1 2113 - 2131 St. John's Street Port Moody, BC V3H 2A5 Project Brief 001 OCP Amendment Bite Design Group 204-3003, St. Johns Street Port Moody, BC V3H 2C4 t: 604 440 0127 e: info@bitegroup.ca w: www.bitegroup.ca
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3 August 22, 2022 Brief 001 St. Johns OCP Amendment 4.ContentsProgramsand Parking 5. Facade 6. Masterplan and Orphan Lots 3. Structure 2. Goals of OCP Amendment 1. Current Design and Project Status
04 1.1 Current Design and Project Status
Render from NW Corner of Site from St. Johns St, 2022 - Bite Design Group
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The current design was completed for Pre-Application, which was successfully submitted on March 14th, 2022. The current building design services the narrative of the building: it is more about the story behind the design decisions than it is about the design decisions themselves. As we move into the next phase of the project - Official Community Plan (OCP) Amendment - we have the opportunity to refine and tweak the design of the building and also further justify our design moves. Through this design update, we are aiming to address comments from the City, clients and community. We are aiming to submit our OCP Amendment November 15th, 2022, in order to receive comments February 2023. Our Pre-Application Submission was well beyond the scope of a typical pre-app, and already ticks many of the boxes required for an OCP Amendment submission.
Render from Douglas Street, 2022 - Bite Design Group
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Action Option 1: maintain the project's proposed height and density. We will continue to focus on jobs, affordable seniors housing, daycare and other public amenities as contributions that offset Actiondensity.Option
2: separate the FAR and consistently present it as Commercial 3.2 and residential 2.4
Action Option 3: once a deal is achieved to acquire adjacent lands and create a park, include that additional land in the calculation and present the overall FAR as 3.5.
Given the existing OCP designation for 6-storeys and a maximum FAR of 2.5, our proposal was suggested to be too dense.
1. 2100 Block of St George - Neighbourhood Designation Council raised the need to address the current designation of adjacent lands. Properties along St Johns St are designated multi-family and or mixed-use in the OCP. On neighbourhood blocks East of our site, the North side of St George St is designated multifamily. A best planning practice is to buffer single-family properties from high density development using a transitional density: townhouses or low-rise apartments.
Action: Re-designate the adjacent lots (2105 - 2109 St. Johns St ) from 'Single-Family Residential' to 'Park' in OCP Amendment 3. Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
Action: Re-designate the 2100 block of St George St (North side) from 'Single-Family Residential' to 'Multi-Family Residential' in OCP Amendment 2. 2105 - 2109 St. Johns St Strategy - Park Designation Council agreed with a staff recommendation that these properties should become a small neighbourhood park to protect the environmentally sensitive creek. Council's vision is that there should be an off-street trail from St Andrews to St Johns along with modest park features. Such redesignation would create a public park amenity adjacent to our proposed residential building it would be very much in the interest of our project.
The City provided a range of comments for us to incorporate and address going forward.
1.2 City Comments
07 MoodyPortofCity-2022Map,ZoningMoodyPort DenseMoreDenseLess
08 4. Ramps and hardscape outside of property line, on city-owned land Action: work with staff to better explain public benefits of this accessible, placemaking design.
5. Uncertainty regarding gallery space
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2022
Render from NE Corner of Site from St.
Render of Lobby + Art Gallery Space, 2022 - Bite
Staff are concerned about the ability of a strata council to manage the art gallery and sculpture garden.
Action: stay the course. We need to better explain the extent of the proposed co-work arrangement. By allocating to the co-work partner all common spaces including a commercial gallery, shared meeting rooms and shared office amenities throughout the 12-storey building, there will be ample scope and revenue to justify full-time management. Strata Council will not be involved in managing these spaces. Johns St, - Bite Design Group Design Group
10 2. Goals of OCP Amendment The Overall Goals of our OCP Amendment Application: - Redesign building facades - Justify + research different structural systems from a cost, practicality and aesthetic -standpointCreatemaster plan for adjacent blocks, including massing, use, building form and public -spaceDevelop strategy to eliminate need to purchase orphan lots - Programmatic redistribution to ensure Block 1 and Block 2 can function completely independently from each other - Release a series of updated presentation renders
11 GroupDesignBite-2022Alley","CultureofIllustrationGroupDesignBite-2022Streetscape",Johns"St.ofIllustration
12 3. Structure
13 Currently, the structure of the building is unspecified, and is therefore, by default, concrete. We want to explore whether mass timber is a feasible option. Bite has developed a positive relationship with an up and coming mass timer manufacturer in the Greater Vancouver Area (GVA) and we think this could be a viable alternative to concrete. To decide whether this is an option, we should research the following: - Cost metrics (per linear ft or per sqft) of timber vs concrete - Required and optimal grid spacing of timber vs concrete - Opportunities for grant funding in the case of mass timber - Maintenance requirements for timber vs concrete - Constructability, practicality, method of construction of timber vs concrete - Environmental impact and life cycle analysis of timber vs concrete Wood Innovation and Design Centre, 2015 - Micheal Green Architecture New Weissenstein Schoolhouse and Gym, 2021 - Ernst Niklaus Fausch Partners AG. House 8+1 "Ocho Quebradas", 2016 - Josep Ferrando Architecture
14 4. Programs and Parking (priority)
Currently, both Block 1 and Block 2 are mixed-use buildings whose programs are completely intertwined and interdependent. The developers want to have the option to develop the blocks in phases, or, conversely, sell off Block 2 (the residential block) to another developer. In order for this to be feasible, the Blocks need to be able to function independently, and Block 2 needs to be as appealing as possible to another developer.
