Reside On Richmond

The Challenge

The project required a multidisciplinary team and a creative response to site and area opportunities and constraints, including:

• the integration of on-site heritage resources (the building at 164-166 Bathurst Street)
• existing rental dwelling units
• the adjacency of low-rise uses including existing residential and school uses
• a public realm that lacked presence

Our Solution

Bousfields provided strategic planning and urban design advice to overcome policy and design considerations associated with a site located just outside of the delineated Downtown and along an important Avenue. The siting and massing of the building above the on-site heritage resource required consideration of its unique context and of the Tall Building Design Guidelines.

The project also required leadership from our Community Engagement Team who worked with existing tenants and adjacent landowners, including the condominium to the immediate south, as well as City Staff to overcome challenges with respect to transition and rental housing replacement.

The Outcome

We supported our client group through an iterative process that led to a City Council approved and community-supported mixed-use project that balanced meaningful development and design with appropriate transition in its context. 

The development provided for a much needed reinvigoration of the public realm and enhanced streetscape along both frontages of the block and the project provided prominence to the street corner through the integration of the retained heritage elements of the existing building at 164-166 Bathurst Street.

At the outset there were concerns by the adjacent residents with respect to a mid-rise or tall building being proposed on the site. However, through the process we worked with the community to ensure that the building was well designed, with appropriate transition, and the result was a building that fits within its context and provides for an enhanced public realm and pedestrian experience.