2013 AIBC Volunteer Recognition Ceremony

On the evening of November 21, 2013, members of the AIBC community gathered to celebrate volunteerism and to pay tribute to some of the institute’s most dedicated volunteers. The evening’s gathering, which took place at the VanDusen Botanical Garden, included presentation of the institute’s inaugural AIBC Lifetime Achievement Award. There were two recipients of this award: Richard Henriquez Architect AIBC and the late Kiyoshi Matsuzaki Retired Architect. The newly-introduced honour recognizes current or former members who have made exceptional, sustained, and significant contributions to the profession and its public appreciation in British Columbia through an outstanding, career-long body of work. In addition, a Special Certificate of Recognition was presented to long-time AIBC volunteer Adam Policzer Retired Architect. Also recognized on this evening were outgoing members of the 2012/13 AIBC Council: Robert Chester Architect AIBC; Eszter Csutkai Architect AIBC; Paula Grossman Architect AIBC; Owen Pawson B.Arch LL.B (Lieutenant Governor Appointee); Dr. Richard Peddie Ph.D. (Lieutenant Governor Appointee); Tim Spiegel B.Sc. PQS MRICS (Lieutenant Governor Appointee) and David Yustin Architect AIBC (Past President), along with David Boswell Building Designer AscT (former Building Designer / Residential Designer Liaison) and Jenny Chow Architect AIBC (former Intern Architect Liaison).

Multi-storey Lane Houses Approved For West End

By Jeff Lee, The Province
November 21, 2013

Over the next 30 years, about 10,000 people are expected to move into the West End, the city’s most densely populated neighbourhood. And to prepare for that, Vancouver city council approved Wednesday a new community plan for the area, one designed to avoid wholesale changes to the character of the neighbourhood. The plan will allow multi-storey laneway housing, and changes how property owners can use their land, limiting most future residential development to rental housing only. More …

Metro Communities Struggle to Find Ways to Make Densification Gentler

By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun
November 21, 2013

Vancouver is wrestling with the issue of housing affordability at the same time as it struggles with a need for more public transportation and how to pay for it. While the city is regularly named as one of the least affordable in the world, it is also often named one of the most livable cities. New figures from the UDI/FortisBC Housing Affordability Index found that less than 11 per cent of the population can afford a single-family home in the city of Vancouver, which would take an annual income of $158,218 to finance. More …

New Plan Could Bring Major Changes to West End

By Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
November 21, 2013

Dense, old and full of character, Vancouver’s West End has been locked in planning limbo for years. Eyed eagerly by developers for its older stock of low-density rental housing but fiercely protected by its residents, the neighbourhood on the western third of the city’s downtown peninsula has resisted change as other neighbourhoods have densified. City Hall, wary of reigniting the fights that 20 years ago resulted in a policy restricting the rate of change in the area, left the West End alone while it reviewed other neighbourhood plans. But the West End faces a changing future after council adopted a new 30-year community plan Wednesday, following a public hearing that heard from dozens of people. This is one of the four neighbourhoods for which the city is developing new plans, including the Downtown Eastside, Grandview-Woodland and Marpole. More …