F0006 – Rennie Art Gallery & Office

Wing Sang – Vancouver, BC

Scott C. Mitchell, Project Architect and Associate @ Francl Architecture

The Rennie Art Gallery and Office is a revitalization of the oldest building in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown neighbourhood.  The program spawned from the clients desire to exhibit his large, contemporary art collection and to accommodate his real estate marketing firm.  A series of very different volumetric gallery spaces were created from the original building by removing specific interior floors and walls in an interpretation of the building’s history.  The interior interventions reveal portions of the original foundations, masonry walls and narrow passages.   Wood beams removed were reclaimed and used for flooring and purpose-built millwork.  The original schoolroom has been preserved as a meeting room, the heritage facade was restored and all structures seismically upgraded.  A rooftop deck was created to showcase a number of exterior sculptures: Martin Creed’s EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT and Dan Graham’s TWO HALF CYLINDERS  were engineered to the artist’s specifications.

2010 AIBC Special Jury Award

This project was designed in collaboration with McFarlane Green Biggar Architecture + Design (Interiors), Jon Losse Landscape Architects and Considered Design Inc (Landscape)

Construction Manager:  N. Wallace and Company Ltd.