Project SNAPSHOT
Project: Making Home at 97 Victoria St. N.
Location: Kitchener, Ontario
Building Type: Community Center
Project Type: Deep Retrofit + Infill Construction
Size: 29,380 ft² / 2,730 m²
Completion Year: September 2025
Certification(s): CAGBC Zero Carbon Building – Design Standard V3 (ZCB – Design v3) , Registered, not yet certified
Performance Target(s): A Net-Zero Campus of Care designed to make every resident feel valued
Project Overview
Making Home at 97 Victoria St. N. is a deeply integrated retrofit and infill development transforming a 1927 warehouse and adjacent site into a Net Zero Carbon campus of care. Located in downtown Kitchener, the project includes 44 transitional housing units, a new mass timber kitchen facility, and a range of health and social services.
Spearheaded by local non-profit The Working Centre, in partnership with BNKC Architects and Perimeter Development, the project embodies collaboration across sectors. It combines adaptive reuse, mass timber construction, and trauma-informed design principles to create dignified spaces for vulnerable community members. As cities across Canada grapple with overlapping crises in housing, climate, and public health, this model offers a replicable approach to urban revitalization rooted in care and sustainability.
Project Strategy & Outcome
Design & Construction Strategies
Envelope & Insulation:
- R30 walls
- R40 roof
- Triple-glazed vinyl windows
- 32% window to wall ratio
Systems (HVAC):
- Cold-climate, low-ambient air-to-water heat pump (operational down to –20 °C)
- High-efficiency energy recovery ventilators (ERVs)
- Pre-heat system using recovered excess heat for domestic hot water
Interior Loads & Controls:
- LED and occupancy sensors throughout the building
- Daylight sensors in the dining areas and selected vestibules
Energy Generation:
- Rooftop photovoltaic panels
Materials & Embodied Carbon:
- Adaptive reuse of the existing two-storey timber-frame warehouse reduces the need for new construction, avoids emissions from resource extraction and energy-intensive processes, and minimizes construction waste to landfill.
- Deliberate choice of mass timber for structural system lowers lifecycle emissions through captured biogenic carbon, local sourcing, reduced construction waste, and the renewable nature of wood.
Other Notable Strategies:
- Infill excellence: maximum program density on a constrained urban site
- Designing for dignity: natural materials and spatial design signal care and reduce institutional feel
- Hybrid solution: mass timber paired with steel enables vertical growth while preserving exposed wood aesthetics.
Performance Outcomes
Total Energy Use Intensity (TEUI): 192 kWh/m²/year
Thermal Energy Demand Intensity (TEDI): 84 kWh/m²/year
Operational Greenhouse Gas Intensity (GHGI): 16 kg/m²/year
Project Team
Owner: The Working Centre
Developer: Perimeter Development
Architect: BNKC Architects Inc.
Urban Planner & Landscape Architect: GSP Group Inc.
Sustainability & Envelope Consultant: RDH Building Science Inc.
Civil & Structural Engineer: MTE Consultants
Electrical Engineer: Lonergan Engineering Inc.
Mechanical & Electrical Engineers: DEI Consulting Engineers / Zon Engineering Inc.
Construction Manager: Govan Brown Building Group
Other Key Partners:
- Mass Timber Design Assist: Element5
- Building Code & Fire Protection: Vortex Fire
- Vertical Transportation: Soberman Engineering Inc.
- Specifications Writer: JM/F Technical Documentation Solutions Inc.
- Heritage & Archaeology: LHC
- Security Consultant: The Bold Group
- Hardware Consultant: Knells William Knell & Company Limited
Lessons Learned
Targeting Net Zero Carbon made the project eligible for critical provincial and federal grants.
Adaptive reuse of the historic timber frame avoided emissions from new construction and kept carbon sequestered for 100+ years, demonstrating the longevity of wood structures.
The use of mass timber enabled additional carbon sequestration and faster construction in a tight urban setting, getting people housed sooner while also reducing neighbourhood disruption and on-site emissions.
Combining timber and steel opened up design possibilities that pure mass timber could not have supported structurally.
- The project was only possible through close coordination between non-profit, developer, architect, builder, and funders.
Explore More
Curious to learn more? These resources offer a rich look behind the scenes of Making Home at The Working Centre. From the project’s vision and design thinking to its technical solutions and funding strategies, each link below expands on the details that informed the case study above—and can inspire similar initiatives elsewhere:
Overview of The Working Centre’s housing philosophy, community-based programs, and broader social mission.
Fundraising Campaign and Project Overview
Details on the project’s community impact, building features, and how it came to life through grassroots support and public funding.
The comprehensive design case study produced by BNKC Architects, including architectural insights, presentation proposals, and media assets.
Next Steps & Related Reading
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Looking for specific implementation strategies? Visit our Materials, Energy & Technology section for further guidance and practical tools.
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