Aperture | Arno Matis Architecture

RESPONSIVE APERTURES: Façade openings are programmed to provide passive shading, and act like an Aperture: opening and closing in response to the unique solar exposure of each façade. Apertures are deeper on the south elevation to provide increased sun shading, and more shallow and open to the North, to allow for additional light. 

NATURAL WOOD IN GLASS SKIN: Each aperture is framed with natural wood-in-glass; a building skin that is the first of its kind. Two years of R&D resulted in a mahogany veneer encapsulated between two glass layers, the system allows the wood to be preserved in its natural form without staining or color treatment; the richness of the natural wood grain is enhanced through refracted light.

Encapsulated UV glass protects wood from weather exposure, eliminating the need for wood maintenance. The insulated panel also reduces solar gain and increases the thermal resistance of the façade.

RESPONSIVE MASSING: A full city-block located in a “single-family-transitioning-to-urban” neighborhood, the building responds to this context by stepping-down in scale from 6-storey midrise blocks on the busy arterial, down to two-storey villas, sensitive to the single-family neighborhood to the north.

The six building blocks are bisected with water gardens and bamboo courtyards that animate volumes with reflective light. The shallow massing results in bright, light-filled residences. 

Stratigraphic architectural themes echo the area’s mid-century modern architectural vocabulary. Cantilever decks and strong horizontal lines and create a sense of lightness and lower the massing profile.

COMMUNITY: The building’s ‘campus-like’ massing creates interstitial social spaces within a traditionally introverted, single-family neighbourhood: landscaped courtyards, mid-block water fountain and seating, and a fully-communal rooftop terrace that includes urban agriculture, a children’s play place and BBQ areas where all can share striking rooftop views.

SERVICES: ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 
TYPE: RESIDENTIAL (MULTI-FAMILY AND STAND-ALONE SINGLE-FAMILY VILLAS) 
SIZE 98,000 SQ FT 
STATUS: COMPLETE 2017 
LOCATION: 5688 WILLOW STREET, VANCOUVER

Collaborators: Design Architect: Arno Matis; 
Acoustic Consultant: Brown Strachan 
Building Envelope: Spratt Emanual 
Construction: Urban One Builders 
Concrete: Butler Brothers 
Costing Consultant: BTY Group 
Code Consultant: LMDG Building Code Consultant 
Electrical/Mechanical Engineer: Integral Engineering 
Geotechnical Engineer: GeoPacific Consultants 
Interior Design: I3 Design 
Landscape Architect: Phillips Fervaag Smallenberg 
Structural Engineer: Fast & Epp Structural Engineer 
Sustainability Consultant: Integral Engineering 
Traffic Consultant: Bunt & Associates Engineering 
Photography: Michael Elkan Photography