Mass Timber projects featured on ArchDaily
We're excited to see that two of our MEC projects have been featured in this great new article on biophilia and workplace design on ArchDaily. The article points to the positive effects of wood in built environments, including the sensory experience of users and its timeless aesthetic value as a natural material. The article points out that several new studies, including one from the University of British
Working with a local Performing Arts School
For many years Proscenium has worked with local arts groups, big and small, to realize their vision for performing spaces. We are excited to share that we are designing a new home for Vancouver Performing Stars, a dance and theatre performance school for children and youth. The project includes a black box theatre with approximately 90 seats, 2 secondary studios, offices, front of house including
Four projects are finalists for the Georgie Awards
We are excited to share that four projects we recently completed for Chard Development are named as finalists in the 2022 Georgie Awards, hosted by Canadian Home Builders' Association of BC. The Georgie Awards celebrate excellence in home building and renovation in the residential construction industry. Projects are submitted by member companies for consideration by a panel of industry professionals from across Canada and the
PAI Insight: Incorporating Theatres into New Developments
Designing and renovating theatres has been a focus of Proscenium since 1996 when our firm started. In recent years, we have been approached by multiple clients who want to design theatres that are incorporated into new developments. Often this results in having a theatre on ground level (at grade) with a residential or mixed-use building attached. When handled correctly we think this is a great
Designing Ballet BC’s New Home
We are excited to be working with Ballet BC with the design of their future home on Granville Island! Our team is currently working with the dance company to renovate the space at 1286 Cartwright St, formerly occupied by Arts Umbrella. The project includes new administration and dance rehearsal spaces. Over the holidays the company announced the news: Following more than a decade at Scotiabank
Happy Holidays from PAI!
Wishing you a restful and joyful holiday season, from all of us here at Proscenium. Our office will be closed from noon on December 24th to Tuesday, January 4th. See you in the New Year!
Supporting Carnegie Community Centre & The Gathering Place
Over the years, Proscenium has held donation drives to support two exceptional organizations we have worked on in the past, Carnegie Community Centre and The Gathering Place in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. This year, we are excited to be collecting physical items from our staff to bundle together and drop off to benefit their programs! A little bit of history: CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE Carnegie Centre is
PAI Highlight: 1235 Marine Drive
We are pleased to be moving forward in the design phase with our project at 1235 Marine Drive in North Vancouver! This Mixed-Use project on the vibrant Marine Drive corridor consists of one floor of Commercial Retail and three stories of market residential condos ranging from one to two bedrooms. Some great design features include: A widened pedestrian sidewalk and added seating to encourage
Photographing our New Office
We decided to wait until most of the team was back in office before taking some pictures to show off the space! Thanks to Kori for his photography skills and the Interiors team for their help. Our office is located on the third floor of the MEC Vancouver building (have you heard about its new award?). A bonus of designing this building was envisioning a new
QET and BMO Theatre featured in Construct Connect
We're excited to see two of our favourite theatre projects featured in September's edition of Construct Connect. The issue's main feature is an article on Acoustics called "Perfecting the Sound Experience in Theatres", written by Payam Ashtiani. It's certainly an interesting time for the performing arts community as audiences re-enter theatres following the pandemic. Many organizations are looking for safe ways to accommodate higher numbers
MEC Vancouver wins CaGBC Award for New Construction
We are so pleased to receive the 2021 Canadian Green Building Award for New Construction for MEC Vancouver! Thank you to Canada Green Building Council for recognizing the project. Hugh Cochlin will be giving a presentation on the building's many green features along with Roland Charneux next week, September 28th at 9am PST. CaGBC Awards Lunch ‘n’ Learn: New Construction Tuesday, September 28th; 9-10 am
Lawn Bowling with PAI Staff
For the first time ever, it rained so much we almost didn't get to play! Our staff's annual August lawn bowling tournament at Dunbar Lawn Bowling was a bit colder than usual this year -- but great fun once we got moving! Laughing, heckling and lawn bowling jargon were heard all over the green and PAI staff persisted through the weather with good attitudes and
PAI Insight: Evolving Space Needs for Industrial/Office Buildings
