Welcher Avenue Affordable Housing

Welcher Ave is a net-zero energy ready affordable housing project poised to showcase our client’s (Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation) leadership in environmental sustainability and climate change resilience, while also charting a path forward for social inclusion, dignity in housing and community empowerment in the context of the region’s affordable housing crisis.

Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation is a non-profit subsidiary organization to the Metro Vancouver Regional District dedicated to providing safe and affordable homes across the Metro Vancouver region.

The project is nestled within a dense mid-rise residential context near the Port Coquitlam downtown core, close to schools and recreational facilities. Ultimately, the aim of the project will be to house low-income families of various sizes and diverse backgrounds and encourage tenants to take the initiative to get involved with each other and the larger community.

The simple building form, kept simple to increase envelope efficiency, reflects this intent by pushing the building to the north of the site carving out a courtyard maximum sun exposure and orientating the building towards the surrounding community.

Along with providing a community-oriented affordable housing project, the core of the project is providing healthy, comfortable, and equitable homes for families in a way that is committed to high energy performance and leadership in sustainability. Amongst other tools, the design team used the Happy Homes report as a way to frame and refine the project goals of providing safe, dignified, and community-building spaces with the aim of supporting social wellbeing and connectivity.

Welcher celebrates community connection and amenity throughout the project. On the ground floor, the generous indoor and outdoor amenity spaces are adjacent to each other allowing for welcoming, resting, gathering, cooking, eating, playing and gardening.

In alignment with Metro Vancouver’s goals and the core values of this project, the building offers a high ratio of 2 bed and 3 bed units, all with plenty of daylight and access to a balcony. Each floor contains its own shared laundry room - reducing costs and allowing for more space within the units. 

As a thoughtful consideration to the quality for the families in this building, the design also incorporates natural daylight and visual connection to the larger community at each end of the hallway.

The project is primarily family-oriented, however, considerations for diversity of family size and aging in-place are also incorporated. Inclusion was also a primary focus for the project, incorporating nearly double the minimum required number of accessible suites and going above and beyond the required adaptable suites.

In parallel with the design of the building, a Net Zero study was conducted in order to push the design to a Net Zero Energy Ready design. The study was tasked with outlining strategies for the project to achieve a Net Zero Energy Ready building. After the completion of the study, we were fortunate enough to be asked to implement the results of the study into the project.

To identify challenges early and streamline overall project execution, a clear definition of the study’s goal was needed, We operated through an Integrated Design Process that included many participants such as the consultant team, various departments in the client’s organization, as well as industry experts such as ZEBx,the BCIT’s High-Performance Building Lab, and the Pembina Institute

The focus of organizations took part in this collaborative study focused around cooperative learning, holistic integration, and whole systems thinking. This was in a way that keeps schedule and budget at front of mind.

Energy efficiency without sacrificing tenant comfort or increasing tenant utility bills was the mandate through the entire design process. In the end, an innumerable set of energy conserving measures was implemented into the project. 

A number of these are illustrated in the diagram above. However, the three measures that had the biggest impact for the lifecycle cost were: in-suite on-demand domestic hot water panels which eliminates the need for hot water boilers; a high-performance envelope; and an upsized HRV which meant lower velocity and energy consumption of fans.

The outcome of the study meant that the performance of this building will be exemplary and looks to being on the leading edge of multi-family high-performance buildings contributing to the health and well-being of the people and the environment of the local place. 

This project will ultimately help carry forward our client’s, Metro Vancouver, Climate 2050 strategy and build capacity and cohesion within the project team as the team will undergo training for Passive House construction at the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s High Performance Building Lab.

Client: Metro Vancouver Housing
Location: Port Coquitlam, BC
Estimated Completion: 2025
Team: Local Practice (Architecture), RDH Building Science (Envelope + Energy), Fast + Epp (Structural Engineering), Rocky Point Engineering (Mechanical Engineering + Fire Protection), O’M Engineering (Electrical Engineering), H.Y. Engineering (Civil Engineering), HAPA Collaborative (Landscape Architecture), Pontem Group (Code), and BTY Group (Quantity Surveyor).