86.3

2019 / Fabric / Hay-Cast Concrete

86.3 is a 5-storey headquarters building for the design and manufacturing company Bocci, abutting a park situated between residential and industrial neighbourhoods in the city of Vancouver, Canada.

The project makes use of a technique of pouring concrete over formwork composed of haphazardly stacked hay bales wrapped in loose fabric. The hay / fabric formwork describes vaulted internal spaces and transitions to exterior balconies. The entire façade surface of the building is cut using a diamond rope saw to reveal complex window openings.  Interior volumes and window forms directly result from the unpredictable impressions left by the hydro-static pressure of concrete applied to the compressed hay and fabric.

The building consists of two blocks of program.  At grade, exhibition spaces, restaurant and bicycle parking connect with the neighborhood and activate the edge of the park.  Spaces above include interconnected glass atelier, studio, office, warehouse, production facility, prototyping area, and archive.  The entire roofscape is a garden, with courtyards perforating into the middle of the floor plan.

From left: 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor

From left: 4th, 5th, 6th floor

Date: 2019 – present
Gross floor area: 50,000 ft2 | 4645 m2
Client: Bocci Design & Manufacturing Inc.
Designer: Omer Arbel Office
Contractor: Luis Gil of LRG Construction
Architect of record: Christopher Gowing of MGBA Architecture
Structural: Toby Fast of Fast + Epp Structural Engineers
Mechanical: Ben Mills and Jason Le of Impact Engineering
Energy Modelling: Martina Soderlund of reLoad Sustainable Design
Electrical: Mo Kahn, Nav Patrola and Simran Mann of O’M Engineering
Code Consultant: Robert Heikkila of CFT Engineering
Geotechnical: Matt Kokan of Geopacific Consultants

Project Leader: Apollinaire Au
Project Team: Omer Arbel, Apollinaire Au, Randy Bishop, Alana Green, Jaedan Leimert, Tyler Weid
Model Team: Jaedan Leimert, Kevin Isherwood, Jason Murphy, Michael Seymour