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CLIENT BRIEF

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DESIGN BRIEF

A 12-storey mixed-use residential and commercial tower on the eastern 2000-block of Main Street, Mount Pleasant, Vancouver. The site is bounded by East 4th Avenue (north), East 5th Avenue (south), Main Street (west), and a north-south laneway (east), measuring approximately 36m x 50m (1,800m2 footprint). Currently zoned IC-1 (light industrial / commercial mixed-use), the project requires a CD-1 rezoning under the Broadway Plan to unlock station-area density near the future Mount Pleasant SkyTrain Station.

SITE CONTEXT: The site sits on the north slope of Mount Pleasant with a significant grade change — the laneway to the east is a full storey above East 4th Avenue, creating a split-level ground condition. View Cone #22 (Main Street) protects public views of the North Shore Mountains from East 6th Avenue, constraining tower height and massing on the western portion of the site. Immediate neighbours include the Native Education College longhouse campus (1985) to the south — a culturally significant First Nations institution whose single-storey longhouse building and outdoor gathering spaces must be respected through sensitive massing and shadow analysis. To the east, The Watershed (1996) is an artist live/work loft building typical of the area's light-industrial heritage. The former City Centre Motel site (2111 Main St, 1954) across the lane is approved for two towers of 22 and 24 storeys under Broadway Plan CD-1, establishing the emerging scale of the neighbourhood.

PROGRAM: Podium (Floors G-4): Ground floor anchored by a community market hall (350m2) and maker spaces (200m2) honouring the area's industrial-arts character, with a double-height lobby on Main Street. Floors 2-4: flexible commercial / creative office (~2,400m2 GFA, ~800m2 floor plates) with exposed structure, targeting local design studios and tech co-ops. Tower (Floors 5-12): 60 residential units — 100% secured market rental with 20% below-market units per Broadway Plan inclusionary requirements. Unit mix: 30% studios, 40% 1BR, 25% 2BR, 5% 3BR. Tower floor plates max 604m2 per Broadway Plan guidelines. 1 level underground parking (25 stalls — reduced ratio per transit-oriented development) + 200 bicycle stalls and end-of-trip facilities. Rooftop amenity terrace and urban agriculture plots (250m2) for residents. Grade-level public courtyard (~600m2) along the laneway, mediating between the building and the NEC campus.

BUDGET & SCHEDULE: Total construction budget $68M CAD. Target construction start Q2 2027, occupancy Q4 2029. Value engineering reserve: 10% contingency.

SUSTAINABILITY: BC Energy Step Code Level 4 mandatory per CoV requirements. Target TEDI of 15 kWh/m2 per yr, TEUI of 100 kWh/m2 per yr. Embodied carbon target: 350 kgCO2e/m2 (structure + envelope). WWR strategy: 45% south and west (with exterior automated blinds), 55% north (mountain views), 35% east (laneway/NEC interface — privacy). Passive strategies prioritised: triple-glazing, high-performance envelope (R-30 walls), heat-recovery ventilation, solar-ready roof. Rainwater harvesting for courtyard irrigation and toilet flushing.

STRUCTURE: A centrally-located RC (reinforced concrete) shear wall core is MANDATORY as the primary lateral system — the client and structural engineer of record have committed to a single RC core housing all elevators, egress stairs, and MEP risers, doubling as the lateral-load-resisting system. All structural recommendations must assume `lateral_system = 0` (RC central core). Do NOT propose perimeter walls, moment frames, or coupled-core systems. Structural grid: 8.4m x 8.4m (commercial podium), transitioning to 7.5m x 7.5m (residential tower) via transfer slab at Level 5. The split-level grade condition requires a stepped foundation — the east side bearing on native till at the laneway grade, the west side requiring deeper piles through fill to reach bearing capacity. Seismic Zone 4 (Site Class D — stiff soil) demands significant lateral design; the RC core is sized to resist full base shear.

CODE & ZONING: CD-1 rezoning under Broadway Plan. Mixed occupancy: A2 retail/commercial, D office, C residential per BCBC 2024. View Cone #22 shadow analysis required — tower massing must not penetrate the protected view corridor. Max FSR 7.0 (Broadway Plan station-area tier). BCBC Part 3 accessibility and Part 9 energy compliance. 4-hour spatial separation on the NEC property line.

KEY TENSIONS: View Cone #22 constrains tower placement to the eastern portion of the site, away from Main Street frontage — conflicts with desire for a prominent Main Street address. The NEC longhouse campus to the south demands respectful shadowing (max 2 hrs shadow on gathering spaces at equinox) vs. maximising residential views north to the mountains. Split-grade foundation cost vs. opportunity for laneway-level courtyard activation. Heritage industrial character (maker spaces, exposed structure) vs. modern residential acoustic and thermal performance. Reduced parking ratio (transit-oriented) vs. market expectations for a rental building. Transfer slab at Level 5 adds structural cost but enables the podium-to-tower grid shift necessary for efficient residential floor plates.

FORM CONSTRAINT: Simple stacked massing — the tower footprint stays aligned with the base. No top-plate offsets, cantilevers, or rotated tops. The building reads as a coherent, orthogonal mass consistent with Broadway Plan tower typologies. Sectional moves (podium/setback/stilt/garden) are encouraged, but top_offset_x, top_offset_y, and top_rotation must remain at 0. Plan typology must NOT be Courtyard (planType=1) — the narrow 36m site footprint and ~604m² tower floorplate make a useable interior courtyard impractical; Solid, L-Shape, U-Shape, or Split plans are all acceptable.

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