HOMES AWAY FROM HOMES VANCOUVER MIGHT LEARN FROM PROJECTS IN EUROPE
Higher density in residential neighbourhoods doesn’t necessarily mean higher buildings
Like many students of architecture in 1960s Toronto, I greatly admired Scandinavian design. Thus, when I got the opportunity to travel abroad in 1969, two of my first stops were Denmark and Sweden.
In Sweden, I visited Farsta and Vällingby, two vibrant, planned satellite towns connected to Stockholm by a newly built metro train network.
In subsequent years, I have visited many new towns around the world and am always fascinated by how it is possible to create complete new communities from scratch. (One of my favourite new towns is Celebration, developed by the Disney Corporation in Orlando, now considered one of the most highly sought-after livable towns in the U.S.)
Recently, I presented a lecture at SFU on new, sustainable communities in northern Europe. They included IJBurg and Almere Oosterwold in the Netherlands; HafenCity and Vaubon in Germany; a new waterfront community in Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city; and Orestad and Nordhavn, on the Copenhagen waterfront.
As Vancouver strives to become the greenest city in the world, (I smile every time I write or say this), these communities can offer many lessons to us.
We often equate higher densities with highrise buildings. However, new European communities demonstrate that higher densities can also be achieved in attractive lowand mid-rise building forms.
In IJBurg, I found streets lined with three- and four-level row houses, each with a unique design. This is because in Holland (and other European countries), row houses can be built that extend from lot-line to lot-line. In Vancouver, however, we build detached single-family houses with narrow side yards. The result is that there’s a much more efficient use of land in Europe.
IJBurg’s homes also have reduced front yards, and in some cases none, resulting in an even greater efficiency in land use.
Along the laneways behind these row houses another row of attached and detached homes can be found. These mews or coach houses are for sale or rent, unlike Vancouver’s laneway houses, which can currently only be rented.
If one calculates the resulting Floor Space Ratio, or FSR — the measure of building area in rela- tion to lot size — the density of these townhouses is comparable to some highrise apartment buildings.
In Oosterwold, Almere, meantime, a fascinating experiment is underway. On a large plot of government-owned land, normally restrictive design guidelines have been put aside to allow individuals to design and build their own homes as they please.
If they want a detached house, they incorporate side yards. If they want to extend from lot-line to lotline, they can. They can also vary the height, exterior materials, colour and even the use of buildings.
While most architects find the result less than pleasing to the eye, this do-it-yourself concept of development is attracting international attention. Last August, Macleans magazine reported on the experiment under the title: “What Canada could learn from a Dutch self-build housing movement …. Could Vancouver be next?”
(Vancouver won’t be next, unless there is a significant attitudinal change by many municipal officials and politicians.)
Hamburg’s HafenCity is Europe’s largest inner-city redevelopment project on approximately 127 hectares of former port and industrial land. Similar in concept to the redevelopment of some of Vancouver’s older industrial areas, the plans include 6,500 to 7,000 homes for approximately 14,000 residents, of which approximately 1,500 to 2,000 are subsidized.
The development includes an impressive, albeit extraordinarily expensive, 26-storey philharmonic hall, designed by Herzog and de Meuron (the architects selected to design the Vancouver Art Gallery), and a 17-storey condominium tower. However, most buildings are mid-rise designs, up to 10 storeys, with an FSR ranging from 3.7 to 6.1. This is comparable to, or higher than, the density of many new Vancouver highrises.
Some of Europe’s most spectacular new mid-rise buildings can be found in Denmark. The Iceberg Project on the Aarhus waterfront is a 200-unit development that looks, quite literally, like icebergs. A third of the apartments are affordable rental housing.
If “economy of means” is defined as “more through less”, this development is the complete opposite. However, the overall appearance is amazing.
Orestad is a new community underway on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Here one finds a collection of impressive new mid-rise designs. The most dramatic complexes have been designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who also designed Westbank’s Vancouver House, the extraordinary twisting tower now under construction at the northern end of the Granville Bridge.
Bjarke Ingels famously asked if people are different, why are all apartments alike?
His buildings are given names that inspired the design. His 8 House is in the shape of a figure 8 and features a series of ramps to allow residents to take their bikes to upper-floor suites without using the elevator.
Mountain Dwellings is a beautiful 10-storey terraced building offering 80 apartments above a 480-car parking garage. Somewhat reminiscent of Moishe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montreal, all apartments have roof gardens facing the sun and views.
The VM Houses comprise 240 apartments in two buildings formed as the letters V and M. There are more than 80 different apartment types, no doubt a challenge for the sales team. However, the architect noted this was intended to respond to the individual needs of contemporary life.
One might question whether incorporating a similar quality of design into new Vancouver projects would lead to further increases in housing prices. But with high land costs, municipal fees and delays in approvals being major factors influencing the price of housing, I do not believe higher quality building designs would necessarily result in more expensive housing.
On the contrary, since denser low and mid-rise buildings could better fit on land currently zoned for single family homes, increased supply could help moderate housing prices. We would also have a more beautiful city and region.
Michael Geller is a Vancouver-based architect, planner, real estate consultant and property developer. He also serves on t he Adjunct Faculty of SFU’s Centre for Sustainable Development and School of Resource and Environmental Management. He can be reached at geller@sfu.ca and his blog can be found at gellersworldtravel.blogspot.com.
In Holland (and other European countries), row houses can be built that extend from lot-line to lot-line.