Archive for July, 2005

BC’s other great architect finally in limelight

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

The impact of the architecture of Fred Hollingsworth is equally important to that of Arthur Erickson, says curator-author

Kim Pemberton
Sun

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun Fred and Phyllis Hollingsworth continue to live in the first home he designed in 1946. It is where they also raised their children.

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun The Hollingsworth trademark is a house that respects its site and a strong emphasis on ‘bringing the outside in.’

The “West Coast style” of bringing the outdoors in and using natural materials as much as possible in a home is well-known to British Columbians but have you ever wondered who helped create this internationally-acclaimed and popular form of architecture?

The name Fred Hollingsworth may not be as well-known to the general public as Arthur Erickson or Ron Thom but this quiet, unassuming 89-year-old North Vancouver resident can claim the distinction of helping create a design aesthetic that has become a hallmark of coastal living.

“I’m a very big fan of Fred Hollingsworth. He’s really significant in terms of setting a style and standard,” says Greg Bellerby, curator of Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design’s Charles H. Scott Gallery and co-author of Living Spaces: The Architecture of Fred Hollingsworth.

This long overdue book, devoted entirely to Hollingsworth’s six-decade career, is expected to be in bookstores in October.

“He and Ron Thom and colleague Ned Pratt really promoted modernism in the late ’40s and early ’50s. There was only a handful of guys that really established this ‘West Coast’ regional style. While Arthur Erickson is certainly the person who comes to mind when you talk about Canadian architecture there are others like Fred who have had an equally important impact.”

Bellerby says Hollingsworth designed more than 60 houses, most of them located on the North Shore in the Capilano Highlands.

“That’s a lot of homes for one architect to design. Fred was really interested in providing houses that people could afford. Many were built for $10,000 and today would be worth over $1 million,” says Bellerby.

Hollingsworth, and his wife of 56 years, Phyllis, continue to live in the first home he designed in 1946 and where the couple raised two daughters and a son.

The stripped-down, modular home smudges the lines between indoors and outdoors to achieve the architect’s goal of blending in with its forest setting. The house exemplifies the unpretentious style associated with American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who Hollingsworth trained under as a young man.

In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, Hollingsworth’s bright mind and humility are evident. There’s not a trace of self-importance when Hollingsworth describes his own remarkable early years in architecture.

“I was very interested in Frank Lloyd Wright so I went down there and visited,” he says.

“I found him extremely interesting. He was a little guy that would shoot you a look with these steel grey eyes and you better have the answer. They’re still talking about him. He’s invented so much in buildings others still haven’t the guts to do.”

Hollingsworth notes Wright continued to design until his death at age 92.

Hollingsworth himself continues to remain active in his retirement, and until recently was a member of the North Vancouver District Design Panel. (He once served as a district councillor and was instrumental in setting up its planning board.)

He also served as president of the Architectural Institute of B.C. and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and has mentored many younger architects over the years. Among them is his son Russell Hollingsworth, who has been designing homes since 1973.

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

The Hollingsworth trademark is a house that respects its site and a strong emphasis on ‘bringing the outside in.’

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

The Hollingsworth trademark is a house that respects its site and a strong emphasis on ‘bringing the outside in.’

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

Homes with a West Coast feeling that elevate the spirits of all who enter typify the masterful designs of Fred Hollingsworth.

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

Homes with a West Coast feeling that elevate the spirits of all who enter typify the masterful designs of Fred Hollingsworth.

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

Homes with a West Coast feeling that elevate the spirits of all who enter typify the masterful designs of Fred Hollingsworth.

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

Homes with a West Coast feeling that elevate the spirits of all who enter typify the masterful designs of Fred Hollingsworth.

 

“He’s a real Renaissance man, a tremendous musician, painter, sculptor, designer of airplanes. There wasn’t much he didn’t do,” says Russell. “He had quite an influence in the local field, but he was the kind of practitioner who never sought the limelight. He just drew.”

Remarkably, all of Hollingsworth’s designs are by hand. He still doesn’t own a computer, now a standard tool of architects.

And while Hollingsworth senior has won his share of design awards over the years, including two Massey Awards, Canadian architecture’s most prestigious award, the upcoming book is the first devoted solely to his work.

“I’m really excited for him to get recognition for his contribution,” says Russell.

As for Hollingsworth, he is quick to name other local architects whose work he admires — among them Paul Merrick and Barry Downs. But he’s disappointed others in the profession are not taking more risks in architecture, with many accepting the classic “heritage-style” residential building that is so popular today.

“Buildings are actually going backwards and that’s scary to me,” says Hollingsworth. “Architecture is supposed to be progressive. But at the present moment residential architecture is in decline. They are not building what they want to live in. They build what will sell.”

Hollingsworth adds that it isn’t entirely the fault of architects because clients today seem less willing to try innovative ideas. “Most people don’t want to be bothered with that. They’re not really looking for what they haven’t seen before.”

