& ~ Sunday, January 23, 1994 ~ North Shore News Local architect envisions new role for shipvard site MARY SHAUGHNESSY has a romance with industrial buil and the waterfront. By Kate Zimmerman Contributing Writer Trooping through Europe, while other people rush from church to muscum, Shaughnessy sets out for a city's waterways and the struc- tures that serve its industries “Cm really attracted to simple, unpretentious buildings ... vernacu- far architecture,” said the North Shore-based intern architect. Between years spent at the -University of Washington's College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the graduate of Handsworth secondary school retumed:home and took the SeaBus to work every day. The transit trip passed ihe “hulking mass of build- ings” at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue that. was once Versatile Pacific Shipyard. When the time came for her to choose a topic emphasizing preser- vation design for her master's the- . sis, she realized she wanted to dis- cuss a hometown site. ; Versatile Shipyard sprang to mind.’ / -Shaughnessy, 29, admits now r¢hat the subject was ambitious. She ' said she probably should have cho- sett to redesign two or three build- ings, rather than the entire 10-acre (4-hectare) Versatile site now owned by ‘Toronto-based Shieldings. Inc. ‘Even so, the finished work - Managed to win the U.S. college's award for outstanding preservation project. ; a The focus for Shaughnessy's project emerged in the guise of the North “Shore Museum | and ‘> Archives, which at the time of her q research was. looking for a.new ‘location, os ; “Tt thought this would be perfect i= to be on the waterfront where - North Vancouver began,” she said. With the help of North Shore. . Museum curator John Stuart, and . city of North Vancouver, planner Gary Penway, Shaughnessy set about researching the lay of the ~ .fand:and the history of the spot. :-.'The site is now largely vacant, “according to Penway. The eastern _ section is used by’ Vancouver Dry Dock, which is operating the “*, Panamax floating dry-dock facility. "93 VW EURO VAN Shieldings is currently showing some interest in renegotiating the land's use for purposes other than industrial. The foreman an site allowed Shaughnessy to explore the build- ings, This resulted in a windfall for the North Shore Museum, when in a ocorner office complex, Shaughnessy stumbled upan a roant containing blueprints of ships and buildings. “They actually got an enormous amount for their collec- tion — boxes and boxes.” She didn’t find many blueprints of use to her, because buildings such as the 17 on the site, which date from $906 wo [984 are seldom erected using detailed drawings. she said. The maps she found were “cryptic.” “} spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what uses would come out of the build- ings,” said Shaughuessy, who had to sort oul various urban design issues, including the cleaning-up of toxic waste, whether or nor to demolish three buildings and the planning of a new one. In this fantasy situation, unhin- dered by worries about cost, Shaughnessy, decided the museum should move into iwo adjacent buildings, which would be joined by a bridge. The St. Rach, an RCMP ship currently housed at the Maritime Museum in Vancouver, would be moved into one of the museum's buildings. The mast of the ship would protrude through the roof. - Other existing structures would serve as a satellite campus for the Emily Carr College of Art and Design, and as lofts and housing for the art students working there. Shaughnessy added a restauraut overlooking the water, a bookstore, a cafe and offices. The Lonsdale entrance would remain, functioning as the pedestri- anentry, | : The result would be an histori- cally, artistically vital spot for the North Shore. Too bad no one cun afford to build it. Shaughnessy, knew that. going into the project. In fact, she didn’t even calculate. the casis such 4 development would entail. Though there’s no reat value to “the buildings, she said, the value of the, waterfront land is “probably out of reach. Saas AMPER “WHEN PICKED UP IN GERMANY, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, NORWAY, DENMARK OR SWEDEN. CALL OUR TOURIST DELIVERY EXPERT GARRY SPERANZA AT en Ltd. “There's no way the city could afford to buy it.” And yet. she points out that despite its oceart view, it is unsuited for housing for anyone other than artists accustomed to industrial environments, because it is adjacent to the Joud. working Yarrows ship- yard, “Lthink the site should stay light industrial.” said Shaughnessy. “The use should be for production of things, like art.” Shaughnessy will present her thesis — Industrial Revolution: An Adaptive Re-use of the Versatile Pacific Shipyard — as part of the regular meeting of the North Vancouver Community Arts Council Heritage Commitice on Tuesday, Jan, 25 from 8 (0 9 p.m, Eyeryone is welcome to come to the North Vancouver Museum it 333 Chesterfield and ask questions. Admission is free, Enter the build- ing from Fourth Street. If you've reached the top as a Real Estate Agent, | we can only think of one :° 1597. W. 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