Missing Middle
A prefabricated heavy timber solution for the City of Edmonton's Missing Middle competition, coined the Treehouse.
Launched in 2016, the Edmonton Infill Design Competition provides an opportunity to encourage productive conversations about infill and help the public and development community envision what’s possible for infill design and inspire builders and architects to create out of the box designs that enrich our city. The competition’s overarching goal is to showcase improved aesthetics of the community and how good designs can bring neighbours together.
(courtesy of the competition brief)
The site is divided into two from a planning perspective. The frontage along 106 Street possesses a more residential character while the area along 112 Avenue is given back to the community as public space.
Arranging the building along the public/private axis, a commercial base is provided on the ground floor with residential uses above. The configuration responds to the existing mature trees. Expanding the building form to the extents of the underlying zone and overlay produces a heavy and obtrusive mass.
Mass timber modular units are dropped to generate a new built form within the parameters of the underlying zone. Units are arranged to step back to the centre of the building, thereby reducing the building mass and its impact on neighbours.
A central spine is introduced to provide circulation and natural light within the project. This is an opportunity to encourage interaction between residents informally in the open floor plates. The openings provide a vertical and horizontal connection through the spine, promoting a community atmosphere.
The combination of step backs in the building and private patios facilitates visual connection and interaction between residents when out on their balcony. The result is both private and public space - enhancing community without affecting privacy.
The public park, commercial units and a large portion of residential units face south at various angles. The southeast facade of the central circulation could be used to install solar panels integrated onto the building envelope to generate a portion of the energy used by the building.
Entrances to the commercial uses are provided by way of the public space along 112 Avenue. A separate and distinct residential entrance is provided from the flanking 106 Street.
Each dwelling unit is tapered in plan at its end to create a private patio space. Some of those roof areas are combined to offer additional amenity space to the community of residents in the building. Generous fenestration is provided for each dwelling and to the commercial uses. This maximizes views out to the public space and provides natural surveillance from multiple vantage points.
holo-blok Team
