Four-storey vertical expansion of Sarah McLachlan Vancouver music school building | Daily Hive

Four-storey vertical expansion for building home to Sarah McLachlan School of Music in Vancouver

Concept of the four-storey vertical expansion of the existing two-storey building home to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music at 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GWA Architecture/Wolverton Foundation/Sarah McLachlan School of Music/Pacific Investment Corporation)

Originally built as a bowling alley in 1961, this two-storey building at 138 East 7th Avenue in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant district was later converted into a manufacturing facility.

In 2011, it underwent a renovation that transformed it into the new permanent home of the Sarah McLachlan School of Music (SoM), including interior upgrades and improvements to the building exterior that replaced East 7th Avenue’s brick facade with an expansive glass facade.

And now, this building, now 64 years old, is set to see a four-storey vertical expansion that increases the height of the existing building from a 43-ft-tall, two-storey structure to a 99-ft-tall, six-storey structure.

You might also like:

This four-storey vertical expansion that retains and upgrades the existing two-storey structure will be 100 per cent office space, growing the building’s total floor area from the existing 26,800 sq. ft. to about 91,000 sq. ft.

138 East 7th Avenue Sarah McLachlan School of Music building expansion

Site of the existing two-storey building home to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music at 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Previous 2009 condition (before 2011 renovations):

Previous 2009 condition of 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver, before the 2011-completed renovations for the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

Existing condition of 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver, home to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

While SoM will return to the building upon the completion of the construction, the new office space will not serve as a music school space expansion. The Wolverton Foundation — a non-profit organization that provides musical education opportunities for youth who face barriers in their lives — has provided SoM with the building space for free since 2011, including fully covering the base rent and building maintenance.

It is suggested in a new rezoning application submission that the revenue from the new office space will support not only the extended lifespan of the structure, but also the long-term financial viability of retaining SoM at the location.

As of July 2024, the property carries an assessed value of $18.8 million, including $18.66 million for the land and $143,000 for the structure, according to BC Assessment.

Additionally, some improvements will be made for SoM, including new shared amenities — such as an outdoor amenity space on the new building rooftop for both the music school and office tenants — as well as a secondary entrance into the music school, and an improved student pick-up/drop-off vehicle area.

A large illuminated sign, spanning most of the building facade’s length, will display the music school’s full name.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver, home to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

The project is being considered under the City’s Broadway Plan, which supports intensifying job spaces within the protected Mount Pleasant Industrial Area and near the future stations of SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension. The site — situated just west of the prominent intersection of Main Street, East 7th Avenue, and Kingsway — is about a four-minute walk from SkyTrain’s future Mount Pleasant Station.

Such a sizeable vertical expansion that triples the number of floors of a building first constructed over six decades ago requires innovative engineering solutions.

According to the application, the existing gravity-framing structure consists of a concrete cast-in-place waffle slab system between the concrete beams and girders that frames directly onto cast-in-place concrete columns. Such a design was common from the 1950s to the 1970s, and it was praised for its lightness and unique form.

To achieve the four-storey addition, there will be foundation and structural upgrades, including the installation of several new seismic shear walls.

Structural and seismic upgrades; concept of the four-storey vertical expansion of the existing two-storey building home to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music at 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GWA Architecture/Wolverton Foundation/Sarah McLachlan School of Music/Pacific Investment Corporation)

Exposed waffle slab and beam-column framing, seen during the 2011 renovation of 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver, for the new home of Sarah McLachlan School of Music. (GWA Architecture/Wolverton Foundation/Sarah McLachlan School of Music/Pacific Investment Corporation)

“The proposed addition supports the concept of adaptive reuse to extend the usefulness and service life of the existing concrete building,” reads the application.

“The design of the additional floors to the building responds to the local, historical, and emerging context of the site. The appropriate design proposed for the site will improve the urban setting and contribute to the placemaking in this important part of Vancouver.”

The project is spearheaded by Pacific Investment Corporation, with the involvement of Liveable City Planning, GWA Architecture, RJC Engineering, and Connect Landscape.

SoM provides free after-school music classes to children and youth who are at risk and facing barriers to accessing traditional music programs.

When acclaimed Vancouver singer Sarah McLachlan founded the music school in 2002, it had just 75 students. According to the charity’s latest annual report, as of 2023, it has over 1,000 students, with 79 per cent facing financial barriers and 53 per cent having “high social emotional needs.”

In 2023, SoM provided over 40,000 hours of instruction and more than 200 group classes, and saw a retention rate of over 80%, with most of the students staying with the program for an eight-year period.

SoM also has satellite locations at the Douglas College campus in downtown New Westminster, which opened in November 2024 as a relocation from Surrey, as well as in Edmonton.

sarah mclachlan school of music vancouver

Inside the existing Sarah McLachlan School of Music at 138 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (Sarah McLachlan School of Music)

You might also like: