1031 – 1045 Ridgewood Drive

Wesgroup Properties, in partnership with Integra Architecture, have submitted a rezoning application to the District of North Vancouver for their properties at 1031 – 1045 Ridgewood Drive. This townhouse project in the Edgemont Village Centre Plan area will provide market housing in a mix of units and sizes.

Our Proposal

Location

The site is located along on Ridgewood Drive and Ayr Avenue in Edgemont Village. It currently features four single-family homes. Across Ayr Avenue is a mixed-use 4-storey building with townhomes along Ridgewood Drive. To the south is a 3-storey seniors living facility, and to the north are existing single-family homes. In the Edgemont Village Centre Plan (2014), the site is part of the ‘Residential Periphery’ area.

The site is within very close walking distance of shops and services in Edgemont Village, including groceries, banking, restaurants, and health services. Green space is easily accessed at McKay Creek or William Griffin Park. Highlands Elementary School lies one block to the east, on Colwood Drive.

Sketch rendering of the proposal featuring ground-oriented housing desirable for families.
Site and neighbourhood context of Ridgewood Drive.

Project Details:

Wesgroup Properties, in partnership with Integra Architecture, have submitted a rezoning application to the District of North Vancouver for their properties at 1031 – 1045 Ridgewood Drive. This townhouse project in the Edgemont Village Centre Plan area will provide market housing in a mix of units and sizes.

The proposal is a townhouse development with 32 market homes, including 2-storey and 3-storey townhouses, and four garden suites. The proposal has been designed to respond to the Edgemont Village Guidelines. Utilizing a lowered courtyard and the slope of the site, smaller and more affordable garden suite homes were added to provide opportunities for first-time home buyers looking at the lower end of market.

Project Summary

Site Area33,342 sf
Density
1.19 FSR (Floor Space Ratio)
HeightThree storeys
Total homes:32
3-bedroom + den Townhomes
2-bedroom + den Townhomes
2-bedroom accessible Garden Suites		20
8
4
Vehicle Parking64 + 1 residential loading
Bicycle Parking83

Community Benefits

The proposal for Ridgewood Drive will provide a number of benefits to Edgemont Village, and the wider community, including:

Sustainability

Ridgewood Drive will be built to 100% Passive House standard, exceeding the District of North Vancouver’s sustainability requirements, and drastically lowering energy bills for residents. The project will also provide 100% EV parking spaces, and the landscape will be a mixture of indigenous and drought tolerant planting.

Accessible Garden Suites

Utilizing a lowered courtyard and the slope of the site, smaller and more affordable garden suite homes were added to provide opportunities for first-time home buyers looking at the lower end of market.

New Homes for Families

The sensitively scaled new housing will provide ground-access units for new families and downsizers in the community.

Supporting Local Business

The new homes will support existing businesses in Edgemont Village by adding demand for local goods and services.

Future Residents

This proposal has been designed to appeal to a variety of people, including new families who are looking to purchase their first home or upsize from a smaller condo. It may also include upsizing professionals, or local downsizers who are looking to stay on the North Shore, close to family and friends.

If you’re interested in learning more, please get in touch with us!

Working couple with young children, looking to purchase their first home or upsize from a smaller condo.

Established professional singles, couples, or families climbing the housing ladder on the North Shore.

Older couple or single, having raised their kids, now looking to downsize and stay on the North Shore, close to family and friends.

Construction Management

Wesgroup is dedicated to ensuring that any impacts from construction are minimized should the construction move forward. A construction management plan will be developed for the site, as highlighted below:

Site Management

• Advance notifications of truck routes to be posted on site
• Main delivery point to be off Ayr Ave. at south-west corner
• Site flaggers on site during deliveries, hauls, pours and as required
• Hoarding along Ridgewood to allow safe pedestrian/cyclists travel
• All ESC requirements as designated by the DNV will be strictly followed
• Truck/Delivery scheduling to allow for “on-time” deliveries to avoid staging requirements

Trade Management

• Average number of trades on site per day: 5-25
• Trade parking to be located off-site (currently in discussion with St. Catherine’s Church)
• Work hours and noise levels to comply with DNV Bylaw
• Usual working hours to be 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday
• Trade clean-up to be enforced daily

