1712 / 1720 Fairfield Road
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PROJECT: Rhodo
ADDRESS: 1712 / 1720 Fairfield Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Gonzales
PROPOSED PROJECT: 20 townhomes with affordable homeownership and with parking for 22 vehicles and 41 bicycles. Dedicated dog wash and storage for paddle boards and kayaks.
CITY ALIGNMENT: Rezoning application in progress
A collection of 20 ground-oriented townhomes, Rhodo is designed as a mews, a sensitive infill development that follows a model that has been used historically in the great pedestrian cities of the world.
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Project Overview
Type of Homes:
Two: 1-bedroom, 450sf (CRD affordable)
Two: 1-bedroom, 625sf
Two: 2-bedroom, 1200sf
Two: 2-bedroom + den, 1375sf
Ten: 3-bedroom, 1,320sf to 1,540sf
One: 3-bedroom + den, 1,850sf
One: 4-bedroom, 2,330sf
The proposed project includes three townhouse clusters comprising twenty strata townhouses centred around a lush internal mews. The pedestrian oriented mews is possible by keeping car’s out of sight in a level of underground parking, thereby creating a park like public/private gathering place in the centre of our project. The site density of our proposal sits at 0.85 FSR which is below the maximum permissible of 1.0 FSR under the Traditional Residential designation in the Official Community Plan. This density is a reflection of the larger site area of 0.60 acres which is a rarity in a built-out neighbourhoods like Gonzales.
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Creating a Village
Following from the urban design concept precedent of a small country village, the project is conceived as a small beach village. Entrances are oriented to the street edge or courtyard. Planters and vegetation mediate between built form and the site edges. Semi-private outdoor patios maintain visual connections to public spaces to allow for interactions between neighbours. The project is organized around a central courtyard to which all pedestrian routes lead. Each building cluster is limited in size to a maximum of 8 homes and provides distinct visible entrances. Each entrance doubles as a semi- public hang out space in the spirit of the stoop on a brownstone reinforcing social connections between neighbours.
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Relationship to Street + Park
The ground oriented townhouse model has been used historically in the great pedestrian cities of the world. In the UK, parts of London and Bath are famed for their Victorian and Edwardian terrace housing. This housing type, provides an excellent street edge condition with visual connections to unit interiors and a semi-public outdoor space. This thickened edge at the building front allows for quiet spaces of repose where one can enjoy a morning coffee or stretch after an evening jog. Along the Hollywood Park side of the site, units give on to outdoor patios with steps down to the park. The building facade in this location has two roles. It acts to mediate light and views from within but it also acts to frame and compliment the park’s eastern edge. So too, the Fairfield Road facade in concert with Montague Court / Hollywood Corners across the street, creates a lively urban edge framing the new urban node that has been created. Key to the success of the project is the creation of engaging edges to both park and street, animating and framing the life of the neighbourhood.
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