanced indoor/outdoor connectivity. 6 7 2 3 1 4 5 Precedent Images Homer St 3.1 Childcare 1 Lobby 2 Preschooler indoor space (2,600 sf) 3 Toddler indoor space (2,100 sf) 4 Infant indoor space (19,50 sf) 5 Infant outdoor space (675 sf) 6 Toddler outdoor space (1,500 sf) 7 Preschooler outdoor space (3,500 sf) 58
December 21 9:30 AM December 21 10:30 AM December 21 11:30 AM December 21 12:30 PM 59
Community Building Food Truck Provisions Retail Plaza Steps The Post on Georgia will include provisions for dedicated food truck locations with electrical hookups. Food trucks are a viable way to bring local, sustainable food to building occupants and to the surrounding community. They also provide an opportunity for people from the office, residences and the surrounding neighborhood to interact on the site. 3.2 Community Building Retail space on the site will contribute to the surrounding community. The intent of these spaces are to provide neighborhood amenity such as a large format grocery store, fitness center or cinema. People will continue to revisit these kinds of spaces and this have opportunities to connect and interact with their neighbors. There is also opportunity for smaller mom and pop type shops along Hamilton St, as well as in the double height retail arcade on Homer St. The plaza on W Georgia St will continue a legacy of public stairs in Vancouver. There is ample south facing seating for both the public and restaurants or cafes, becoming a node of interaction between the building and the community. Office Roof Deck The roof deck of the office building will provide a significant south facing outdoor space where people from the neighborhood and from the development can gather. There is also an opportunity to have an outdoor sculpture garden where local or public artwork can be showcased. The roof deck could also be used for after hours events. 60
Bicycle Co-op / Repair Area Recycling / Gardening Lounges Podium Roof Deck The bicycle co-op will provide a space for people to interact and help foster a community of cyclists from the development and surrounding neighborhood. Residential Amenity Rooms Communal areas related to socializing, fitness and gardening will be part of a larger amenity strategy to encourage community in the development. Recycling lounges will be included in the development as part of a larger waste management agenda. These lounges will be well lit, clean, oversized and be accessible to all building occupants. They can also be a place for people to store and access supplies for gardening, like tools and soil, as part of making urban agriculture accessible and appealing to users of the building. Like laundry rooms of the past, the lounges provide a space where neighbors will be able to interact with one another and help bring a sense of community to the building. The podium roof deck provides an outdoor amenity space for residents of the building. It creates an opportunity where users of the office, rental and condominium can come together with their neighbors in a shared open space. 61
Hamilton St 2 Community Art Gallery Ground Floor Homer St A community art gallery is proposed along Dunsmuir St. The street level space will contribute to a network of arts spaces in the existing context, including the future Vancouver Art Gallery and Queen Elizabeth Theater. The gallery will provide a place for people to gather, both from the community and those who live in the development. It will provide a place for local artists to showcase their work, and provide a space for community events to take place. The gallery also helps animate the dunsmuir street face with a public amenity that is a space anyone is able to access and engage with. 3.2 Community Building 62
Live/Work Artist Studio Lofts Hamilton St The project site is located in the downtown cultural district of Vancouver, and is in close proximity to many cultural buildings in the area including the home of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Developing a live/work housing type creates an opportunity to engage with the neighborhood identity and encourage artists and young people to move into the development. 33 live/work units will be created, contributing over 40,000 sf to a diverse housing mix in the development. There is the potential for one or more of the live/work units to contribute to the City of Vancouver s Artist Live/Work Studio Awards program where a unit would be provided for a three year term at a nominal fee. The live/work program has the potential to engage with the community art space being provided along Dunsmuir St. There is also opportunities to showcase artwork on the publicly accessible office roof deck, or engage with programmable light artworks that could be incorporated as part of a larger public art strategy. Levels 5, 6 and 7 Homer St 3.3 Housing 63
Example Unit Plans The unit plans will be resolved further as part of design development, but these examples of some typical unit conditions show how the building form and orientation contributes to livability 4 4 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 3 1 Typical Level 1 Bedroom + Den (580 sf) Podium Level 3 Bedroom + Den (1,070 sf) Terrace Level 2 Bedroom + Den (770 sf) 1 South facing vertical planter providing opportunities for urban agriculture 2 Balcony screen provides weather protection and privacy separation 3 Angled wall adjacent living area maximizes views towards the mountains 4 South facing balcony 3.3 Housing 1 Landscape privacy separation between units 2 Linear deck 3 Landscape green edge around building perimeter 4 Minimal openings in wall facing office building to ensure privacy 4 1 South facing vertical planter providing opportunities for urban agriculture 2 Balcony screen provides weather protection and privacy separation 3 Angled wall adjacent living area maximizes views towards the mountains 4 South facing balcony 4 South facing landscaped terrace 5 64
Bicycle Co-op Space Automated Bicycle Parking Green Mobility A bicycle co op space provides an area in the development for residents and the public to access bicycle repair maintenance facilities Enhanced Bicycle Facilities The Giken Eco Cycle system is able to provide 200 additional publicly accessible bicycle parking stalls in the development Car Sharing The Green Mobility Strategy as part of the Rezoning Policy for Sustainable Large Developments has been developed to give further consideration to design elements that achieve higher sustainability standards and positively influence the built environment of the city. The development will include features such as wide access corridors, end of trip facilities, covered, lit and secure class B bicycle parking and enhanced way-finding Spaces will be provided for car share vehicles that will be available for residents of the development as well as the public 3.4 Green Mobility 65