Construction Timeline

2 Weeks

Demolition & Clearing

• Site to be accessed off of Ridgewood Dr. with the machine being off-loaded into the front yard of 1045 Ridgewood – Disposal/Recycling bins to be dropped off into the rear driveway/yard of 1045 Ridgewood; accessed off of Ayr Ave. (yellow Staging area)
• Trucks for demo phase will be loaded in the rear driveway/yard of 1045 Ridgewood; accessed off of Ayr Ave. (yellow staging area)
• Tree removal will commence once a clear fall area is established – Trucks for tree debris/logs to be loaded on Ayr Ave. (green staging area)

2 Months

Excavation & Shoring

• De-watering system to be setup on Ayr Ave. (green staging area)
• All machinery to be off-loaded into the property of 1045 Ridgewood
• Trucks to be loaded on Ayr Ave. (green staging area) – Trucks will stage along either West Queens Rd. or Ridgewood Dr.; where feasible load out days will be limited to scheduled days

3 Months

Concrete Structure

• Site Trailer will be setup on Ayr Ave. (green staging area) – All miscellaneous deliveries to happen off of Ayr Ave. (yellow staging area)
• Concrete trucks and pumper truck to be setup along Ridgewood Dr. (red staging area)
• Concrete trucks will stage along either West Queens Rd. or Ridgewood Dr.
• We are not anticipating using a crane for this project at this point

6 Months

Wood Structure Framing

• All miscellaneous deliveries to happen off of Ayr Ave. (yellow staging area)
• Large deliveries such as pre-fab wall panels and pre-fab joist deliveries shall happen off of Ridgewood Dr. (red staging area); these deliveries will be limited
• De-watering system to be removed when feasible

6 Months

Exteriors

• All miscellaneous deliveries to happen off of Ayr Ave. (yellow staging area)
• Deliveries such as roofing and cladding to be limited to large deliveries to limit amount of truck traffic

Passive House

Wesgroup’s Ridgewood Drive proposal will be built to 100% Passive House standard, exceeding the District of North Vancouver’s sustainability requirements, and drastically lowering energy bills for residents.

So, What is Passive House?
Passive house is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, which reduces the building’s ecological footprint. Please see the below video:

Overall, Passive Houses result in better buildings that last, have low energy use and are healthier. A Passive House:

  • Has no condensation risk, so no mold risk.
  • Has comfortable surface temperatures, which means you can be comfortable anywhere in the home and close to the windows in the winter.
  • Is cost effective, the cost of operating and heating the building is very low and resilient to changing prices.
  • Has air sealing for durability, which means that no condensation or mold will occur inside the walls and that they can literally endure for 100+ years.
  • Has low energy use, which means low operating costs, lower CO2 emissions, and smaller mechanical units.

5 Principles for Passive House

There are 5 key principles to meeting the Passive House Standard. A building is like a human. It needs to breathe, stay warm and dry and have healthy conditions. These principles help address that.

  1. Thermal Insulation -> To reduce heating demand and dependence and active heat sources, a heavy sweater is placed around the building. Like a thermos this helps keep the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Typical R values for walls start at R40 – R50 or 12 – 14” of insulation. Often 8” outboard of the sheathing.
  2. Passive House Windows -> Triple pane windows with high performance frames help eliminate excess heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer while bringing in fresh air and daylight. These high quality windows are now produced in the lower mainland and have u-values starting at 0.8 W/m2K (0.14 Imperial).
  3. Ventilation with Heat Recovery: By providing continuous fresh air to the space we guarantee a high quality indoor environment, in winter this could result in a large amount of heat loss. By using heat recovery ventilators with 75% efficiency or higher we can reduce the heat demand by over 75%.
  4. Airtightness – Targeting 0.6 Air Changes per Hour (ACH) at 50Pa testing is 40% better than the target of Energy Step Code Step 5. This level of air tightness reduces heating and cooling loads while also increasing long term durability of the building. This also is a key metric that can be tested at the end of construction and is a reflection of build quality and overall building performance.
  5. Thermal bridge free design – Is key to reducing condensation and mold risk and reducing heat loss. This is a reflection of high quality details and planning.

Policy

The District of North Vancouver Official Community Plan (OCP), 2018, designates the area of Edgemont Village as a ‘Village Core.’ The Village Core is to have mixed-use development in the commercial core and lower density multifamily housing (such as duplexes or townhouses) forming a peripheral area adjacent to the core. In the Edgemont Village Centre Plan (2014), the Ridgewood Drive site is part of the ‘Residential Periphery’ area, appropriate for townhouses.

