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First it was laneway houses in Vancouver alleys. Now laneway apartments

December 1st, 2015 · 6 Comments

I’ve been waiting for the first efforts to take advantage of this piece of the new West End plan — laneway apartments.

And they’re here, at least in the render and development-permit-approval stage.

My story in the Globe on these new buildings, several of which have been designed by Tim Ankenman, an architect who specializes in infill on sites with heritage buildings. (Wondering why the buildings look so modern? Ankenman says having a different style helps set off the main, older building.)

No rents are set yet, so we don’t know how affordable these will be. Also, I’m waiting to see how they will change the lanes. The city is pushing to have builders put in landscaping and other features to turn the lanes into streets (which, by the way, will now have to names).

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  • Jonathan Baker

    Towards a unified field theory of broad spectrum laneway houses

    Big fleas have little fleas
    Upon their backs to bite’m.
    And little fleas have littler still
    so on ad infinite.

    JB

  • Kirk

    I’m waiting for underground apartments. Once they start digging up Broadway for the Skytrain, why not add some housing and shelters down there while they’re at it?

  • boohoo

    I’m on board with animating lanes. I look at new development around town, specifically the one at 32nd and Main as I was just there and the interface with the lane sucks. It looks like a prison. No pedestrian anything, no landscaping, just featureless gates and blank walls.

  • logan5

    Lot’s of great ideas like this never seem to evolve past pilot project status. It would be so cool to see miniature 3 story apartments lining these narrow ally’s with smaller scale ornamental lamp posts and some nice trees as well. Maybe limit the street to service vehicles and local traffic, then you would have a fantastic pedestrian pathway.

    Why not implement housing forms like this in other parts of the city? The developer would only need to forfeit a few feet of lane front to make a mini street viable if the ally was deemed too narrow.

  • Timothy Stark

    As a person directly affected by laneway apartment building; the whole idea is bullshit and stinks. It is all about the profit. Building a community, my ass!

  • Classic Lifecare

    Perhaps this would provide good opportunities for multigenerational housing? Due to the cost of housing, Vancouver’s population is set to age pretty rapidly. Communities benefit when generations can live together.