Hollingsworth considers himself fortunate that he was given the opportunity to try new ideas during his career. It’s ironic though, he adds, considering the limited budgets available to architects in the early days.

“People now are coming in with zillions of dollars,” he says. “They’re all on this big size kick — everything they pour into the home is big. Even the equipment is big, like these big-screen TVs. It’s ridiculous. You don’t need a TV the size of a wall.”

For Hollingsworth the ideal house is a simple one, without heat loss, and where its owners can enjoy life and “literally live in the backyard.”

“I’ve often said if you could build a house without a roof and keep the rain out it’s the ultimate — to give the feeling of bringing the outside in,” he says.

Bellerby adds other trademarks of a Hollingsworth home are that it respects its site and uses indigenous materials, like Douglas fir, staying “true to those materials.”

“He would never paint the wood — he’d stain it. He would never use artificial laminates, and he would be sensitive to environmental conditions — using passive solar to heat and cool the rooms and being sensitive to open plans,” says Bellerby.

One home that showcases the best of Hollingsworth is at 4710 Wood Valley Place. It has recently gone on the market at slightly under $1 million. The 1,800-square-foot, one-level house was built in 1973 for Norm Rudden at a cost of $57,000.

“We took a long time to design that — to get them [the client] to build a circular living room,” recalls Hollingsworth.

“I wanted to start doing something with geometric tools. You get a design going where it becomes abstract art, when you look at it to see what kind of space relief you get moving from glass to solid walls.”

The house feels like a sanctuary with a sense of being in nature even when you are indoors. Curves are evident throughout, from the front door, to the circular living room to circular skylights in the kitchen, hallway and master bedroom. The entire south-facing wall is made of sheets of glass, again blurring the line between indoors and outdoors.

“Architecture is a big part of life. I like doing houses but they are the hardest to design — you have to think about its functions. A place to cook, to entertain, to relax. We spend so much time in these little buildings we call home. Surely this is the place to spend money to feel good,” he says.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Energy-creating housing is goal of national environmental group

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition wants all homes to create as much energy as they use

Marty Hope
Sun

CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun A net zero home would produce at least as much electricity as it uses.

Housing that actually creates at least as much energy as it uses, saving homeowners money while cutting greenhouse gases, is the goal of a national group.

The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition wants every dwelling in Canada to meet the target by 2030 by incorporating such renewable sources as solar power and geothermal energy into homes.

“I like the idea and I believe it can be done,” says David Bengert, president of the Calgary-based BuiltGreen Society of Canada. “Oil and gas prices are never going to come down and, ultimately, we’re going to have to find cheaper sources of home energy.”

One of the first companies in Canada to announce it will construct such homes is Calgary-based Avalon Master Builder.

Starting in Red Deer, but eventually including Calgary, Avalon plans to build and test homes during the next decade that use elements of net zero design, says company CEO Ryan Scott.

A national group consisting of industry and non-government groups, the Net Zero Energy Home Coalition aims to create housing able to generate its own electricity.

Traditional sources outside the home, such as the existing power grid system of generating stations and electrical lines, would also be available for use as needed.

But a net zero home would, throughout the course of a year, produce at least as much electricity as it takes from the grid.

“In many cases, all of the heating, cooling and electrical of a net zero home can be provided by renewable energy sources,” says Simon Knight, vice-president of Climate Change Central, referring to the coalition’s vision statement. “Through the combined use of on-site renewable energy generation and energy-efficient technologies and appliances, new home construction design by 2030 will meet a net-zero energy standard.”

The Net Zero Energy Home Coalition is located within the Edmonton headquarters of Climate Change Central, which is a private-public partnership formed by the provincial government to deal with such things as greenhouse gases. The coalition sees net zero housing as the next step from existing programs like BuiltGreen, which reduces power consumption through the creation of more energy-efficient housing.

Progress will likely be made gradually over the next 25 years, says Knight.

“An incremental approach is anticipated through an optimal combination and integration of electrical and thermal technologies such as photovoltaics, ground-source heat pumps, solar thermal, passive solar and floor heating with integrated storage,” he says.

Avalon Master Builder sees its net zero housing as something that will “continually be a work in progress,” says Scott, who adds that homeowners potentially could sell excess electricity.

“The homes will include some solar panel features, battery storage, an inverter to buy and sell energy to the grid, a pre-heating system for the water, a tankless hot water system and as many water-conservation items as possible,” says Scott.

Avalon Master Builder plans to start its first net zero home in Red Deer — a single-family bi-level measuring about 1,600 square feet.

During the next decade, the company plans to alternate construction of these homes between Red Deer and Calgary.

The ongoing development of the homes will allow Avalon Master Builder to test new and different products as well as finding ways to reduce costs.

