City of Kitchener

IPD Fire Hall & Affordable Housing Development

Opportunity

Kitchener’s rapid growth is putting pressure on housing affordability and municipal services at the same time. Downtown, the need for below-market and affordable rental housing continues to outpace supply, while the Kitchener Fire Department’s nearest downtown station has grown too large a coverage area to reliably meet response-time targets as the core intensifies. The City set out to address both pressures at once, on a single downtown site along King Street, rather than treating housing and emergency services as separate capital projects.

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Response

The 19-storey residential tower and its accompanying Fire Station 8 answer both needs from a single downtown site at 450–470 King Street East. Delivered through an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) partnership between the City of Kitchener, Bird Construction, Colliers Project Leaders, mcCallumSather, and Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd., the project pairs a modern two-bay fire hall with approximately 285 purpose-built rental units offered at below-market and market rates through Kitchener Housing Inc. mcCallumSather is leading design of the housing component and Group2 is leading design of the fire hall, working in tandem under one IPD team. One- to three-bedroom suites include barrier-free and universal-design options throughout, supported by shared amenity spaces, an event hall, lounges, multi-purpose rooms, and a rooftop dog run, that give residents both independence and a sense of community downtown.