AN APPEALING POSITION
Adera’s Crest takes a convenient location in North Vancouver’s Central Lonsdale
Rhys Leitch liked the design of Adera’s new Crest residential development in North Vancouver’s Central Lonsdale district so much he decided to buy a unit in the complex.
There’s nothing unusual about that, until you learn that Leitch is a principal and lead project designer for Crest’s architects, Integra Architecture Inc.
“I am most proud of the fact that I want to live there — and will be living there,” said the Aussie transplant. “I have done a number of buildings and designs in my life so far, but this one stuck out as one where I would like to live.”
Apart from the physical appeal of the design, a variation on West Coast modern with liberal use of stone, exposed wood beams and floor to ceiling glass, Leitch is also enthusiastic about the use of a newer wood material in Crest’s construction — Cross Laminated Timber or CLT. The mass timber construction product, which has been gaining in popularity, is attractive to developers like Adera.
CLT is made of engineered wood panels, typically three to nine boards thick, and laminated with special glues at high pressure with each layer laid in a different direction to create a strong building material.
Leitch said CLT will be used in the floors, the firewalls, the elevator shafts and the roofs in Crest.
“There are a lot of good reasons to use CLT,” he said, adding prefabrication is one of the main ones. The panels are manufactured in factories like a set of parts. The panels are pre-drilled to take cabling and conduits and all panels are coded for particular locations on the building site.
In addition, the panels make for less wastage, are environmentally friendly and usually come from local trees, and are strong compared to concrete and steel, he said. They also have a major attribute that appeals to homebuyers concerned about fires; Leitch says they tend to char rather than burn like conventional wood, reducing the spread of flames.
Finally, CLT panels also have the ability to reduce sound transmission, as a demonstration for buyers in the Lonsdale and 12th presentation suite showed. Sales manager Linda Therrien takes a visitor into a small room built with conventional gypsum and the other built with CLT and activates a device that makes a thumping noise. The noise level difference between the two rooms is quite noticeable.
Crest has lots of other favourable features too. It has a very high “walk score,” rating a 94 out of 100 on a scale that ranks developments for the convenience in being close to various amenities such as grocery stores, cafes and restaurants, and public facilities such as libraries, hospitals and public transportation.
There are two modern colour schemes provided by Portico Design Group, including a mix of whites, greys and warm wood tones. Flooring throughout the entry, living room, dining room and kitchen is wide-plank laminate, with an option to upgrade to engineered hardwood. The penthouses have exposed wood ceilings.
In the kitchen are Fisher & Paykel refrigerators with a KitchenAid stainless steel appliance package, including a gas range. Plumbing is by Grohe with pullout sprays. Counters are done in quartz with large-format backsplash tiles.
Penthouse buyers can upgrade to a Jenn-Air combo five-burner gas range with built-in wall oven and a Jenn-Air stainless steel dishwasher and Broan slide-out hood fan.
There are a number of other ways that all buyers can personalize their homes, including choosing waterfall gables on kitchen islands, air conditioning, swapping out a tub for a shower with pivoting glass door and Grohe hand-held shower system in two-bath homes, wind screens and roller shades, upgraded closet organizers with shelves and drawers, and custom millwork for TV wall units, for the fireplace, and for dining buffets.
At the entrance to the buildings are cascading water features with fountains. Amenities include the West Coast Club with a gourmet kitchen and lounge for entertaining, a luxury fitness room with high-end equipment, a shared outdoor space for relaxing, secure bike and storage lockers, EV charging stalls, and a newly revived adjacent green space for pets.