Metrotown’s Metropolis gets `healthier, safer’ makeover
Denise Ryan
The Province
Peter Webb of Concord Pacific says the Metropolis project is being redesigned.
Living and working may never be the same after COVID-19, and Concord Pacific wants to make sure its living spaces are healthier, safer and more sustainable moving forward.
The developer put a halt to the first phase of its Metropolis redevelopment in June to create a redesign with healthier living in mind: Think air flow, indoor/outdoor flex spaces, wider hallways, fresh air and sunlight.
“The challenges we’ve had globally in this last year has caused Concord to rethink how we put buildings together and how we make them safe,” said Peter Webb, senior vice-president of development for Concord Pacific.
“We actually took the Metrotown project out of schedule to redesign it in order to meet the new criteria of our Biospace Initiative.”
The initiative is a design driven approach to address some of the concerns of high-density living that have come to light since the pandemic.
The three-tower Metrotown project is the redesign of 190-hectare Metropolis at Metrotown site, providing 1.2 million feet of residential density in three towers ranging from 35 to 65 stories.
The redesign includes technology to reduce touch points.
Every suite will be accessible with touchless access from the parkade or sidewalk, lobbies, common areas and elevators will have Hepa-filtered ventilation, more shoulder room and amenity spaces that will be improved.
Balconies have been adapted to include sliding glass panels that will convert into four-season semi-enclosed spaces, and the towers were redesigned to be elevated on columns to create outdoor amenity space. The 66,000-square-foot rooftop park will include a serpentine jogging track, an outdoor pool, playgrounds, studywork pods and a dog park.
In addition, every suite will have a steam closet to sanitize clothing.
It’s not just a marketing spin, said Webb. “This is a current, forward-thinking project. This might be an immediate concern related to the pandemic, but we know that post-pandemic these are health-standard implementations that the general public will enjoy.”
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