Designed to the international Passive House standard, 330 Goldstream is one of the largest sustainable and new affordable rental projects in Canada.
Located behind the Pacific Center for Family Services Association’s Center for Well-being (PCFSA), the 6-storey development contains 102 apartments which range from studios to 3-bedroom units. The project was developed by the Greater Victoria Housing Society, a non-profit charitable organization which provides affordable rental housing for low-to-moderate income families, seniors, working singles, and adults with disabilities who live alone.
The overall approach for this project was to design a high performance building that would fulfil the need for local housing while also creating a community of residents and sticking to a limited budget.
The design features two sloped roof forms that complement the structure, located directly in front, across a landscaped parking area.
The main entrance is located on axis with the central gateway of the PCFSA building and a covered entry is created by lifting the forms of the building on thin two story columns.
The overhang is continued around the corner with a one storey arcade and clusters the building’s shared amenities. These include a common room that features a kitchen, a meeting room, and a laundry facility that extends outward to a patio with seating and outdoor play spaces for children.
Surrounded by landscaped greenspace, these common indoor and outdoor spaces connect from a green roof, through a continuous planter to the main entry. It also wraps down as a treed landscape to the local multi-use trail connection which is located on the south side of the site.
The project follows Passive House design and construction strategies which were done in order to achieve a durable design and help maintain affordability in the future. These include 6” of exterior insulation and triple pane Passive House Certified windows, three high efficiency HRVs, solar shading and deep window reveals and fully openable Juliette balcony doors.
“By combining all of the indoor communal amenities and surrounding them with covered and landscaped outdoor spaces, the design creates a sense of internal connection amongst residents, while also reaching out to the broader community,” said Andy Guiry, project architect, Cascadia Architecture.
This project demonstrates that high-quality housing can be created to sustainable standards, when designed with a dedicated client and team, as well as creative and flexible solutions.