Like BuiltGreen and the federal R-2000 program, Net Zero ultimately aims to save homeowners money by reducing energy use, says Kevin Gunn, executive director of Enervision, a non-profit Alberta organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency and healthy housing.

“The uptake has been substantial in some areas of the United States, with large builders dedicating 10 per cent — or whole subdivisions — to the zero-energy concept,” he says.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Even in an empty country, high density makes sense

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

Bob Ransford
Sun

Canada is a big country with relatively few people. But most Canadians live within a hundred kilometres of the Canada-U.S. border. That’s probably why almost every new housing project today meets the resistance of existing residents who are afraid of increasing population density in their relatively low density neighbourhoods.

If our physical vision enabled us to look out beyond the mountains that surround us, we would be giving our heads a shake before we complain about population density in this country. The vastness of our unpopulated northern geography almost defies the imagination of most urban dwellers.

The statistics tell the real story though. Canada ranks as one of the least populated countries in the world. With an average density of 34 people per thousand hectares, we are near the very bottom of the list of global nations. Only countries like Greenland, Australia, Mongolia, Iceland, Botswana and Namibia have fewer people per hectare.

Moreover, we can rightly claim to be the bread basket of the world. Canada has one of the highest ratios of arable land to population in the world. We have more than 1.5 hectares of arable land per capita. Compare that with, say, Japan where the rate is only 0.03 hectares of arable land per capita, or China, where the statistics are only slightly better at 0.1 hectares per capita.

These statistics are really telling when it comes to the debate over urban densities — a debate that is playing out in city halls across the Lower Mainland weekly.

As infill development in the suburbs remains one of the only smart options to accommodate what seems like insatiable local growth, existing residents rally to oppose change, largely motivated by fear of the unknown.

One known is that we have a long way to go before we will start to see the kind of densities in our suburbs that make other places in the world economically efficient, socially healthy and innovatively human places.

Urban densities in North America don’t even compare with many other global cities. For example, the population density in the Greater Vancouver Regional District is less than 23 persons per hectare. Taipei‘s population density is more than four times that at 93.5 persons per hectare. The population density in Manila in the Philippines is 410 persons per hectare.

Let’s look at cities we might consider more livable than Taipei or Manila. London‘s population density is 47 persons per hectare and Paris‘ density is 244 persons per hectare, while San Francisco‘s population density is close to 65 persons per hectare.

There are some other not so smart options to accommodate growth in the Lower Mainland. One of them is known as sprawl–the unchecked expansion of urban boundaries that will reduce that enviable statistic that puts Canada out front of most other nations — arable land per capita.

Growing smarter means embracing the notion of concentrating population and activity in an urban area, creating vibrant, diverse and exciting places where there is a range of people, buildings, public spaces, facilities, services and choices.

The New Zealand government’s Ministry of Environment recently undertook a study called The Value of Urban Design.

That study looked specifically at the role density plays in good urban design. It concluded that urban design that promotes a higher density of buildings and public spaces in conjunction with other conditions, such as mixed use, good building design and adequate open space can:

– deliver savings on land, infrastructure and energy;

– reduce the economic costs associated with time spent traveling;

– help concentrate knowledge and innovative activity in the core of the city;

– promote social connectedness and vitality;

– help encourage greater physical activity, with consequent health benefits;

– help conserve green spaces, in conjunction with certain kinds of urban development;

– reduce run-off from vehicles to water, and overall emissions to air/atmosphere (although air emissions may be more locally concentrated).

These are just a few of the benefits of higher density development.

Ironically, many of them address is a positive way the very same fears that motivate people to oppose higher density development.

Bob Ransford is a public affairs consultant with COUNTERPOINT Communications Inc. He is a former real estate developer and a Director of the Urban Development Institute- Pacific Region. Contact him at: [email protected]

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Video on demand has a new player in town

Thursday, July 21st, 2005

Marke Andrews
Sun

A Vancouver company has jumped into the video-on-demand market, offering specialty channels and movies to anyone with a broadband Internet connection.

Broadbandtv Corp., located in downtown Vancouver, claims to be the first service in the country to offer TV on demand via the Internet, going so far as to offer the first three months of viewing free to customers. The customer would have to buy the Broadbandtv player, a device similar in size to a DVD player, which hooks up to the Internet and the television. Broadbandtv Corp. (www.broadbandtv.ca) sells the player for $399, although it is offering it for $299 during its start-up period. Shahrzad Rafati, president and CEO of Broadbandtv Corp., says the company, whose slogan is “Make Your TV Smarter,” is targetting viewers whose specialty tastes are not being addressed by existing cable or digital television services. Program categories are news and business, animation, children’s, sports, lifestyle, foreign language, movies, music and after dark.

