The Marda Loop neighborhood, named after the 1953 Marda Theatre and a trolley car that looped around the city centre, is a vibrant and diverse community. The neighborhood offers unique shopping, great dining experiences and is pedestrian friendly, with many parks and pathways.
Sarina Homes decided Marda Loop would be the perfect location for their five storey, 36 unit, mixed-use development. Sarina Homes conducted numerous consultations with the public and studies to ensure the new condominium development was a positive addition to the Marda Loop community and would meet the neighborhoods current needs, as well as maintaining the general look and feel of the area. Avenue 33 is located at 33rd Avenue & 19th Street SW and includes commercial space on the main floor, four floors of residential space and one level of underground parking.
Williams Engineering Canada (WEC) partnered with Sarina Homes on this multi-use building to provide building envelope services. The complex posed interesting challenges for our team, which included a unique water management system. The residential patios were located over heated space, serving as a deck and a roof; therefore, the patios were designed as a fully functioning roof. Increased collaboration with the design team and the broader consulting partners was required to analyze the building envelope detailing. Mock-ups were completed to ensure the correct design was chosen for functionality and to maintain the architects original design intent. The drainage system also had to be designed in a way that it would not hinder access to the outdoor space.
The patios were designed as a fully functioning roof, which included layering decking material on the roof membrane, and to achieve this the patio railings were raised to meet code requirements. The door heights were also altered to allow more clearance above the finished deck level and to decrease the risk of water penetration.
WEC also assisted in the collaboration and integration of the exterior façade finishes. Challenges in coordinating trades and providing tie-ins between wall cladding systems were overcome to meet the design requirements from the architect while maintaining the water tightness of the building.
WEC is pleased to continue to develop our relationship with Sarina Homes and have started our next project together, also in the active community of Marda Loop.
