SALA Spotlight
Matthew Beall
Architecture Student Combines Ideas about the Individual and the City in Award-Winning Design
By: Kendra Hefti-RossierUBC Masters of Architecture student Matthew Beall combines his design skills and interests in building with a desire to make social change.
The 32 year-old spent the past 10 years living in Vancouver, and upon deciding to pursue a Masters in Architecture, knew that he was not quite ready to pack up and leave the city. Beall found that the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, with its reputation as a design school and focus on sustainability, was an attractive option. “The program at UBC speaks to the broader context of architecture as a dialogue between social issues, politics and city planning,” says Beall.
Beall recently won the Future Social architecture competition, which seeks to address the problem of homelessness by using novel design ideas in the construction of social housing. Beall’s award-winning design for West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver harmonizes ideas of community interaction and spacious living with cost-effectiveness.
“The idea that someone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness should have to settle for anything less than what we would expect for ourselves is unreasonable,” says Beall.
Making Social Change through Design
Beall’s innovative design tackles some of the challenges associated with social housing projects, namely that they tend to be constrained by policy, funding, and past practices. "The real challenge was to think of a way to balance the need to be as generous as possible with the space, while adhering to the real constraints of size and costs,” remarks Beall. The project was founded with two considerations in mind that Beall believes are integral to overcoming these problems.
Firstly, Beall focuses on the unit itself to ensure that his design allows for the most generous and flexible space possible. His design includes a fold-away wall leading to a balcony in each unit that opens into one of the courtyards to maximize exposure to light and fresh air. By pushing secondary spaces like washrooms, storage and kitchens into thick walls, the unit’s interior space will be fully open, allowing the residents to make alterations according to their desires.
Secondly, he identifies the need to combine services and opportunities to help the tenants, with a design that will integrate the building within the broader community and the city around it. Beall outlines specific social enterprise ideas to help people gain skills and employment within the building itself. He proposes a mill workshop that can provide the maintenance for the building and units.
“Ultimately, the idea is to establish stability and security in their lives until they can move out to fixed, longer-term housing. This allows them to gain experience and skills that can help them achieve better life outcomes.”
The lower part of the building is planned in a way that facilitates community integration by allowing space for social services and community groups that will help the residents and their neighbors. His other ideas include a low-cost bicycle repair shop for people in the community, a bicycle sharing program and co-op car spaces.
While Beall’s design takes into account the heritage rules of the area and retains the historical façade of the building, he explains how only the first six inches of the building have to conform to these regulations. “I was being cheeky and lifted the old façade up off the ground, hanging it like an old painting. To enter the building, you have to walk under it, which hopefully creates a landmark-feel. It catches your eye and invites you in,” says Beall.
With the end to his master’s degree in sight, Beall plans to continue to pursue his interest in architecture design in urban environments. What intrigues him most is finding solutions to the challenges associated with densely populated environments. After spending time with architecture students in Tokyo, Beall hopes to see some of their ideas applied to the city of Vancouver, and hopes that Japan too will adopt certain Canadian building practices and designs.