“Our customers are people who are tech-savvy and want to watch video over IP [Internet Protocol], and some are people who want to watch extreme sports or content that is not available on TV,” says Rafati. “Others are people who don’t like conventional stuff, who want things like surfing, golfing, movies and newscasts in different languages.” Thus far, the company’s foreign-language fare consists of latelelatina, a Latino-themed channel, AsiaMovieChannel.com and AdvenTV, the latter service broadcasting in the Turkish language. Rafati says she is currently negotiating to get Al-Jazeera, the Arabic news channel.

Among the 11 sports offerings are sailtv, devoted to nautical programming and Varsity TV, dedicated to high school sports.

The company has a half-dozen “after dark” adult entertainment choices.

Broadbandtv currently offers 75 channels. Some of these can be found on existing cable and digital services, including A&E, CNN, The History Channel and BBC. Customers choose what they want to download from the Broadbandtv interactive guide. The process is similar to using a VCR. When using Broadbandtv, viewers download the programs in real time, then watch them later. A Broadbandtv player holds 200 hours of programming. The basic services costs under $13 a month.

Rafati says her system “is not a replacement for TV, it’s a complement to TV.” But cable TV networks may see this as a threat. Shaw Cablesystems has its own video on demand system. Shaw on Demand operates through the cable system. A call to Shaw Communications president Peter Bissonnette was not returned.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Developers discover Royal City

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005

New Westminster to build its own Coal Harbour

Jim Jamieson
Province

CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province Degelder Group president Michael Degelder unveils conception of SkyTrain development

The Royal City is putting some jewels back in its crown.

New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright announced a major redevelopment plan for the city’s Columbia Street waterfront area yesterday. The project, on 2.1 hectares along the Fraser River, will begin with the construction of three 30-plus-storey residential and retail towers — which will be integrated over and around the revamped New Westminster SkyTrain station.

Wright said the Plaza 88 development is in the ideal transportation location to take advantage of the region’s growth.

“It’s New Westminster‘s time to shine,” he said. “It’s been in the backwater for many years, but now people are coming through because of the SkyTrain station. It’s up to us to build New Westminster up so we can showcase the benefits of living here.”

Wright said the key theme of the development is reconnecting the downtown core around Columbia Street to the Fraser River, similar to what has been done at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver and Coal Harbour in Vancouver.

“It’s an exciting river, but we’re not developing it to its potential,” he said.

“Access to the Fraser riverfront is an important asset.”

Plaza 88 will get under way this fall with the first 33-storey tower. The remaining 35- and 37-storey towers will follow in subsequent, two-year time periods. Total construction cost, including infrastructure, is about $200 million. It will include 600 condominium units. There is also a plan to build parking and greenspace over an encapsulated Front Street truck route and railway tracks.

Michael Degelder, president of Degelder Group — co-developer with Charter Pacific Developments — said the project is compelling because of the challenge of integrating with the SkyTrain station and melding it with river access.

“We want to do something like Lonsdale Quay or Coal Harbour,” he said. “They all have the same ambiance.”

The whole project is expected to take about 10 years to complete.

New Westminster, the first capital of B.C. in 1859, has had its challenges in recent decades. The retail strip on Columbia Street was once known as the Miracle Mile, but currently has a tattered look. As well, the Westminster Quay Public Market has been struggling. Aggravating the situation has been a serious drug-trafficking problem in the area around the SkyTrain station, although police have curbed it in recent years.

Wright said he believes the new construction will help eliminate that problem as well as revive the area’s economy.

“We’re policing it constantly, but no matter how much effort we put in to it, because of the laws of Canada, it’s difficult,” he said. “What we can do is change the SkyTrain station environment. Once we start building and have all the activities taking place, the eyes and the feet on the street will change it.”

New Westminster is clearly in the process of major redevelopment, with about 1,000 new housing units under construction and another 1,800 in the approval process.

Doug Syms, president of the Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association, said the project will mean more residents downtown, which will boost retailers.

CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province

The balloon marks the height of the tallest of three residential towers to be built near Royal City’s SkyTrain station.

 

“There’s just no more room downtown and New Westminster has become the new urban area that’s still affordable,” he said.

ROYAL CITY PROJECTS

New Westminster has hit the radar screen of developers in a big way. There are $1 billion in current development under way. Here are some major projects in the Royal City:

– The Copperstone: 231-unit condominium near the Royal Columbian Hospital at Sherbrooke and East Columbia.

– Larco Investments Ltd. will build $285-million residential project with five towers ranging from 25 to 30 storeys on the waterfront between Sixth and Eighth streets.

– Onni Group of Companies will construct the Victoria Hills development, a community of 1,400 homes and the 26-hectare former Woodlands property, beginning at Columbia Street and McBride Boulevard.

– The Bosa Development Corp. will develop the property formerly occupied by St. Mary’s Hospital on Royal Avenue into a residential complex, including two 32-storey townhouse towers and a four-storey apartment.

