Robson Street will be getting a little loungier this summer.
Porch Parade, one of 81 proposals to redesign the Robson pedestrian plaza, has been chosen as the winner of VIVA Vancouver’s annual Robson Redux contest.
Chicago-based architectural firm Design With concocted the winning submission.
It features a series of front porches painted in vibrant colours, all connected by single-wall facades with the typical accessories one might find outside a home on a summer day, including flower planters and patio furniture.
As of July 1, the public will be able to kick back on the porches to their heart’s content.
“As a whole, the porches appear abstract and unfamiliar in their new context and arrangement,” a description for the project says. “However, when fully activated with visitors, the project presents a lively and familiar atmosphere for downtown Vancouver.”
Porch Parade will mostly be constructed off-site before it is assembled and painted in the 800-block of Robson Street this summer.
After the installation is taken down on Labour Day, materials will be donated to a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity for re-use on a future home build, according to VIVA.
It is the first year since the Robson Redux competition began in 2010 that a proposal from outside of Vancouver has been chosen as winner.
The project sees the annual closure of the 800-block of Robson to traffic between the Art Gallery and Law Courts.
