New Montesorri childcare for 86 kids to be built in the Vancouver Westside

Artistic rendering of the 2023 revised design for Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare facility at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Sea to Sky Architecture/Wonderworld Montessori Academy)

A two-storey building at the southwest corner of the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Carnarvon Street will receive an extensive reconstruction for its new purpose as a Montessori.

Wonderworld Montessori Academy is planning to build its second location at 3008 West 41st Avenue in Vancouver’s Kerrisdale neighbourhood.

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A newly submitted development permit application outlines plans for an 11,730 sq ft, two-storey building that falls under the City’s technical classification of a “childcare facility.”

There would also be extensive outdoor play spaces on the ground level fronting West 41st Avenue, and on the entire building rooftop.

The facility will be able to accommodate up to 86 kids between the ages of three and five, split into four primary program groups with staggered pick-up and drop-off times. The hours of operation will be weekdays only from 7:30 am to 6 pm. A total of 16 licensed staff will operate the facility.

3008 West 41st Avenue Vancouver Wonderworld Montessori childcare

Site of the future Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare facility at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition of the location:

Site of the future Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare facility at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition of the location:

Artistic rendering of the 2023 revised design for Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare facility at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Sea to Sky Architecture/Wonderworld Montessori Academy)

“We are keen, eager, and excited to be operating a Montessori program once again and providing children with a ‘Home away from Home’ where they can truly reach their potential and thrive,” reads the application by Sea to Sky Architecture.

“We plan to invest in a beautiful outdoor space that will bring nature to the children in way of selected plants fruit trees. There will be birdhouses and feeders and planters for planting and harvesting vegetables. We will place a mason bee house and plant flowers to attract the butterflies. The south side of the building will have large windows so the children can enjoy nature while in their classroom.”

This is a unique building construction project as it will demolish the existing 1973-built, two-storey wood frame structure, which was the longtime home of Southland Farm Market floral shop. The existing building’s underground parkade will be retained and reused, and a new purpose-built childcare building will be built on top of the concrete base that already exists.

There will be 16 vehicle parking stalls in the parkade, including 14 stalls for pick-up/drop-off and two stalls for staff parking.

This design is a significant revision of a previous development permit application originally submitted in April 2020 but withdrawn in December 2022. The original design called for a more simple project of retaining and renovating the 50-year-old floral shop building into an 11,660 sq ft childcare facility with a capacity for 115 kids, instead of a new structure.

Artistic rendering of the 2023 revised design for Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare facility at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Sea to Sky Architecture/Wonderworld Montessori Academy)

Cancelled original 2020 design of Wonderworld Montessori Academy at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. (Wonderworld Montessori Academy)

Wonderworld Montessori Academy opened its first location in 2021 within the base of the new Sun Tower I condominium building at 6390 Silver Avenue, immediately south of SkyTrain Metrotown Station. This location in the Metrotown area has a capacity for 161 kids within 13,000 sq ft of indoor space, plus 8,000 sq ft of attached outdoor play space on the building’s lower rooftop.

Vancouver City Council previously directed City staff to amend the municipal government’s childcare policies to align with the comparatively more flexible, less stringent policies and standards of the provincial government, as part of an effort to increase much-needed childcare supply.

According to the municipal government, as of May 2022, the supply of licensed childcare in Vancouver meets 44% of the estimated need for children ages 12 and under. Of this proportion, the largest gap, 23%, is for children ages three and under. But the next age group is fairing much better, with about 70% of the childcare need for ages three to five met.

For school-age children, about 40% of the need is currently met by existing supply.

The City estimates Vancouver alone needs about 16,000 more childcare spaces, including 7,500 spaces for the youngest children before school age and 8,500 spaces for school-aged children.

3008 West 41st Avenue Wonderworld Montessori Academy childcare

Layout of the outdoor play space on the rooftop and at ground level of Wonderworld Montessori Academy at 3008 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver. Bearmark Design & Landscape)

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