Bicycle Facilities Hamilton St 1 Automated Bicycle Storage 5 An automated bicycle system accessed from grade has the opportunity to add up to 200 bicycle stalls in addition to the minimum class A stalls required by the City of Vancouver Bylaw. The Giken Eco Cycle system from Japan is being investigated as a potential system able to achieve this goal. 2 Bicycle Co-op 2 5 Ground Floor 3 1 4 5 5 Homer St Space for a community bicycle co-op such as Pedal Society which already operates locations in Vancouver will be provided along Dunsmuir St. Dunsmuir street is a major cycling artery giving the co-op a prominent location to engage with cyclists in the area. 3 Class A Bicycle Parking A centralized bicycle parking area provides 1,055 class A bicycle parking for the office, residential and retail uses. Wide aisles and connectivity through the block provide easy access and navigation. 4 Enhanced end of Trip Facilities Enhanced end of trip facilities will be provided with a detailed proposal coming through further design development 5 Class B Bicycle Parking Class B bicycle parking will be provided around the perimeter of the site at all major entrances. The Class B Spaces will be in secure weather protected areas with enhanced lighting and way-finding. The inclusion of facilities such as tire pumps will also be considered. 3.4 Green Mobility 66
Parking 1 Centralized Mobility Zone Hamilton St Located adjacent to the access ramp, a zone has been created on parking levels 1 and 2 where accessible stalls, childcare parking, electric vehicle charging and car share vehicles can be centralized. In addition to being close to the ramp and vertical circulation it provides a space separated from typical parking so people unfamiliar with the parking lot (such as those accessing car share vehicles) can easily access and navigate the space. 1 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Level 3 fast-charge Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations are proposed in addition to Level 2 EV charging stations which will be provided to meet the City of Vancouver Rezoning requirements. The design will be flexible to allow for the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations in the future. 3 Car Share Car share vehicles will be located close to the access ramp to encourage use. Through further design development a car share operator will be involved to advise on the number of spaces. 4 Parking There are 376 parking stalls less than the amount permitted by the City of Vancouver parking bylaw. Parking is shared between the office, retail and visitor parking, allowing for a minimum number of stalls to efficiently service the project. Level P1 4 Homer St 2 2 2 3 3 3 67
Heritage Sustainability The adaptive re-use of the full city block building is fundamentally sustainable in itself. One of the key sustainability features comes from the reuse of the existing Post Office building, contributing significant savings in embodied energy. The energy that is saved is primarily embodied in the existing concrete and steel, additionally avoiding the energy costs and landfill implications of demolition. Approximately 22,800 Tonnes of Carbon is saved from the reuse of existing concrete Approximately 2,050 Tonnes of Carbon is saved from the reuse of existing steel Approximately 42,982m 3 of waste is saved from not demolishing the former Post Office Overall the energy savings are generally equal to the amount needed to power all the proposed rental units in this project for 10 years. This is in addition to the other sustainable commitments of the project, including LEED Gold Neighborhood Development overall and LEED Platinum Core+Shell for the office building. Retaining the existing heritage podium is also a visual expression of the environmental and social sustainability inherent in preserving and adapting existing building. 3.5 Heritage Retention 68
Heritage Asset The Post on Georgia will be one of the largest heritage retention projects in Canada, and the largest in Vancouver. The project is committed to adapting and reusing a significant portion of the existing structure, while ensuring that the resulting development makes a significant contribution to the community and the city. An adaptive reuse project of this magnitude is both environmentally and socially sustainable, but also challenging in its endeavor to not just retain the facade, but to wholly revitalize the existing Main Post Office. The project celebrates the history of the building and will allow the public to be able to actively engage and interact with a piece of Vancouver s history that currently has no urban quality or public access. 69
Postman On the southwest corner of the Main Post Office there is a 4.9 meter tall bas-relief of a postman carved into Swedish red granite by Paul Huba. The postman bas-relief dates from 1956, and stands above the inscripted cornerstone, which was laid in 1955. The postman bas-relief is in good condition. It is proposed the carving will be moved just adjacent to it s current location so that it faces the public Plaza and is visible from W Georgia St and Homer St. 3.6 Heritage Art 70
Public Artworks 1 Tile mural by Paul Huba 3 Lobby Mailboxes As part of the scope of work it is proposed to retain culturally significant commissioned public artwork for use in the rehabilitated Main Post Office. This chapter provides guidelines for the retention and/ or relocation of the public artworks that are to be retained. 1+2 The Tile mural by Paul Huba located in the eastern wall of postal hall and the Painted mural by Orville Fisher located in the Homer Street elevator lobby will be relocated in appropriate space determined through further design development that accommodates it s full dimension. A professional conservator has been engaged and will be involved in the relocation and restoration process. 3 The Lobby mailboxes with etched glass panels above are property of The Canada Post. They are hoped to be retained and integrated into the new proposal. 4 The Canadian Arms located on the W Georgia St facade will be cleaned and retained in their current location. A professional conservator has been engaged and will be involved in the cleaning and restoration process. 2 Painted mural by Orville Fisher 4 Canadian Arms 71
1 Interactive Sculpture This is a preliminary assessment of opportunities for Public Art in the project. The Public Art process will be developed in accordance with the City of Vancouver Public Art Policy. 1 3 2 Programmable LED Wall 2 2 1 4 4 3 Integrated Light Art 4 Light Projection 3.7 Public Art Opportunities 1 There is an opportunity for sculptures that could engage the public both on the plaza on W Georgia St and on the publicly accessible roof deck 2 After office hours the facade facing W Georgia could have programmable LED displays that engage with the ceremonial street and larger cultural programs in the area 3 Lights along the roofline or building fins could give the project a night-time identity and use color to relate to heritage elements such as the cobalt tiles 4 The solid panels of the existing podium could become a digital canvas for light projections that engage with Queen Elizabeth Plaza. 72