© The Vancouver Province 2005

A new start to New Westminster

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005

New residential-commercial development to include troubled SkyTrain station

Michael Kane
Sun

The new New Westminster Plaza 88 at New Westminster SkyTrain station is expected to transform the Royal City’s main commercial strip with a highrise residential component.
Artist’s rendition of the Plaza 88 complex proposed for Columbia Street, New Westminster’s retail corridor.

Old New Westminster will be new again with the remake of its crime-troubled SkyTrain station into a landmark commercial and residential centre, Mayor Wayne Wright promised Monday.

At 340 feet, Plaza 88 will be the highest development outside of Vancouver, a “signature statement” for a revitalized downtown, he said.

It will feature three residential towers, with a fourth to be added later, along with retail development now in the early planning stages. All will be integrated with the New Westminster SkyTrain station, which will be enclosed.

Wright said the development will provide homes for “600 good citizens who will be the eyes on the street” to deter downtown drug dealers and transform the SkyTrain station into the best on the line.

“This is just beginning of seeing the revitalization of our entire city and our waterfront,” Wright told a news conference.

Ultimately he wants the site to be fronted by a parking esplanade “in an orchard park setting” above an encapsulated Front Street truck route and railroad tracks, offering a green space connection between downtown and the bustling Fraser River.

New Westminster is experiencing a growth spurt with 1,000 new housing units under construction or being marketed downtown, and another 1,800 in the approvals process.

At the same time the heritage character of the province’s first capital is being preserved with the restoration of the Columbia Historic Area, a bridal shop mecca featuring three-storey walk-ups, antique stores and an old train station converted into a restaurant.

The city of 60,000 is forecast to house 85,000 by 2017, including many younger people who can’t afford to buy in the same neighbourhoods as their parents. The Plaza 88 development will feature one, two and three-bedroom units with prices expected to start at $179,900.

Developers the Degelder Group and Charter Pacific Developments have included a parkade in floors one through eight in each of the first three buildings. The ninth floors will contain amenities and the tenth floors and above of each of the 33, 35 and 37-storey towers will be for condominiums.

“The architecture of Plaza 88 will be impressive,” said Degelder Group president Michael Degelder. “Every suite will have stunning views of the Fraser River, Mount Baker and the North Shore mountains.”

Construction is expected to start in the fall with the first building ready for occupancy in about two years.

Wright said he is working with the federal and provincial governments, TransLink and the Greater Vancouver regional district to secure financing for a park and parking esplanade to cover a widened Front Street transportation corridor.

“The importance of this project for the entire Lower Mainland cannot be over-estimated because the 400,000 cars that come through here every day may be increased with the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge,” he said.

“The encapsulation is a must, not a maybe. It is visionary, it is viable, and it is also extremely necessary. We are getting started on New Westminster‘s biggest transformation since the [British Army] sappers first got here in the early 1800s.”

THE NEW NEW WESTMINSTER

Plaza 88 at New Westminster SkyTrain station is expected to transform the Royal City‘s main commercial strip with a highrise residential component.

Some facts about Plaza 88:

– The project will feature three towers of 33, 35 and 37 storeys, to be built at a cost of $200 million. A fourth tower is to be added later.

– The units will be one-, two- and three-bedroom condo-miniums, with prices starting at $179,900.

– Plaza 88 will be the highest development outside of Vancouver, reaching a height of 340 feet.

– The developers are Degelder Group and Charter Pacific Developments.

– Construction is expected to start in the fall with the first building ready for occupancy in about two years.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

City home sales stay on record pace

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005

Other

SUPER GREEN: The new $450 million Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre on the waterfront will sport a “green roof” and energy-saving features as the city’s latest landmark building. Photo: VTCC Expansion

More townhomes were sold in Greater Vancouver in June than in any month in history, while sales of detached houses hit the second fastest pace in a

decade, reports the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Overall sales of detached, attached and apartment properties increased by 23.6 per cent to

4,333 units sold in June 2005, compared to 3,505 sales in June 2004. “To put it in perspective, these figures are the fourth highest sales in the Board’s history,” says REBGV President Georges Pahud. “The factors that positively affect the overall housing market are in place,” Pahud says. “Consumer confidence is high and domestic activity continues to be the key driver of economic growth. Job creation, business and investment confidence, immigration and mortgage rates combined with demand to live in a thriving world-class city make for a strong real estate market.” The benchmark price of an apartment property in Greater Vancouver, calculated by the Board’s Housing Price Index, is $261,848, up 14.1 per cent from one year ago. The benchmark price of an attached unit (townhomes) is $332,987, up 10.6 per cent from June 2004. The benchmark price of a detached home increased to $533,095 up 10.2 per cent from a year ago.

