As evidenced by our shortlisted nomination for the International Tunnelling & Underground Space awards from late last week, Kryton International Inc. is always striving to be a part of innovative projects.
Photo Courtesy: Henriquez Partners Architects
60 West Cordova illuminating the downtown eastside.
On Monday, September 15th, the first ever Vancouver Urban Design Awards were handed to recognize and celebrate great architecture and urban design in the beautiful city of Vancouver. Awards were given out to projects that demonstrate visionary thinking and support design at the VanDusen Botanical Garden.
The winners were chosen by four esteemed members of the Architectural and Design community in Vancouver.
One of the victors was 60 West Cordova, which was given the award for ‘Reinforcing community through collaboration and social innovation’. The project was developed by Westbank Projects Corp and designed by Henriquez Partners Architects, while collaborating with Vancity, the Portland Hotel Society and Habitat for Humanity.
The project’s aim was to do more with less in one of the world’s most expensive housing markets. Due to the tight confines of Vancouver’s oldest neighborhood, Gastown, the project team used Shotcrete to maximize the building footprint by doing away with the typical forming needed for cast-in-place construction. As a waterproofing solution, Kryton’s Krystol Internal Membrane (KIM) was added to the shotcrete used to construct the entire below grade parking area. To completely tank the parking area all of the cold joints were treated with the Krystol Waterstop System.
The façade of the building features silhouettes of people supporting people supporting the building, which illuminate at night. Henriquez Partners Architects say this was “a gesture to the community – people helping people achieve remarkable things in the Downtown Eastside.”
60 West Cordova features 12-untis of non-market housing and 96-affordable units for owner-occupiers who participate in building maintenance and management.
The awards will be presented every other year to highlight the local architecture in Vancouver.