Our projects like The Yukon (2021) and 750 SW Marine Drive (ongoing) have highlighted some recent changes in space needs of our clients. We'd like to share some insights on the mixed-use building typology of industrial/office buildings and how we're navigating those changes. MEC Head Office (2014) Covid-19 Impacts on Workplace Design The increasing capabilities of remote work and employee's desire for flexible
MEC Vancouver wins the BC Wood Design Award 2020
On July 14th, WoodWORKS! BC announced MEC Vancouver is the winner of the BC Wood Design Awards (2020) for Commercial buildings! We are so glad to receive this award and thank you to our great project team for all their hard work on this inspiring, sustainable project. IN THE NEWS: Canadian Architect Journal of Commerce The building has also been spotlighted a Case Study publication
Meet Ee Jay, our new Junior Architectural Graduate
A warm welcome to Ee Jay, who joined our firm last month as a Junior Architectural Graduate. Where were you born? Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. It is a city of an estimated 600,000 people, and a 20-minutes drive to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city. How did you get into architecture? When I was a kid, I liked to make handicrafts and drawings. Initially, I thought of
Skewed off the Grid: Elenore on Fifth
The design of Elenore on Fifth, a distinct mixed-use commercial and residential building completed in 2020, was driven by the site's unique parameters and the identity of the vibrant lower Main Street neighbourhood. STEPPING DOWN THE HILL Located on 5th and Main, the site is about halfway down the hill between Broadway and 2nd Avenue. The area has a history of small, light industrial uses
PAI Feature: Cook Street Plaza
Cook Street Plaza is a comprehensive mixed-use development in the City of Victoria, currently under construction. The vision for the project was to supply a range of market and below-market housing options and locally supportive commercial space for a walkable, thriving urban area with excellent access to transportation options. The scale of the site allows a holistic approach to the public realm; landscaped mews forming
Meet Carolyn, our new Junior Graduate Technologist
We're excited to welcome Carolyn Ruttan to the team at PAI. Where were you born? Duncan, on Vancouver Island. How did you get into architectural technology/drafting? I've always been interested in buildings and how spaces work. I considered interior design, but I found a great program to become a technologist -- I definitely have a passion for both. What class in school has proven to
MEC’s newest Head Office
New flooring is being laid at MEC's new head office, the third our firm will have completed for the company (1999, 2014 and 2021). Following a transfer of ownership, MEC gave up its former head office in 2020 and engaged Proscenium to do a basic tenant improvement for a new space on Great Northern Way. The new, smaller footprint office is a clean shell and
NEWS: PAI named Associate Architect for new mass-timber office
Proscenium is excited to announce our involvement in T3 Mount Pleasant, a new mass-timber office building in Vancouver. Standing for "timber, transit and technology," T3 Mount Pleasant will be a 10-storey, 196,000 sq ft office building geared towards tech and creative industry tenants. PAI will be acting as Associate Architect to DLR Group in this project developed by the Houston-based Hines and local developer PC Urban.
Supporting WISH Drop-In Centre
Thank you to everyone who donated items to PAI's drive this Spring for WISH! We are so glad to hand over the much-needed clothing and other items for a great cause. Alex and Pam proudly display the donations! Proscenium has been involved in supporting the WISH Drop-in Centre Society for many years. We love this organization that supports women on the Downtown Eastside
Affordable Housing at Vivid at the Yates
We're proud to be involved in this affordable housing project by BC Housing and Chard Development at 845 Johnson St, Vivid at the Yates. BC Housing posted a News article this week announcing that all 135 condominium units have been sold to middle-income families in Victoria, and the new owners are moving in this month. Proscenium provided full interior design services for the building. ABOUT
750 SW Marine Drive approved by Urban Design Panel
Another milestone moment for our project at 750 Southwest Marine Drive, which has full support from the Design Panel held last week. THE PROJECT The proposed building for Chard Development is an eight-storey, mixed-use building between Oak St. and Cambie St. in Vancouver’s South Marpole district. It is located on the southeast corner of Marine and Aisne Street, walking distance from the Marine Drive Skytrain
Langara Bioinformatics Lab is complete!
We're excited to have completed the Bioinformatics Lab at Langara College. This brand new molecular lab has a built-in tissue culture lab and some other great features. The main lab has all the essentials for an academic science lab geared towards teaching upper-level biology. Proscenium paired a clean contemporary design with the necessary specialized building services such as access to water, compressed air, fume hoods,
