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Rotunda

Courtyard infill with all-electric space and water heating

Victoria, BC

Low Carbon ?

Clean energy
Electric ready
Energy efficient
Green materials
Transit-oriented

Resilient ?

Extreme temperatures
Wildfires

Affordable ?

Lower energy bills

Rotunda is a four-storey wood-frame building a short walk from Victoria’s Legislature, with 12 condos and townhomes organized around a shared interior courtyard.

Close to transit and bike paths in a walkable neighbourhood, the building needed to provide only 10 parking spaces for tenants, reducing wasted space, cutting construction costs, and eliminating carbon emissions.

Suites feature high-performance vinyl windows, energy-efficient heating and cooling. Top-floor homes use heat pumps while other suites use electric baseboards, with in-suite electric hot-water tanks. The building meets the highest level of the Zero Carbon Step Code for space and water heating.

Replicability

Rotunda shows a lean way to add homes on tight urban sites, using wood-frame construction over a compact concrete podium. The central courtyard provides light, air, and space to build community. Its systems are all-electric: heat pumps where feasible, electric baseboards elsewhere, as well as in-suite electric hot-water tanks. The result: lower operating costs and easier maintenance. This is infill most jurisdictions and builders could deliver.

Neighbourhood Type

Urban

Building Type

Mid-rise

Occupancy Type

Condo

Resilient ? Resilient housing is built to withstand worsening weather events. This can be achieved through design and siting features that protect homes from flooding, rising sea levels, wildfires, extreme temperatures and power outages.

Affordable ? Affordable housing ensures no Canadian spends more than 30% of their income on shelter costs. This can be achieved through social housing, below-market rents, lower tenant costs, lower energy bills, lower insurance costs, lower construction costs, and affordable purchase prices.