Public atrium included in new design of 105 Keefer in Vancouver Chinatown | Daily Hive

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver's Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

The controversial mixed-use development at 570 Columbia St. — formerly addressed as 105 Keefer St. — in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown district now has a drastically revised design aimed at transforming it into a community hub.

This is Beedie Group’s development project of the long-vacant lot at the northeast corner of the intersection of Keefer Street and Columbia Street, just across from the Chinatown Parkade, Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, and Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Public Park.

Planning for this project began well over a decade ago, and a number of design concepts were previously made for the community and municipal government’s consideration.

Vancouver City Council rejected the consideration of a larger 12-storey proposal in June 2017 as a rezoning, and the City of Vancouver’s Development Permit Board (DPB) subsequently turned down a downsized nine-storey proposal under a development permit application in November 2017.

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In 2019, the developer launched a court appeal of the November 2017 decision. Then in December 2022, a judge ruled in the developer’s favour, finding that the DPB’s reasons for rejecting the development permit application were “substantively unreasonable.” Typically, development permit applications that follow the book — existing zoning, bylaws, and other policies and rules, which allow relatively little flexibility — are approved. The 2017 refusal was an exceptionally rare case, and was the first development permit application rejection since 2006.

In June 2023, under court direction, the DPB approved the original development permit application.

Shortly after in October 2023, the developer submitted a new development application outlining similar residential and commercial uses, but with a slight density increase and substantial changes to the overall architectural design. Beedie contracted James Cheng Architects to become the project’s new lead design team, modifying the previous concept made by Merrick Architecture.

Site of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Google Maps)

105 keefer street 570 columbia street vancouver chinatown beedie james cheng architects 2025

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

Existing condition:

keefer house hotel 123 keefer street vancouver chinatown march 28 2024

Construction progress on Keefer House hotel at 123 Keefer St. and the corner site of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.), as of March 28, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Cancelled 2017 concept:

Cancelled 2017 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

2025 revised concept:

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

Although the new development application was first submitted nearly two years ago, the City is only now, as of this month, beginning the formal public consultation process.

The height of the building remains the same at 90 ft. with nine storeys.

The total building floor area is now 128,800 sq. ft., representing a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is 7.04 times larger than the size of the 18,285 sq. ft. lot. This is up incrementally from the previous concept’s floor area of about 119,000 sq. ft. and a FAR density of 6.5.

The number of strata market ownership condominium homes has increased from 111 units to 133 units, with a unit size mix of 12 studio units, 46 one-bedroom units, 70 two-bedroom units, and five three-bedroom units.

Cancelled 2017 concept:

105 keefer street vancouver beedie 2017 design

Cancelled 2017 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

2025 revised concept:

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

Previously, the project incorporated 10,400 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space and a small cultural amenity space at the ground level. Now, under the revised application, there will be 5,600 sq. ft. of commercial space across seven small retail/restaurant units and a 1,064 sq. ft. unit for a social services centre.

Overall, the entire building’s innards has been completely reconfigured to enable a nine-storey internal covered courtyard — an inviting publicly accessible atrium capped with an expansive removal skylight lid on the building’s rooftop. Two retail/restaurant units have a courtyard entrance, the social services centre is also accessed internally from the courtyard, and there are entrances into the courtyard from both Keefer Street and the laneway.

“A central passageway provides public access to the courtyard and lane, recalling the history of Chinatown laneway use and secrete passages. Historically, the lanes in Chinatown were vibrant and lively centres for social and commercial activity. The Social Service Centre and the building’s passageway front the lane to animate the lane with activity and foot traffic,” reads the project’s design rationale.

The corridors on each residential level — which serve as the entryways to each home — also open directly onto the atrium.

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

It is noted that the atrium enables natural light and fresh air to flow into the building to help reduce energy consumption, creates a central gathering space that encourages community interactions, and provides a “calm, green environment that supports physical and mental-well being.”

During the day, the courtyard will be open to the public. After the business hours of the shops and restaurants, the security gates into the courtyard will close overnight to create a safe communal space for residents.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles are incorporated into the design, including ample nighttime lighting for the building exterior at ground level and optimized sightlines for the laneway.

The building’s public realm will connect seamlessly with the redesigned Chinatown Memorial Square, located immediately outside on Keefer Street. The municipal government is expected to unveil the updated memorial and plaza design in Fall 2025.

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

In response to some of the earlier criticism from the Chinatown community, the revised concept by James Cheng Architects draws more heavily on the neighbourhood’s heritage character, incorporating additional architectural design elements.

This includes a Keefer Street facade arranged into bays that reflects the narrow street frontage of Chinatown’s old buildings — which also serves as a backdrop for Chinatown Memorial Square — and a Columbia Street facade that complements the facade of the adjacent HoHo Restaurant building on East Pender Street.

A cupola feature has been added to the building rooftop — a small, dome-like structure made of glass, but shaped like a lantern in this context. This cupola takes inspiration from traditional Chinese roofs, the existing Chinese Cultural Centre building, and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

“The introduction of the cupola strengthens the building’s corner presence, anchoring it as a gateway element into Chinatown,” reads the design rationale.

“The lantern serves as a distinctive punctuation in the skyline, echoing the characteristic peaks of traditional Chinese architecture.”

At the building’s corner with the intersection, the first two levels are set back to create an arcade/colonnade feature — serving to open sightlines from the street, and enhancing Chinatown’s character.

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

In addition to the public courtyard, residents will have shared private access to outdoor indoor amenity spaces and a substantial outdoor amenity space on the building’s rooftop, featuring various seating, BBQ, patio, and urban agriculture areas and landscaping.

Three underground levels will provide space for 76 vehicle parking stalls — down from the previous concept’s 84 stalls. There will also be 167 secured bike parking spaces — up from the previous concept’s 159 spaces.

Immediately to the east of the Beedie site, construction has now reached completion on a brand new 10-storey building that will become the Keefer House, a tourist hotel with 58 guest suites. Construction on Keefer House first began in late 2023, and the hotel is set to welcome its first guests on October 1, 2025.

2025 concept of 570 Columbia St. (105 Keefer St.) in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (James Cheng Architects/Beedie Group)

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