Starts slow no surprise

New home starts in Greater Vancouver dipped 24 per cent in June compared to a year ago, but the slowdown came as no shock to Canada Mortgage and Housing senior analyst Cameron Muir. “Fewer housing starts are not surprising,” said Cameron Muir, Senior Market Analyst. “Homebuilders are extremely busy working on the record number of projects already under construction.” During the first half of 2005 an average of 18,565 housing units were under construction in the Vancouver CMA, the highest number of ever recorded during the first two quarters of the year. While consumer demand remains very strong, homebuilders are finding it increasingly difficult to build more homes than they are right now.” Year-to-date, housing starts in Greater Vancouver are down 12 per cent to 8,574 units over the first six months of 2004. Single-detached starts declined 21 per cent to 2,278 units, while multiple starts dipped 9 per cent to 6,296 units compared to the same period last year.
 

The Ultimate in home theatre

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005

Prices of high-end systems start at $250,000 and the sound, not the big picture, makes the largest impact

Peter Wilson
Sun

 

 

 

PHOTOS BY RICHARD LAM/VANCOUVER SUN
ABOVE: The Chhachhi home home theatre has 10 leather recliners and lights that automatically dim when a movie starts playing.

RIGHT: The Chhachhi family, (from left) Sharon (mom), Tesh (dad), Brion and Munzil sink into the leather recliners and enjoy a movie in their fabulous home theatre.
RICHARD LAM/VANCOUVER SUN
Brion Chhachhi uses the centre control panel in his dad Tesh’s $250,000 home theatre.

When Vancouver entrepreneur and movie buff Tesh Chhachhi wants to show his friends what owning a real home theatre is all about, he fires up the DVD of Blackhawk Down.

The spacious theatre’s six rear seats have transducers placed under them, so that the chairs actually vibrate with the lower sound frequencies.

“It feels like you’re in the helicopter itself,” said Chhachhi, whose sumptuous 17-by-27-foot, 10-seat pleasure palace of a cinema in his Shaughnessy home recently won the Custom Electronic Designers & Installers Association (CEDIA) award as the best in home theatre in the $200,000 to $240,000 US category.

On the 110-inch screen — perforated to allow speakers to be placed directly behind it — the colour from the ceiling-mounted projector is clear, clean and sharp. And the surround sound, no matter what the scene, is impeccable.

“Some of our friends say this has better colour separation and better sound than any of the theatres in town,” said Chhachhi. “Before this, we had large TVs, but nothing comes close to this experience.”

Agreeing with this assessment are Chhachhi’s wife Sharon, who likes to watch Hindi movies, and their 19-year-old son Brion and 15-year-old daughter Manzil.

The front four seats of the theatre — designed by Vancouver’s La Scala Home Cinema and Integrated Media — are equipped with controls for XBox and PlayStation video consoles. This means that Brion can have friends over to play games or even compete with others over the Web.

As for the price, Tesh Chhachhi said he wasn’t thinking about that when he started out. But he admits he always likes to buy the best.

“The project simply took on a life of its own,” he said.

What we’re describing here is not your next door neighbour’s theatre-in-a-box — toted home from the local electronics outlet. Nor is it something set up by your aunt’s boyfriend’s cousin who used to be a cable installer and once took a correspondence course in audio.

This is true upper-level home theatre, where prices of $250,000 are common, and climbing — although they make up only five to eight per cent of the work done for clients by people like La Scala and their Vancouver rival Sound Plus as well as another top firm, Beyond Audio, in Kelowna.

While you can get a something more than a basic home theatre for as little (relatively speaking) as $15,000 to $20,000 — and on up — it’s these showcase jobs that really show what today’s technology can do.

And each step up the quality ladder means a sizeable jump in cost, said Mark Blackwood custom sales manager at Sound Plus, who has a lengthy track record of award-winning theatre design on the West Coast, including working on a $600,000 US demo project for Magnolia HiFi (now Magnolia Audio Video) in Seattle.

“To go from the $20,000 to get a better theatre it would cost you $40,000,” said Blackwood. “And at about the $250,000 level its a diminishing return — where you’re getting about five per cent more performance and spending over double what you would have for a $100,000 theatre, to obtain the best.”

Surprisingly, while it’s initially the size of the screen and the potential for eye-grabbing spectacle that seizes the imaginations of deep-pockets clients, the sound is usually the element that ends up making the biggest impression.

“You go and hear theatre-in-a-box and you think, man, that’s great,” said Marilyn Sanford, president of La Scala. “But in a dedicated theatre it’s an entirely different film. You hear things you never heard before, nuances and footsteps and whispers.”

And, said Beyond Audio owner Mike Ohman — whose company recently was awarded the audio visual contract for the British Columbia Welcome Centre at the Turin Winter Olympics — it’s the audio that clients comment on a year or two down the road.

Recently, he went to visit half a dozen clients whose home theatres he had installed.

“Every single customer, all they could talk about was how good the sound was,” Ohman said. “Originally, all they wanted to talk about was how big the picture was.”

Ohman tells the story of an experiment by a manufacturer. Two rooms were set up with exactly the same video equipment — including screens of the same size. One room was equipped with a $1,500 sound system and the other had audio equivalent to the quality of the video.

