For my graduation project, I endeavored to meet the challenge of designing affordable
residences for the distinct population of single parent families within a heterogeneous urban
environment. Issues of family, house and community were explored in order to ascertain
how the needs of this particular group differed from that of the typical nuclear family. Single
parents in general have excessive demands made on their time and energy and feel a greater
lack of support when attempting to meet these demands. Often times involvement with
another adult is either transitory or of a very limited nature. Therefore they must be more
self-reliant than usual. The provision of child-care and supervision can be very difficult to
accommodate in any family situation and is even more pronounced for the single parent.
Other than financial worries, they may also experience a sense of isolation and loneliness.
The presence of children does not compensate for the lack of adult companionship and
emotional support that most adults need. Also, because a single parent often has to make
frequent stops on the way to and from work or school picking up children from child care,
shopping for groceries, etc., transportation and amenities ideally should be extremely
accessible. Provision of convenient child care services, proximity to work, an affordable and
secure environment, accessible social and support services and minimal housekeeping and
maintenance responsibilities are but a few of the necessities that the single parent requires in
order to attain a reasonable quality of life. Single parent's require more than just shelter.
They need a supportive community as well.
The site that was ultimately selected to accommodate the needs of this particular group was a
half city block situated between 8th and 9th Avenue and Sasamat and Trimble Street in Point
Grey, Vancouver. Amenities such as elementary and secondary schools, churches,
shopping, transit routes, parks and access to downtown were primary considerations for this
site selection. Daycare, teen centre, corner store, guest suites, rentable community space,
office space and storage needed to be accommodated on site to address the missing amenities
within the community, as well as becoming a means in which to offer something to the
community in order to soften the political nature involved with densifying the area. A
standard grid of 10m/35m was conformed to within the urban fabric, with the continuation of
the lane as a means of relegating parking to the inner core, freeing up the Street from extra
traffic. The context of single family homes was recognized with respect to the character of
the neighbourhood. Actual density was doubled by 1) utilizing a smaller setback of 4-6m
from the sidewalk, 2) duplexing the Street dwellings in a subversive manner 3) occupying the
attic space & 4) use of a lanehouse typology whereby the parking was accommodated for
while at the same time inhabiting the area with one and two bedroom homes. This facilitated
a heterogeneous environment with extended family members, singles, couples or single parents with one child ideally occupying these residences and activating the lane. All
residences have separate entrances as well as private outdoor space, with each residence
given access to at least one parking space. Inner pedestrian lanes were conceived of in order
to heighten the possibility of socialization occurring among the immediate residents, as well
as increasing the accessibility to each residence, parking space and garbage/recycling area.
Nodes occur between clusters of four dwellings to allow for gathering, playing and pathway
undulation. Familiarity of the site within the neighbourhood would help to activate the
nostalgic walk through the site in recognition of the existing diagonal path with its
spectacular view of Vancouver's skyline. Public amenities were relegated to the west end of
the site where a link could occur with the commercially active 10th Avenue and Safeway.
Each pedestrian path feeds onto this public space. Because the site has a .75m/10m drop in
elevation, this slope was utilized as a means to sculpt the outdoor space in order to define a
given area..ie, a node may be carved with a stairwell on either end as a means to define the
space. Brick planters were utilized as buffering as well as greening devices. Please see the
Architecture reading room in the basement of Laserre, U.B.C. for the written thesis and
colour details.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/7744 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Machan, Cheryl Louise |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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