The Art of Vertical Community Building

Vancouver has become a world leader in building vertical communities, with more high-rise developments per capita than most urban centres in North America. Along the way, we as a city began to realize that our vertical communities require careful consideration to ensure they don’t become isolating.

At Townline, our passion is community building – both at street level and skyward. We embrace it as an art form involving clever design, planning and valuable insights into today’s lifestyles and how people want to live.

Spaces for Every Moment

A truly successful vertical community is one that creates and sustains a thriving neighbourhood within the building. It fosters connection not only with each resident but also with its surroundings at street level – whether through its social amenities, curated retail, art installations, gardens or public spaces. Each vertical community embodies and reflects the neighbourhood in which it is built. It offers thoughtfully designed space for each person, for every part of their day.

How Do We Want to Live?

A vertical community is a microcosm of a neighbourhood. We want to know our neighbours and feel connected to them, but also have privacy. So we need social spaces that are attractive to everyone, that invite community, and that are both separate from our personal spaces and extensions of them. At Sussex in Metrotown, we have an enormous, beautiful third-level terrace where you can lounge by the outdoor fireplaces with friends or host a dinner party for your entire family. These activities aren’t necessarily available to you in smaller homes, but a well-planned vertical community provides these advantages.

How Do We Improve the Condo Experience?

Condos have many perks and are typically more affordable than detached homes. We consider what the trade-offs are – and we create attractive alternatives. Condos don’t usually have backyards; therefore, in addition to expansive outdoor spaces, we provide west coast-inspired playgrounds and garden-like terraces to relax in. Condos have shared interior walls, so we create sound-proof music rooms for homeowners to practice their trombone or clarinet without causing disruption to others. We create zones for kids that flow with space for parents, but also separate places for people who don’t have children. And we understand the importance of your furry four-legged friends, so we offer dog runs and dog-washing stations so you never have to bring a wet, dirty pet through your front door. These examples illustrate how Townline understands – and meets – the needs of our diverse homeowners and their individual lifestyles.   

How Can We Make Daily Life More Convenient?

There are many aspects of condo living that are wonderfully convenient, from underground parking to conveniently accessed gyms. At Townline, we take it even further by including a wide range of conveniences, from two-lane bowling lounges to electric car charging stations in your building. People are working from home more, so we’re creating comprehensive work spaces both within the home and as part of our amenities for shared use to allow for flexibility. We include convenient outdoor barbecues that create community interaction; plus games rooms, dining rooms, and social lounges. Lobbies are no longer places that people simply pass through; they are sophisticated extensions of each home that invite social gatherings. At Sussex, the gym overlooks the playground, so busy parents can squeeze in a workout while keeping an eye on the kids. Each element of every building is thoughtfully considered and designed to enhance your lifestyle.

Townline builds for everyone – for the life that unfolds in our homes, in our buildings, on the surrounding streets and in our neighbourhoods. When we’ve successfully carved out spaces for each moment, for all people, we know we’ve done our job.