Aperture Housing, Vancouver Building Development, Canadian Real Estate Architecture, Images
Aperture Housing in Vancouver
New Homes in BC, Canada – design by Arno Matis Architecture
2 Jul 2018
Aperture Housing
Design: Arno Matis Architecture
Location: 5688 Willow Street, Vancouver BC, Canada
Aperture Housing

Façade openings are programmed to provide passive shading, and act like an Aperture: opening and closing in response to the unique solar exposure of each façade. Apertures are deeper on the south elevation to provide increased sun shading, and more shallow and open to the North, to allow for additional light.

NATURAL WOOD IN GLASS SKIN: Each aperture is framed with natural wood-in-glass; a building skin that is the first of its kind. Two years of R&D resulted in a mahogany veneer encapsulated between two glass layers, the system allows the wood to be preserved in its natural form without staining or color treatment; the richness of the natural wood grain is enhanced through refracted light.
Encapsulated UV glass protects wood from weather exposure, eliminating the need for wood maintenance. The insulated panel also reduces solar gain and increases the thermal resistance of the façade.

RESPONSIVE MASSING: A full city-block located in a ?single-family-transitioning-to-urban? neighborhood, the building responds to this context by stepping-down in scale from 6-storey midrise blocks on the busy arterial, down to two-storey villas, sensitive to the singl...