A sustainable model on Victoria Hill
The captivating view from Victoria Heights.
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Updated: October 28, 2009 4:42 PM
The 60 or so seniors living in Victoria Heights didn’t grow up using words like sustainable, geothermal and green roofs like younger generations do today.
However, those are now common terms heard around the dining room tables at the New Westminster assisted-living seniors facility.
“I think a lot of people appreciate the environment more living here,” said Pauline Giquel, assisted living coordinator at Victoria Heights.
Completed this year, the facility is this year’s winner of the Royal City Builders sustainability award. It also won for universal access in a facility and modern institutional development.
It’s the sustainable features of the building that make it stand out the most.
According to BC Housing, partners in the project with the Good Samaritan Society, the building was designed to “minimize energy use, reduce water use, improve indoor air quality and thermal comfort, reduce site impacts, and incorporate resource efficient materials.”
Built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, it has green roofs, a geothermal ventilation system and other features. Victoria Heights uses an underground labyrinth that runs the length of the below-ground parkade for its ventilation.
A number of green roofs take advantage of normally-unused space for low maintenance native plantings that reduce carbon dioxide. Rain falling on the building is captured to water plants on the roofs and the surrounding gardens, which also use hardy native plants.
Another feature is permeable driveway pavers that return water to the ground, rather than have it run off into storm water drains.
It’s estimated that energy consumption at the six-storey Victoria Heights is reduced by 34 per cent compared to standard new buildings and water use is 30 per cent less.
In addition to the assisted living housing, the building is also home to a variety of Fraser Health Authority clinics and a children’s daycare.
Both the daycare and the Good Samaritan Society, operators of the seniors facility, run weekly programs where the seniors and children work together
“What’s nice is we have a few residents with grandchildren in the daycare and they get to be with each other,” said Giquel.
The annual Royal City Builders Awards were handed out earlier this month. Here’s a list of the winners:
Heritage Category, Exterior Heritage
Renovation: 301 Fifth Avenue
New Home Construction that Respects
Heritage Streetscape: 317 Nootka Street
Exterior Heritage Restoration – The
Heritage Shield: 501 Seventh Avenue
Universal Access Category
Business: Westminster Centre South, 505 Sixth Street
Facility: Victoria Heights, 230 Ross Drive
Energy Efficiency Category: Victoria Heights, 230 Ross Drive
Modern Residential: Nurse’s Lodge, 12 East Royal Avenue
Modern Commercial: Westminster Centre South, 505 Sixth Street
Modern Institutional: Victoria Heights, 230 Ross Drive
Commercial Renovation: BC Liquor Store, 800 McBride Boulevard
Overall Winner: Westminster Centre South, 505 Sixth Street
Exterior Heritage Restoration (Heritage Shield) & Renovation: 301 Fifth Avenue
New Home Construction that Respects Heritage Streetscape: 317 Nootka Street
New Commercial/Residential: Alexander Walk, 1211 Ewen Avenue
Commercial Renovation: Safeway, 800 McBride Boulevard.
mmcquillan@newwestnewsleader.com
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