As a recent example of an acclaimed project, Monica cites ‘the Wellington,’ a six-storey mass timber project that comprises a mix of affordable and market rate units, located at the intersection of Union and Wellington streets in Saint John. Monica is particularly proud of that project for several reasons, one being how efficient it is. That project was designed to international passive house energy efficiency standards and is the first passive house affordable housing project in Atlantic Canada. According to Monica, “the units are so efficient that you could heat them with just a light bulb.” Another reason Monica is particularly proud of that project is the social impact it’s making. Several of the units in that building were built for L’Arche Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing spaces for people with intellectual disabilities to live and work together. Monica says she has heard from some of the L’Arche tenants, “and they just feel like they love their home. I think that’s the measure of success, right there.” “So that project has been really successful in multiple ways,” she says. “It shows what you can do with affordable and market rate housing, and it shows you that you can operate a building differently. I actually got a text message from the mayor a week ago just saying the project was such a success for them that they’re going to try to find a new piece of land where they can do another.” Moving forward, Acre Architects hopes to continue to be involved in projects that make that kind of impact – projects that ‘create change,’ in other words. As previously mentioned, their explicit DECEMBER 2024
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