View the Edgemont Village Centre Plan (2014)

The land use designation allows a Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of up to 1.2, heights up to 3 storeys, and appropriate scale and architecture to fit with the existing neighbourhood character. Wesgroup’s proposal fully complies with these policy requirements. The new homes will help fulfill goals to concentrate housing in Town and Village Centres, supporting local businesses and allowing people to meet their daily needs by walking instead of driving their cars.

Land Use and Allowable Height in the Edgemont Village Centre Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

The site is located at 1031 – 1045 Ridgewood Drive in Edgemont Village, in the northwestern portion of the District of North Vancouver. It currently features four single-family homes.

Wesgroup is proposing a 32 townhouse development, including 2-storey and 3-storey townhouses, along with four two-bedroom, accessible garden suites. The proposal is designed following the Edgemont Village Guidelines and includes a lowered courtyard with garden suite entrances to take advantage of the slope in the site while providing more affordable homes.

If approved, Ridgewood Drive will provide a number of benefits to Edgemont Village, and the wider community:

  • New Homes for Families: The sensitively scaled new housing will provide ground-access units for new families and downsizers in the community.
  • Supporting Local Business: The new homes will support existing businesses in Edgemont Village by adding demand for local goods and services.
  • Accessible Garden Suites: Utilizing a lowered courtyard and the slope of the site, smaller and more affordable garden suite homes were added to provide opportunities for first-time home buyers looking at the lower end of market.
  • Sustainability: Ridgewood Drive will be built to 100% Passive House standard, exceeding the District of North Vancouver’s sustainability requirements, and drastically lowering energy bills for residents. The project will also provide 100% EV parking spaces, and the landscape will be a mixture of indigenous and drought tolerant planting.

The District of North Vancouver and Edgemont Village in particular is a very desirable place to live, for new families and downsizers looking to stay in the community. There is a demand for spaces that are smaller and more affordable than a traditional single-family home, but with more space than a condo. Wesgroup’s proposal aims to deliver this type of much needed housing.

Wesgroup anticipates that this proposal will appeal to a variety of people. This includes new families who are looking to purchase their first home or upsize from a smaller condo. It may also include upsizing professionals, or local downsizers who are looking to stay on the North Shore, close to family and friends. Overall, townhomes and garden suites are more attainable for first time home buyers, whether that’s young professionals or mature professionals.

The proposal is consistent with the proposed use, height and density for this site as per the Edgemont Village Centre Plan. The design conforms to the design guidelines of the Plan which includes massing, setbacks, materials, and colours. Ridgewood Drive will provide sensitively scaled new ground access homes for new families and downsizers in the community.

Wesgroup submitted a rezoning application to the District of North Vancouver in January 2022. This project has not been approved and will be subject to the District’s public process, which includes further public consultation, a review by the District’s Planning and Engineering departments, and an eventual Public Hearing. The timeline for this full process ranges from 12 to 18 months.

Construction is conditional on District Mayor and Council approving the rezoning application. If that occurs, Wesgroup would seek development and construction approvals before starting construction. This process can take anywhere from 12 to 24 months. Once begun, construction is expected to last approximately 12 to 24 months.

Wesgroup is dedicated to ensuring that any impacts from construction are minimized should the proposal move forward. A construction management plan has be developed for the site as detailed here.

As part of the rezoning process a traffic analysis is being completed, as required by the District. Traffic impacts will be assessed and strategies developed to minimize any negative impacts on local streets.

Wesgroup Properties welcomes feedback and questions from the community. As part of the District’s rezoning process Wesgroup will host a Public Information Meeting for the community to learn about the project and provide their feedback. Depending on when this occurs, it may take place in person or virtually, to abide by COVID-19 health recommendations. Eventually there will be a Public Hearing where the public may share their comments with Mayor and Council.

About Us

This project is being led by Wesgroup Properties in collaboration with Integra Architecture.

WESGROUP PROPERTIES

Wesgroup Properties is a local, family-owned and operated real estate development company with a proven history of innovation, sustainability, and award-winning design. Wesgroup has been building in Vancouver for over fifty years, and in this process has become recognized for their good social conscience, entrepreneurial spirit, long-sightedness, quality product and architectural excellence.

INTEGRA ARCHITECTURE

Integra Architecture is a Vancouver-based architecture firm and was formed, in 1999, by two experienced architects – Dale Staples and Duane Siegrist. The partners share a belief in client-centered architecture, teamwork, and long-term working relationships. The firm’s capable staff has extensive experience in all types of residential buildings, mixed-use projects, as well as renovations and seniors housing. Through effective communication and high-quality construction drawings Integra bridges the gap between the builder’s reality and the architect’s vision.

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