Mountain Equipment Co-op Retail Store

Project Highlights

Mountain Equipment Co-op built a new retail store on an old industrial site on the banks of Lynn Creek in North Vancouver.  KWL was responsible for site servicing and grading design, construction inspection, erosion and sediment control plans and inspection as well as the stormwater strategy to qualify the site for LEED certification.  The site qualified for both stormwater credits 6.1 and 6.2: Stormwater Treatment and Stormwater Quantity Control.

KWL’s design approach was to consider which natural opportunities the site presented to manage stormwater and to capitalize on those opportunities.  Innovative design components included replacing traditional storm sewer conveyance with complete infiltration for the minor system, through rain gardens, a gravel infiltration gallery under the parking lot, permeable pavers and use of pre-fabricated underground storage chambers.  The major system overland flow was provided by on-site vegetated swales.  The swales would convey water through a municipal park, to discharge into Lynn Creek.

Groundwater from a well under the building was used for toilet flushing, which decreased the store’s demand for domestic drinking water.

This successful project was completed with the collaboration of the following project team members: Mountain Equipment Co-op, Corin Flood from Green Building Consulting + Design, Proscenium Architects, Sharp and Diamond Landscape Architects, GeoPacific Geotechnical Engineers, and the Construction Managers, Ventana Construction.