‘Market sounding’ procurement
The City of Victoria took a forward-thinking ‘market sounding’ approach to procurement. Seeking to relocate the existing Fire Station No. 1, they put out a call for ideas from local developers, one of which was Jawl Residential who then reached out to hcma.
By securing a large urban area in such a prominent downtown location, the fire department reduces response times and redundant services, while sparking new opportunities for the housing units. The building’s compact layout offers an 84% usable floor plate, which is considerably higher than many commercial residential projects (and well above the requirement of local housing agencies). This allowed us to expand the social spaces, with the housing units offering outdoor gardens and a shared dog run, and indoor connected common spaces to socialize with neighbours
Highly sustainable and seismic ready
Unique in its ability to meet post-disaster seismic standards, we designed the new fire hall around a symmetrical core layout—with one core serving the fire service and offices, and the other serving the tenants in the residential units—both with separate entries. This efficiency extends to the building’s envelope and energy performance, where Step Code 3 is achieved through a smart stacking system and high levels of thermal performance.