Concept A Recommended
This page has information related to the third presentation video that accompanied the community survey that was open from August 20 – September 7, 2020.
Why Concept A?
The team recommends site Concept A, which has three separate buildings. Not only is Concept A the most cost-effective option, it has the best opportunity to provide lots of open space, parking and amenities space. Most importantly this concept option best demonstrates respect for neighboring homes.
Here is more detail to explain how Concept A best meets the site guiding principles.
Site guiding principles
The site guiding principles, providing a guide for developing and evaluating site concept designs, are:
- Working with the natural systems of the site
- Respecting the neighbours
- Developing appropriate density
- Supporting childcare
- Providing amenities for the community
- Maximizing open space for community use
- Improving site access for all
Working with the natural systems of the site
Concept A works with natural system, one of our guiding principles, by:
- locating the buildings above the flood protection zone,
- providing outdoor areas where there is natural light,
- using landscaping to shade the building from the afternoon sun,
- the building doesn’t shade the neighbors, and
- it providing areas to connect to future greenway
Respecting the neighbours
The second guiding principle is respecting the neighbours, and Concept A does this by setting the apartment building, townhomes, and daycare back from the neighboring homes in order to increase privacy and reduce noise.
The proposed apartment building is further from the neighbours than the existing gym. Trees and landscaping provide a privacy screen.
Similarly, the new townhomes are located away from the set back.
Again, trees and landscaping provide privacy to both existing homes and to the new townhomes.
Developing appropriate density
An important part of the project is defining what appropriate density is for this site. In Concept A we’re proposing an apartment building between four and six stories. As you can see from the shadow diagrams, in the spring and fall both the four and six story options have little impact in terms of shading on the neighboring homes.
Similarly, in the summer time, the shadows of the four and six story buildings have very little impact on neighboring homes.
Supporting childcare
Site concept option A provides many opportunities support to support the childcare program. Having three separate buildings will enable the project to be built more easily. A plaza in front of the daycare provides a clear entry point and a drop-off area for the daycare. Parking is provided per daycare guidelines. Crosswalks and Sidewalks increase pedestrian safety. The location of the daycare provides strong opportunity for the design of the building to connect to the land, responding to the slope in a playful manner enables it to provide opportunities for slides and tricycle routes for children.
Providing amenities for the community & Maximizing open space for community use
There are many opportunities within the concept to support resident and community amenities. An outdoor gathering space, a playground, and access to the future greenway are all some of the ideas that have been developed to date.
Improving site access for all
We paid close attention to how neighbours access their homes and developed strategies to not only maintain their current access, but to improve it. We’re proposing a lane that provides fire truck access and site servicing. Crown place will be maintained as the main vehicular route.
We’ve developed two options within Concept A that we’d like your input on as it relates to site access.
Concept A1 you’ve seen already, and includes a lane on the west side of the site, between the church and the townhomes, with the townhome’s front doors and driveways on that side. The plaza is behind the townhomes and the daycare. In this option, the townhomes do not have private backyards.
Concept A2 maintains the existing laneway as part of the church backyard, and includes backyards for the townhomes next to the lane. Between the townhomes and the childcare centre are the front doors and driveway access for the townhomes, meaning there would be no plaza between the two buildings.
Please have a look at the survey to provide input on further ideas for Concept A, and your opinion on Concepts A1 and A2 for site access.