82 Wilson Ave | 6 fl | U/C

[ac3r]

Region of Waterloo Housing Development is proposing a 6 floor affordable housing project to expand its social housing campus at 82-84 Wilson Avenue.

This proposal will be an expansion of the existing social housing development located at 82-84 Wilson Avenue and 210 Fourth Avenue. The campus currently has 3 buildings: two low rise apartment blocks and a 6 floor mid rise apartment block. The existing 2 floor building at 82 Wilson Avenue would be demolished; currently it is a modest 2 floor apartment building.

The proposed development will be seeking to replace the existing 2 floor building at 82 Wilson Avenue with a contemporary 6 floor apartment building designed by LGA Architectural Planners. Proposed are 48 affordable housing units, amenity spaces, a commercial kitchen servery, 203m² of office space (likely to be leased to the Alzheimer's Society) including a boardroom/offices/councilors rooms/kitchenette/administrative space. This building is proposed to contain a physical link to the existing 6 floor social housing building. 98 surface parking spaces are proposed (many of which are pre-existing spaces already on the campus). Typical surface level bike racks are to be included for short-term bike parking.

The architectural design of the building is summarized as follows:

The proposed building’s exterior consists of brick façade with dark grey metal siding, punched windows cantilevered balconies and assorted variations in glazing. The ground floor is distinguished with a deep red coloured brick with arched walls, transparent windows and doors associated with the office space and the residential lobby facing the internal driveway with direct walkway connections to the public street (Wilson Avenue).

Arched walls on the ground level that house the office space and the residential lobby were intended to accentuate the uniformity of the building and to display building programming. The varying size and scale of the arches around the corners provide relief and playfulness to the more rigid articulation of the frame to the upper storeys.

A simple monochromatic design is chosen to contrast with the buildings that surround the complex. The colour palette of the building is comprised of light cream colour for brick exterior, accentuated with deep red coloured brick for the ground floor and to frame the protruding metal balconies painted in dark grey to match the metal siding.

Setbacks on the property are generous, particularly due to the relation to the Alzheimer's Society in order to create a pleasing atmosphere for residents.

Full supporting documents can be found here: https://app2.kitchener.ca/AppDocs/OpenDa...648734.pdf

[nms]

All in all, the building looks nice. It proves that you can have nice architecture on a budget (since I assume that the affordable housing construction budget isn't lavish)

[ac3r]

Yeah for sure. All you need for a good design is a good architect with a good mind. :') You don't need a lot of money to spend on materials and other frivolous nonsense. Hire someone that actually understands the purpose and intent of what architecture is supposed to do, then they could design something beautiful with almost no money.

This one is simple, but looks good. I'm sure if the detailed interior drawings or even the section drawings were available, you would probably see a lot of thoughtful work put in to make this space an enjoyable one to exist in.

[tomh009]

A nice and clean design. And much-needed affordable housing. A win-win proposal.

[ac3r]

Apparently the demolition of the existing building started on Tuesday.