“Eighty-five per cent of the people said they liked the system with the larger picture — even though the pictures were identical,” Ohman said.

Blackwood, who designs theatres for Intrawest’s resort properties, said that surround sound should be diffuse and enveloping so that those in the theatre don’t localize where the sound originates. Otherwise, it detracts from the experience.

“Your ears are such finely tuned instruments that you’re distracted from what the main purpose of the film is and that’s the voice or the dialogue of the movie,” he said.

Although not all sound equipment is THX certified — the standard developed originally by LucasFilms — the designers use THX as a reference.

“It’s sort of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,” said Blackwood. “If you do the room to the THX specification, you usually have a pretty good sounding room.”

When it comes to screens, the industry standard is the Stewart, from the Los Angeles-based company that provides the screens for the Academy Awards and has been making screens since shortly after movies began to talk.

“Back then they recognized that they were battling poor lighting sources and unevenness of surface and so forth,” Owen said. “When they spotted the home theatre thing starting to come on, the needs were the same.”

While the Chhachhi family has a cathode ray tube projector — necessary when using a perforated screen and still regarded as offering the best picture — the latest technology for projectors is Digital Light Projection (DLP), developed by Texas Instruments.

“The average projector for us is probably around the $15,000 to $20,000 range to really do it well,” Sanford said. “A lot of people say, gee, I can go out and spend $2,000 for a projector or $100,000. Why would I ever do that if I can get it for $2,000?”

The answer, she said, is that you need a projector that suits the size of the screen.

“It’s horsepower for clarity of the picture and the detail that you’re going to get,” she said.

Sometimes clients think they know what’s best for them in terms of equipment because they’ve been reading reviews in home theatre magazines, Ohman said.

“Those magazines exist solely to advertise equipment, so they’re not really a great resource. We get to try maybe hundreds of products a year, so we’re really the first line of defence. We filter out the equipment that doesn’t perform as advertised or doesn’t have a good track record of maintenance and longevity.”

As well, new clients often have to be discouraged from their obsession with mammoth screen size, said Mark Owen, a Vancouver based manufacturer’s representative for home theatre equipment, who also consults with the designers on projects,

“The most common error people make is they say ‘I want the 120-inch screen’ and the next thing we have to ask is, ‘How big is your room?’ ” Owen said. “And we point out to them that when you go to the movies, you don’t choose to sit in the front row.

“There’s this tendency to want to go really large, but, you know, that’s why you engage a professional designer to assist you.”

When it comes to the larger theatres, designers from the likes of La Scala, Sound Plus and Beyond Audio most often work with new houses under construction, where they have a chance to have input from the beginning of the project, some of which have been known to last as long as five years.

This means they can provide the homeowner and the contractor with complete room designs, wiring diagrams. placement of speakers, materials to be used and the like and there are far fewer problems with having to improvise solutions later on.

“Anything to be successful needs to be planned properly in advance,” said La Scala designer Patrick Tasci. “You do need to adapt as things change, because they always do, but by having a plan that everyone can follow we can just draw it up on paper and give it to the builder.

“We’re not just meeting on site and saying, I need something over here and it needs to be about five feet high.” said Tasci. “Honestly, that used to happen.”

These days, Tasci said, there’s accountability for everyone involved.

“And things tend to be built to a higher standard when there’s accountability.”

While dedicated theatres — those self-enclosed spaces devoted entirely to the movie watching and other audio video experiences — have been the norm for the past few years, fashions are always changing.

Originally, customers went for designs that almost replicated the theatres of the the commercial cinema chains,

“Initially, what we were promoting was a miniature professional theatre in a person’s home, including theatre seating and even a popcorn machine because it was kind of fun,” said Owen. “Some people were doing fake ticket kiosks in their lobby and so forth. They had movie posters up and marquees and so forth.”

That quickly changed, said Owen,

For one thing customers soon realized that movie theatre seating isn’t really all that comfortable. And that mean they started to go for electronically controlled lounger-type seating , where the adjustable chairs can cost from $2,500 to as much as $4,000 and designs that can emphasize things like classic wood panelling.

“Now we’re into what do I really want and how do I want to watch in my theatre,” said Owen” So now we have two, possibly three, incarnations.”

The first of these is the dedicated home theatre with adjustable chairs.

“The second one would be a media room,” said Owen. “And the media room we differentiate only slightly because, typically, it’s going to be used for more than just watching movies.

“You might use it for surfing the Web. You might use it for video games for the teens and pre-teens and you might use it just for regular sports watching and so on.”

The third category is the multi-use room, where there might be a bar at the rear or a pool table.

“I know some folks who are really heavily into poker and they’ve put a poker table at the back,” Owen said. “Maybe they’re watching the Eric Clapton concert, which doesn’t require your complete attention. You can look over and say, ‘Isn’t that a great song or isn’t that a great guitar solo and then you can go back to your game.”

