- Mixed Modal – Co-Housing, Co-Working, Co-Active
- January 2022
- Mixing Middle Competition – Second Place & Co-Winners of the Planner Prize
- Stephanie Coleridge, Catherine He, Anne Lissett, Claire Schumacker, Bonnie Vahabi
PROPOSAL SUMMARY
The future of mobility in Vancouver will be active. Designated active-mobility ways already permeate the city; with bikeways connecting parks, commercial streets, community centres, work centres, schools, and residential neighbourhoods efficiently and safely for non-car users much of the year. These routes discourage vehicular traffic, except for local use.
MIxed Modal takes its cue from the Hillcrest Bikeway, which passes through the site and seeks to eliminate car circulation on this route to further enhance safety and increase the appeal to a variety of people using scooters, bikes, hoverboards, and skateboards, as well as pedestrians. By slowing the speed of travelers, this route becomes the prime vector for neighbourhood-integrated commercial development because small businesses are more visible to both the surrounding neighbourhood and to active commuters passing through. Larger commercial streets typically are vehicular thoroughfares and major bus-routes, and can lead to noisy, polluted, and congested spaces for people. Whereas activated neighbourhood streets can be green, quiet, and inviting spaces for people to walk their dog and get a coffee, cyclists to pause on the way home for a few groceries, and for scooter-riders to grab a drink with friends on a patio.
This proposal looks at how properties adjacent to active-ways can combine small-scale, ground level commercial spaces with residential use above and live-work townhouses, all wrapping a vibrant communal courtyard. Alongside a redesigned, car-free active-way, small commercial spaces can be creatively integrated into existing residential areas.
By encouraging locally-run commercial nodes and increasing residential density in a bold form that works with the typical Vancouver residential block, the Mixed Modal concept will be a catalyst for friendly, neighbourhood intensification.
COMPETITION WEBSITE
For complete details on the Mixing Middle Competition and results, see the Urbanarium website: https://urbanarium.org/mixing-middle-competition