The allure of Roar_One in Point Grey lies in invisible or intangible elements
Chantal Eustace
Sun
In the Roar homes, the kitchen appliances were not the selling tool that other new-home-project developers wield. The powerful green paint used throughout the homes was applied to warm the steel-and-concrete construction. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Standing atop that which they wrought, the tree-lined West Point Grey neighbourhood and towers of the West End behind them, developer Sergio Rodriguez (left) and the Roar_One architect, Oliver Lang, demonstrate why natural light and Vancouver views influenced their work at the new-home project. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
The Roar — One homes ask their residents to weigh the attractions of light-filled, view residency against their need for, and obligations for, privacy. ‘If you want big views and big light, obviously you’re going to, to a certain extent, have less privacy,’ developer Sergio Rodriguez says. ‘If you want full privacy, there’s things you could do, like adding blinds.’ Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
ROAR_ONELocation: 4387 West 10th, Vancouver (and the site of the old Varsity Grill and Varsity Video)Project size: 10 2-storey residences, 4-storey buildingResidence size: 800 sq. ft. – 1,991 sq. ft. Developer: Sergio and (brother) Andre RodriguezArchitect: Oliver Lang, Lang Wilson Practice in Architectural Cultural (LWPAC.)
When seasoned architect Oliver Lang met ingenue developer Sergio Rod-riguez, two visionaries collided – and created an “architectural masterpiece” that could change the way Vancouver looks in the future.
Roar_One, an award-winning new-home project in Point Grey, is an extraordinary addition to the neighbourhood.
The homes don’t boast fancy fixtures or name-brand appliances. Instead, everything about the concrete, steel and glass building celebrates the absence of things.
The allure or Roar_One lies in invisible or intangible elements — space and light, material and air.
“It’s not about style. I’d call it an armature for living,” Lang says. “It’s architecture designed to facilitate the practice of everyday culture.”
Despite rain and grey skies, transient light bounces through a north-facing home (asking price, about $1.5 million).
It’s difficult to describe how the homes look since much of the viewing experience is about materials and movement — glass instead of walls morphs into sliding doors attaching rooms to patios.
“You walk through and you say ‘wow, this is just completely different,” Lang says. “Is it possible to rethink the idea of an apartment and rethink the experience?”
The use of light, reflected through all levels of the building, including an internal courtyard, particularly impressed James Boldt, a development planner at Vancouver city hall.
Boldt says in the future, he expects Roar_One will be considered one of the city’s “heritage building,” respected for influencing future buildings and a uniquely Vancouver style.
“It’s a candidate for something that people point to and say, ‘that’s something great,’ ” he says.
“[At city hall] we see a lot of different levels of design and quality . . . . When we see the architect and developer motivated to do an architectural masterpiece that is livable and affordable, we’re definitely on to make it happen,” Boldt says.
Design magazines such as Azure and Enclave have already featured the Roar homes in articles abut innovative design.
So far Roar_One has won five separate design awards, including the 2006 Lieutenant Governor’s Award of Excellence for B.C. and the 2005 Collegiate Schools of Architecture Faculty Design Award for North America.
“We sold an idea,” Rodriguez while standing on the deck of a Roar penthouse, gesturing to the North Shore mountains behind him, framed by rooftops and coated with sky.
The Roar developer, 31-year-old Rodriguez, is a first-time developer. He says he hopes to build on what he learned with Roar_One in future developments. Despite initial skepticism, people are impressed once they tour the finished space, he says.
Rodriguez climbs down a skeletal staircase, then opens a wall of glass, exposing a patio area half-covered by the floor above. Most of the area is dry despite rain. He says this “interesting interfacing between the outdoor and the indoor” was intentional.
It means residents can sit outside during soggy days, enjoying more livable space and a well-ventilated home.
“It isn’t static,” agrees Lang, a Roar resident, his home on the West 10th side of the project. “Even on a rainy day, it’s quite magical.”
Photographs don’t do it justice, he says, describing it as a “house in the sky.”
“We really wanted to blur the boundaries between external and internal space,” Lang says. “If a lot of daylight pours in everywhere, it can feel quite light.”
Clever design tactics – including anodized aluminum screens on the West 10th side of the building that can be moved by residents to suit their needs – keep the space both private and climate-controlled.
Floor-to-ceiling windows inhale the outdoor, the effect boneless, lighter-than-air.
Rodriguez says the biggest challenge he faced as a new developer – working to get the unique structure built – was plain, old doubt.
“The biggest mistake I made was not fully believing in it in a way,” Rodriguez admits.
He worried it wouldn’t work out as planned, that it was taking too long and he worried it looked “cold.”
“You always have doubts. Like it’s different and it’s crazy. In different points in construction it looked really cold,” Rodriguez says.
To counterbalance the grey of the concrete and steel, Rodriguez and Lang decided on a vibrant lime green paint in the courtyard. The same coulour highlights some walls inside the units.
“We thought the green . . . it’s a peaceful colour that goes with the landscape but it adds a bit of warmth to it,” says Rodriguez.
Construction took 24 months – longer than he expected, says Rodriguez, who rented an apartment across the street so he could be on-site easily.
“There’s a lot of just – like – waiting until things are done. It’s sort of like hanging in there for the long haul.”
Even in his sleep, he says, he sometimes dreamed he was on site, working on the project.
It seems his worry was unfounded, since he says there was a “niche market” of buyers seeking an architecturally unique space like Roar. Eight of the homes were sold before construction was completed.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it would get such a good result at that stage,” he says, adding they used a computer-generated image instead of a show suite. “We were conscious of buyers also taking a risk with us.”
Looking back on how things turned out, Rodriguez says he regrets pre-selling the spaces.
“If I had thought ‘okay, I’ll just keep half of it,’ knowing ‘okay, it’s going to turn out amazing’ – I would have made real money from this,” Rodriguez says. “I barely recouped everything I put in.”
This month Rodriguez sold his Roar home. Right now he’s working his “day job” as a lawyer and keeping his eye out for another potential site.
“If I find a site to develop ‘Roar_Two’ in Vancouver – I think I’ll have to be a renter again, ” he says. “Can’t afford both a development and a home in Vancouver these days – it’s the cost of wanting to be a developer.”
Next time around things would be different he says. If he does find a good development site, he says he plans to be more “hands off” during construction.
Looking back on what he accomplished as a first-time developer, he says he’s pleased he learned a lot and broke even.
“But that’s not bad for a first project,” Rodriguez says, smiling. ” That was the object too. I thought, it’s the first project, it’s a learning experience.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006