Designed by Thier + Curran Architects, the Richmond Hill HUB, north of Toronto, combines seniors? housing with a youth shelter and drop-in centre.
Architects are often known for their skill in optimizing client programs, and Hamilton-based Thier + Curran Architects (TCA) is no exception. Community-building synergies are behind a pair of their recent projects: a social service oriented development in Hamilton, and another in Richmond Hill.
For over 50 years, the non-profit Hamilton Good Shepherd has provided services for the area?s homeless population. In the mid-2000s, the Catholic Diocese offered it a piece of vacant land in an up-and-coming neighbourhood to build a women? s shelter.
TCA was hired to design the shelter, but after preliminary analysis of the large lot, they felt there was a moral obligation to develop more. ?We could build three more buildings on the property without compromising anything, and it would actually be a nicer development and better for the community,? recalls Bill Curran, MRAIC. It took 12 years of fundraising and approvals to realize that vision, accompanied by ?horrendous NIMBYism, and an OMB hearing full of neighbours saying ?we don?t want those people here?,? says Curran. One of the advantages of creating a larger development meant that this process only had to be navigated once?rather than through multiple consultations if the property was built up more incrementally. Moreover, ? there are 6,000 families on the waiting list for affordable ...