Sketch of Parking Solution, 2022
- Block 1 sectional relationships should be reconfigured
Group Sketch of Program Redistribution Solution, 2022
Bite
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- Parking garages should be reconfigured to ensure that they can function independently - Design - Design
Ultra-varied mixed-use buildings are less appetizing for developers, as there are more variables, unknowns and risk, so for Block 2, we need to mitigate these factors by redistributing programs and reconfiguring parking accordingly:
Group
Bite
- Block 2 should be 100 percent residential + senior living with simple ground level retail - Artist Studio and Daycare should be moved to Block 1
- Rock Climbing Wall should be incorporated into Block 1
- Property line between blocks to be redrawn to ensure 'Culture Alley' is part of Block 1
16 5.1 Facades
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Detail
The facade is not what defines the building, however, it is frequently how the building is judged. The facade must embody and exhibit the project's driving forces, goals and planning priorities: it should be exciting, unique, cost-effective and sustainable, and ideally highlight the key programs, including the studio+gallery, office space, retail, residential and daycare. Currently, the facade is composed almost entirely of glass, which has raised concerns from the clients, community and City alike. As such, more work needs to be done designing a facade that satisfies the needs and requirements of the project's diverse stakeholders. of St. Johns Street Facade, 2022 - Bite Design Group of Early Iteration of St. Johns Street Facade, 2022 - Bite Design Group
Early Iteration
18 5.2 Facade References
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Nobel Centre for Stockholm, 2018 - David Chipperfield Architects
Thalhofer University of Performing Arts, 2019 - O and O Baukunst Minneapolis Public Service Building, 2021 - Henning Larsen Wolfsburg, 2020 - Henning Larsen Architects
Hydroelectric Administrative Building, 2014 - Mitarh Amorepacific Headquarters Seoul, 2017 - David Chipperfield Architects GBCO973 Ex Barn, 2021 - Lokomotiv.Archs
20 6.1 Masterplan and Orphan Lots St Johns Street St Johns Street St Andrews Street St Andrews Street St George Street St George Street
However, the developers do not have the capital to make this happen: they do not want to purchase these two lots, and as such, they want Bite to propose alternate solutions.
Currently, the developers own the easternmost 5 of 8 properties on St. Johns St between Douglas St and Albert St. Moving West to East, the westermost lot on the block is owned by Translink, the major railway company that operates the SkyTrain system, the next two are owned by the homeowners of the existing homes on the lot, and the remaining 5 lots are owned by our clients. These 5 easternmost lots were the site for the Pre-Application
Or the lot could have a power line easement crossing the middle, with overhead lines, so that no structure can ever be built under the lines."
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The proposed master plan we develop should include:
The City would like the developer to purchase the two 'orphan lots' and develop these into parkspace, arguing that they could use these additional two lots for density bonusing.
- Building heights of all sites in the OCP Amendment Zone - General use, public space, massing and form of the neighborhood - Proposed densities (FARs) that reference existing OCP Designations
- View corridors and sunlight studies
- Strategies to solve 'orphan lots' (Adil will work with developers to solve this problem too)
In our case, the City has deemed the lots 'orphaned' due to a water channel (stream) that runs across the northwestern corner of the westermost site. From the channel, there is a required 15m riparian zone setback due to soil instability. Geotechnical engineers are being engaged to determine whether the soil is, in fact, unstable.
Sketch of Building Heights + Parkspace (NTS), 2022 - Bite Design Group
Developers feel that pushing for an OCP amendment for only the 5 sites fronting St Johns, while ignoring the neighborhood behind is irresponsible and short-sighted urbanism. As such, they will be seeking an OCP amendment for 2 full blocks, encompassing all sites from St Johns Street to St George Street. Currently, the two blocks behind St Johns Street have an OCP designation of Low Density Single Family Residential: the developers would be seeking to amend these designations to Medium Density Residential, allowing for low-rise apartment buildings or townhouses. In turn, this would increase the property value of these lots, as their development and earning potential would suddenly jump. A positive ancillary side effect of getting this neighborhood OCP amendment is that the owners of the affected lots are much more likely to support the project, since they would also benefit from it.
proposal. Following the submission, the City raised major concern regarding the two lots directly West of the developer-owned lots, labeling them orphan lots. An orphan lot is defined by The Farlex Financial Dictionary as "A subdivision lot that is unbuildable at the current market value of homes (for some reason or another).The lot may be too steep and site work too expensive for current development.
22 6.2 Masterplan References
23Layer Analysis of Al Daayan MAsterplan, 2019 - OMA Beijing Preservation, 2003 - OMA Representation + Detail References from Potsdam Creative Quarter, 2019 - MVRDV
24 Port Moody, BC V3H 2C4 Project Brief 001 OCP Amendment 2113 - 2131 St. John's Street Port Moody, BC V3H 2A5 t: 604 440 0127 e: info@bitegroup.ca w: www.bitegroup.ca
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26 August 22, Brief2022001 St. Johns OCP Amendment