One of the most important elements of any home theatre these days, say the designers, is the ability of the family — especially the less technically adept –to actually use it, something that could cause problems in the past.

“Like I say to my clients, you have have a $1 million home cinema, but if you can’t turn it on and off properly or really experience it, it’s like having the car without the key,” said Tasci.

These days this problem is solved by providing clients with simple-to-use keypads, that are self-explanatory when it comes to operating the theatre.

The designers, all members of CEDIA — which certifies those who take its educational courses –emphasize the need to hire someone who knows what they’re doing when they put together a home theatre.

“Certification and educational programs can really elevate the market,” Sanford said. “We’re concerned that there are bad people out there, and it tarnishes everybody.”

Sanford adds that top-level designers also offer after-market service.

“You can call us 24 hours a day seven days a week and someone will get back to you in 15 minutes,” she said.

Another necessary element, adds Tasci, is the showroom and, in the case of the larger companies, full-size demo theatres.

“Can you actually demonstrate your work,” said Tasci. “There’s a lot of people who can’t. It speaks volumes to the dedication people have in the industry if they can recreate the product for the client before they actually sign a cheque.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

The Ultimate in home theatre

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005

Prices of high-end systems start at $250,000 and the sound, not the big picture, makes the largest impact

Peter Wilson
Sun

No bubble in houseing, but prices flattening out

Monday, July 18th, 2005

Province

In Vancouver, many homes appreciate more in a year than their owners take home in pay. — PROVINCE FILE PHOTO

If your house is making more money than you are, should you be elated or worried?

Homeowners in Vancouver are already well aware of the climb in residential real-estate values. But relatively few new homeowners remember that what goes up can come down.

Not that any tumble in the Vancouver market is in the offing, but there have been market collapses in the past and it is always advisable to keep that simple bit of history in the back of your mind.

Various other Canadian neighbourhoods are in the same boat, with owners watching in fascination as the annual rise in the market value of their property during recent years has approached or even exceeded their take-home pay.

Take the recent case of an old, semi-detached house in the gentrifying but still gritty Toronto district of Parkdale. Renovated but with an unfinished basement and no place to park a car, it was listed at $359,000 and sold within a week for $421,500.

That was a gain of $118,500, or 39 per cent, over its previous selling price in 2002.

Admittedly, this can’t compare with a mobile home in Malibu, Calif., listed for $2.7 million, not including the land it sits on, as reported by USA Today.

The received wisdom among bank and government economists is that there is no housing-price bubble in Canada and any steep decline in values is highly unlikely.

However, Jim Rogers, a certified financial planner at Rogers Group Financial Advisors Ltd. in Vancouver, uneasily recalls that average Vancouver real-estate prices tumbled 30 per cent between 1981 and 1982 and didn’t revive to 1981 prices until 1986.

“If you talk to people, they think it’s their safest investment,” Rogers says. “These same people say they would never borrow to invest in the [stock] market, for example, and they’re afraid of leverage.

“And yet, by way of having a mortgage on your principal residence, you are using leverage in the classical sense.”

House prices may not go down, but they’ll certainly flatten, he said.

That may already be happening: The national average price of a two-storey house rose six per cent year-over-year in the April-June quarter to $318,390, slowing from an 8.5-per-cent appreciation in the previous year, according to Royal LePage realtors.

And Statistics Canada says the annual rate of increase in the price of newly built homes eased in May to 4.6 per cent.

Benjamin Tal of CIBC World Markets said he, like many prominent Canadian economists, doesn’t expect any serious slump in the housing market — but cautions that “even a soft landing, a levelling off of real estate prices, will have a significant impact on the economy because the housing market has been a major driver.”

Just the wealth effect of homeowners consuming more because they feel richer has added $50 billion to the economy over the past three years, Tal says.

Meantime, he notes, the savings rate has dwindled and actually turned negative — meaning people on average are spending more than they earn — while the Bank of Canada is signalling with increasing force that interest rates will soon rise.

“Banks can’t lend you enough at the top [of the economic cycle] — and they won’t lend you anything at the bottom,” cautions Brendan Caldwell, president of Caldwell Securities Ltd.

“It’s not a question of a bubble that bursts, necessarily, and people are moving out of their houses in the middle of the night as they were in the ’80s,” Caldwell says.

“The people that are at risk in a rising-interest market … are in the areas where real estate, in the minds of some, has been overbuilt, and I think of the condo market,” Rogers says.

“If you’re saying, ‘Where’s the bubble?’ I’m guessing it might be in the condo market.”

Big-city condominium construction is still booming, propelling overall housing starts last month to an annualized rate of 237,200, up 14 per cent from June 2004.

Rogers counsels that real estate, including cottages and investment properties, “should never constitute more than one-third of your total net worth,” with another third in equities and one-third in fixed-income investments.

© The Vancouver Province 2005