location: Victoria
status: 2010 Academic project
designer: Stéfan Levasseur 
mentor: Christopher MacDonald

The neighbourhood of James Bay in Victoria, BC was once involved in industrial/commercial activity. The existing building at 118 Ladysmith Street was a grain processing plant with an attached bakery where residents of the community could buy freshly baked bread until 1971 when the plant relocated to Surrey and baked goods became available only at the local shopping area a number of blocks away.

In keeping with the James Bay development plan towards community-oriented services and gathering spaces as well as healthy pedestrian lifestyles, the aim of this development is to challenge norms and current zoning paradigms by provide multiple adaptable units within a residential neighbourhood that are capable of housing anything from residential to live/work to office spaces. Focus is placed on healthy live/work conditions encouraging community interaction through crossing circulation paths and sight lines between various levels of public/private zones. Historical usage is re-introduced with a bakery/cafe along with a small convenience store that will once again draw an increased public presence to this otherwise residential block. The final outcome is a place for brief or drawn out interactions among residents of the community.