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Ottawa Street YWCA | ? | 6 fl | Complete

I noticed over the weekend that there are excavators on site. Does anyone know what's happening with this?

YWCA demo almost done, affordable housing facility to get building in spring
This will be the first women’s-only facility of its kind in Hamilton and the biggest build for the YWCA in many years, says YWCA Hamilton CEO Denise Christopherson. “The need is great in our community,” she says.

The swimming pool was one of the last remaining familiar sites to go and now the demolition of the Ottawa Street YWCA is almost complete.

In its place will be a six-storey affordable housing facility for women and their children that will include 50 units ranging from one to three bedrooms — 15 of which will be dedicated to women with developmental disabilities.

This will be the first women's-only facility of its kind in Hamilton and the biggest build for the YWCA in many years, says YWCA Hamilton CEO Denise Christopherson. "The need is great in our community," she says.

It will also include two community spaces — one indoors and one outdoors — as well as a dedicated seniors centre.

Once demolition wraps up and the soil is prepared, the laying of the foundation can begin. Christopherson says they are still waiting on building permits from the city — something she says is imminent. "We've been working diligently with the city of Hamilton," she says.

She expects construction of the structure to begin in the spring.

The entire project is expected to be completed in December 2020.

So far, $5.25 million of the total project cost of $22.4 million has been received through funding from the provincial social infrastructure fund and affordable housing fund.

Negotiations for further funding are ongoing. "We're negotiating with every level of government on this project," says Christopherson, noting "the project has been well received."

A fundraising campaign organized by the YWCA will launch in early 2019 to supplement the funding already in place.
An Ottawa Street neighbourhood information session will be held on Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre on Ottawa Street for those interested in learning more about the project. The YWCA is also providing emailed updates.

"This is an important project for us," says Christopherson.
sgardner@thespec.com

How to change the way we build

In the Crown Point neighbourhood, the YWCA redevelopment (which will provide 50 affordable housing units to women and women-led families) is being designed to the Passive House standard.

YWCA Hamilton incorporates Passive House design into affordable housing development
KEARNS MANCINI ARCHITECTS INC. — Construction is under way on the YWCA Hamilton’s new six-storey, affordable housing development on Ottawa Street. The highly energy-efficient, 50-unit project incorporates a Passive House design. The development is being constructed on the organization’s long-time property. Construction is scheduled for completion by November 2020.
With an eye on achieving a high degree of energy efficiency, the YWCA Hamilton is spearheading a development that incorporates a Passive House (PH) design.

The Ottawa Street affordable housing project in Hamilton, Ont. is being delivered by a team that includes Toronto-based Kearns Mancini Architects Inc. and the Schilthuis Group of Companies of Caledonia, Ont.

Both firms have expertise in this realm. Passive House is considered the most rigorous, voluntary energy-based standard in the design and construction industry today.

Medora Uppal, the YWCA Hamilton’s director of operations, said the women-led charitable organization opted for a Passive House design after retaining Kearns Mancini early in 2018.

“Kearns Mancini provided their experience with Passive House and we had the chance to talk to other groups in Canada who had built Passive House buildings or were working on Passive House designs,” she said in an email.

Uppal said the potential for achieving a highly energy-efficient building at a time of serious climate change and for maintaining affordability of the housing units by reducing the cost of utilities made Passive House “an obvious choice.”

With its PH design, the YWCA Hamilton aims to achieve energy savings of 75 per cent and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 25 per cent compared to the National Energy Code for Buildings in 2015.

The Ottawa Street redevelopment, which has a projected construction cost of about $22.2 million, will include 50 affordable housing units for women and children in Hamilton’s Crown Point neighbourhood.

The building also incorporates a multifunctional seniors’ centre on the ground floor. The building’s exterior will be flanked by trees and other greenery, including a community garden.

The project is being undertaken by a team that includes structural engineers Read Jones Christoffersen, mechanical and electrical engineers Integral Group, civil engineers S. Llewellyn & Associates Ltd. and landscape architects Fleisher Ridout Partnership Inc. PH certifier is Peel Passive House.

For its part, Kearns Mancini has been active in the PH design sphere since 2009. The firm currently has 11 such projects in various stages of design.

“Half of our PH projects are multi-unit residences for affordable housing corporations,” Deborah Byrne, chief operating officer and director of PH design at the firm said in an email.

The Ottawa Street development is expected to be one of the largest such projects built in Ontario, said Byrne, a certified Passive House designer with an honours degree in structural engineering from the Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland.

Byrne, who is also chair of Passive House Canada, said such projects are inherently challenging, particularly in terms of procurement.

“To have the best success with PH design and construction, you need the whole team at the table from the beginning.”

In the case of the Hamilton project, one challenging aspect was the fact that the YWCA wanted a concrete building but “structure gets in the way of insulation,” Byrne said.

“Luckily, Coreslab Structures took on the challenge to develop with us a Passive House (building) envelope,” she said, noting that the Dundas, Ont. firm created a precast sandwich panel that meets PH criteria.

Construction is scheduled for completion by November 2020. The project is being built on the YWCA Hamilton’s long-time Ottawa Street property.

Source: Daily Commercial News

The prefabricate concrete structure has grey faux brick on the front. However the rendering on the YWCA website shows red brick. Does anyone know if they dye the concrete or is it remain grey?

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9d3bc481_b.jpg Putman-Rendering-DAY-web by limeyviking, on Flickr[/IMG]

Is anyone able to answer my question in the previous post regarding the colour of the building?

It will more than likely be painted brick.

Picture from today, up to 4th storey:

https://i.imgur.com/RsSi7zM.jpg

Walked by the other day, windows slowly going in.

Isn't there one more floor to go?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chronamut (Post 8941081)

Isn't there one more floor to go?

Nope, the design shows five floors with a taller North side. The north taller section is there, you just can't see it from that angle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRitsman (Post 8941240)

Nope, the design shows five floors with a taller North side. The north taller section is there, you just can't see it from that angle.

But the original render shows it being 6 floors.. I guess maybe its possible you can't see the 6th floor from that angle - you do see the little 7th floor electrical room jutout at the top...

https://www.ywcahamilton.org/wp-cont...endering-1.png