With a rental vacancy rate under one percent and high levels of immigration, Vancouver is facing a housing crisis. Demand for central living accommodation is increasing, and because there are very few urban lots available for development, attention should be directed at spaces within the city’s single-unit neighbourhoods of detached houses.

This proposal suggests an alternative to urban densification or suburban sprawl, while maintaining the “urban green ways” of Vancouver’s existing neighbourhoods. The city owns a large amount of land in the form of boulevards along a number of Vancouver’s wider streets, and these spaces could potentially be used without adverse impact on the character of the neighbourhoods.

The proposed solution is to create pre-manufactured units that could be stacked, linked linearly, and connected to the existing underground services running under the streets and boulevards. In contrast to the creation of new suburban subdivisions, which would mean the destruction of more of the natural landscape in Greater Vancouver’s surrounding mountains or further encroachment on the precious farmland in the Delta, this solution makes use of existing urban space with no need for investment in new services and streets.

Inspired by Vancouver’s green streets, and especially its hedges, this design proposes a series of 16-by-25 foot pre-manufactured hedge units, with construction techniques and material usage kept extremely simple to expedite production and minimize waste. Each unit would be constructed of a steel frame, with concrete-slab-on-steel-deck for the roof, and floor slabs and a double-glazed frameless curtain wall. An integrated planting tray around the perimeter with hydroponically grown hedges would to create an outer skin. A roof pond, acting as a skylight and also a collector of rainwater and grey water, would irrigate the hedges. The pond would also be used to supply the thermal in-floor radiant heating system.

Credits:

Architecture &: Design:
RUF Project
Lead: Sean Pearson & Alyssa Schwann

Competition Entry for:
PREFAB 20x20:
Visions for 400 Square Foot Homes
An International Open Ideas Competition

Brief Synopsis:
Your challenge is to propose a free-standing, prefab dwelling unit for a footprint no more than 400sf (37.5sm) in an urban setting anywhere in the world. Fit for two adults, its basic program shall include sleeping, bathing, cooking, living, working/studying, and storage areas. Entrants are free to deviate from the basic program but justification must be included.