By Carol Volkart
Anyone walking the streets of Dunbar these days will be struck by the difference between the older houses that once made up our area and the style and size of the new ones taking their place.
If you’d like to know more about what’s behind the changes, come to this week’s Neighbourhood Café for a chat with local architect and urban designer Brian Palmquist. Palmquist was a key figure in the introduction of laneway houses in 2009, and keeps a close eye on the evolution of housing rules that have led to the transformation of our neighbourhood.
The Café is on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. in room 209 at the Dunbar Community Centre.
In preparation for his talk, several of us have been photographing examples of the new kinds of housing. The photographs below aren’t necessarily from Dunbar, but they’re all from the west side, and show the types of new buildings now under construction.
3900 block of West Broadway
3000 block of West 33rd Avenue.
New construction at 3120 West 11th Avenue.
Three views of the new construction at 4716 Paton Street.
Back view of 4716 Paton Street.
Front view of 4716 Paton Street.
New house on Collingwood illustrates difference between old and new.
Laneway house and new house near Chaldecott Park in Dunbar.
Another view of Chaldecott house and laneway.
Multiplex coming to West 35th in Dunbar.
“New community” coming to 33rd and Wallace in Dunbar. This used to be two houses.
Back view of new houses on West 33rd at Wallace. Four houses replace two.
34-unit apartment building coming to West 30th just off Dunbar.
Laneway houses are now much bigger than first allowed.
Closer view of laneway house.
New construction off West 35th west of Granville.
Front view of West 35th building.
The west 35th project looks like a series of outhouses on the roof profile.. I call it. Outhouse in the infield . That’s what happens when there is no review