Cameron to bring outdoors in
New development features pitched roofs, wood and timber detailing
When Manuela Mirecki considers the sleek wall of sculpted ripples that will greet homeowners in the lobby of Cameron, Ledingham McAllister’s new Burnaby project, she reflects on the personal and the professional: the ways it evokes the natural surroundings of the building, and the warm memories of her childhood.
Many years ago, Mirecki and her family lived a 10-minute walk from Cameron, a project at Noel and Cameron Streets in Burnaby.
Mirecki’s mother would often take her and a friend to lunch at Ferrell’s, a café at the Lougheed Mall, where they’d have grilled cheese sandwiches and a dessert of rock candy.
“This was in the heyday of roller skating and we used to skate all over the neighbourhood from house to house and building to building. My knees still show the scars of those days,” recalls Mirecki, Ledingham McAllister’s senior vice-president of marketing and design.
The architecture of Cameron — West Coast Contemporary style characterized by pitched roofs, generous overhangs, and extensive use of wood and timber detailing — reflects its location, the natural setting Mirecki explored in her youth.
Indeed, Cameron will overlook Stoney Creek, and be surrounded by trees, slopes, a fish-bearing stream and an enhanced wooded ravine.
“…We are building in a residential community that goes back 50 years, as well as (standing) adjacent to a protected green space and salmon-bearing stream of Stoney Creek.
“The single-most important thing was to blend into the mature landscaping and small-scale residential feel,” she says. “When the community is complete, our goal is for the public to not be able to imagine that anything else could or should ever have stood there.”
Mirecki is heartened to have witnessed many positive changes in the neighbourhood. It has evolved to become more diverse, “but the feeling when I go there is still the same.”
The neighbourhood is still primarily residential with a central hub of amenities of the Lougheed Town Centre. Mirecki notes that it has also become more transit-oriented, with a greater range of services and a more vibrant population, she adds.
“I would say that the sense of residential community has really not changed; it has just expanded to be more inclusive and diverse.”
Cameron is also noteworthy for the range of units, from one-bedroom homes to three-bedroom residences measuring almost 1,200 square feet. Many also include dens.
Homes offer spacious outdoor spaces, while inside, features include engineered hardwoods in the main living areas, cut-pile carpet in the bedrooms, and kitchens that are fitted with quartz counters, ceramic backsplashes and KitchenAid appliances.