Facade of new east Vancouver building inspired by Coast Salish woven basketry

The Chief Leonard George building in Vancouver's Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood. Photo by Supplied

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In Vancouver’s Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood, just off Commercial Drive, a striking new residential building now stands where an older apartment block was destroyed by fire in 2017. The earlier building burned down around Christmas, displacing dozens of families and leaving many without their possessions. What has risen in its place is not just larger and newer, but more thoughtful in every way. The Chief Leonard George Building is a nine-storey project designed as Canada’s first mixed-use, tall mass-timber passive house building.

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Designed for comfort

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Achim Charisius, associate principal at GBL Architects and lead designer on the project, has been involved from rezoning to occupancy. From day one, the intention was not simply to replace what had been lost but to create a culturally meaningful building.

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Charisius says the aim was for the building to feel safe, grounded and welcoming for the people returning to the site. This idea is carried by the building’s passive house design.

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“Passive House (certification) originally was a comfort standard. It’s a very, very high air quality,” he says.

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This is part of what makes this project so appealing. The building feels calm and pleasant to live in.

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“It’s amazing when you’re in a passive house, because you hardly know just the city around you,” he says.

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A facade with meaning

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Prefabricated mass timber panels by Vancouver company Intelligent City were used to build the Chief Leonard George building. Photo by Supplied

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The building’s facade is inspired by Coast Salish woven basketry, one of the oldest art forms on the Northwest Coast. It is an image with beauty and emotional weight.

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“For generations, these cedar baskets have carried food, medicines and children. This building follows that teaching as a contemporary basket that holds families, culture and community in an urban setting,” says Charisius.

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In total, this building provides 81 homes, including studio apartments and several three and four-bedroom units, a rarity in a city where family-sized apartments can be hard to find. There is a child care centre on the ground floor, a generous shared amenity space and views to the North Shore mountains and Vancouver Harbour. The architecture feels considered without ever feeling cold.

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Shaped around family life

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The Chief Leonard George building provides 81 homes, including studio apartments and several three and four-bedroom units. Photo by Supplied

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Brenda Knights is CEO of BC Indigenous Housing Society (BCIHS) and worked with GBL Architects to bring this building to life.

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She recalls when the fire at this site happened and how difficult it was for many of the tenants. The holiday season is already a tricky time for a lot of people, but added to this, families had to evacuate, scramble to find housing in an already punishing market and deal with the loss of belongings.

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“We’ve had the first tenants return to the building. They’re just so excited,” says Knights.

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“We often use the basket as a metaphor for the weaving of generations in our families. The basket is also a metaphor for how we used to live together. Its symbolism is meaningful to our organization as we seek to bring back traditional ways of living together,” she says. That idea runs through the whole project, from the larger family units to the child care and shared spaces for cultural programming.