Vertical neighbourhoods meet new social needs
Canada’s housing market is changing. The towering cranes that dot the centres of many cities mark a vertical departure from the low-rise sprawling landscape to which we have become accustomed since Second World War. We are gradually closing ranks with European and Asian nations where most people reside in apartment buildings.
Several reasons have joined to create a “perfect storm” of motives that led to a shifting of gears. A leading cause is no doubt affordability. Young firsttime homebuyers, most of which are millennials, whose earnings do not match those of their parents and who are burdened by student loans can simply not afford a single family detached house. Maintaining one has also become a challenge with high energy and municipal tax costs.
Shifting demographics came to the forefront in recent years with small household size and the decision by many to delay having children or to remain childless. And then, retiring boomers are drawn to a condo unit in the heart of cities where they can find plenty of entertainment, medical services and convenient public transit.
A close scrutiny of our apartment building design demonstrates that not much has fundamentally changed in the past half century. Recently designers have made these towers look slicker and have even improved their performance, but their layouts remain much the same. You walk into a lobby to find an elevator and ride up to exit on a floor with apartments on either side of a corridor. The building, depending on how fancy it is, may also have a gym and a swimming pool.
The development industry hardly attempted to push the envelope and introduce concepts that the contemporary households described above need. In other nations where living in an apartment building is a longstanding tradition, architects have created several designs that challenge old forms. Growing food indoors, play spaces above ground, common meeting rooms, and units with home offices or central business centres are some ideas that one finds in novel designs. The buildings form convenience centres and help people meet and develop a sense of communal ownership. When several buildings are constructed next to one another, they include other functions like hotels, cafés and offices to form a 3-D multifunctional neighbourhood.
I visited such complex on a visit to Beijing. Linked Hybrid is a large mixed-use development made up of several linked structures that includes 750 dwelling units with a gross floor area of 2,152,782 sq. ft. The goal of architect Steven Holl was to create a twenty-first century porous urban space that functions as a city within a city due to its multifaceted layers.
Situated on a site adjacent to Beijing’s old city wall, the pedestrian-oriented development is inviting, walkable and open to the public. Various links or bridges connect each part to the next, essentially redefining the notion of public urban space. It promotes encounters and interactions across realms of commerce, housing, education and leisure. One can consider the development a three-dimensional community where spaces on, above and underground are fused together efficiently.
To further enhance social interactions in the public space, Linked Hybrid’s ground level offers foot passages for residents and visitors to create interesting spaces with shops around a central reflective pond infuse life. On the intermediate level of some of the buildings, roof gardens offer tranquil green spaces, and at the top of the eight residential towers private green areas are connected to the penthouses. Every ground level public function including Montessori school, a hotel, restaurant, kindergarten and cinema has a clearly defined connection to the green spaces.
The designers integrated an elevator that travels to the sky passages on upper levels. A multi-functional series of sky bridges with a swimming pool, a fitness room, a café, a gallery, auditorium and a mini-salon are present from the twelve to the eighteen floors and connect all eight residential towers with the hotel tower. These innovative sky bridges also offer magnificent views of the city.
In addition to architectural features, Linked Hybrid incorporated environmental aspects and uses geo-thermal energy to cool the project in summer time and provide heat in winter to make it one of the largest green residential projects in the world. The cutting-edge urban design approach makes this project an outstanding development to redefine large-scale apartment building estate.
Planners argue that having a community with mixed land uses can establish sustainable environments that enable less driving. Unlike historic urban patterns many apartment buildings of the latter half of the twentieth century were made up of only dwelling units. When properly designed, activities such as working, shopping, and leisure can take place in the same location. We just need to think outside the tower. Avi Friedman is an architect, professor, author and social observer. Reach him at avi.friedman@mcgill.ca