Carscadden Stokes McDonald Architects is a team of architects, designers, and ingenious pragmatists, based in Vancouver and dedicated to designing and building structures that strike a fine balance between beauty and function. We’ve made our name creating some of Canada’s most respected community, recreation, and public buildings. The way we see it, architecture has the capacity to change communities for the better. We are deeply invested in where we work, the communities in which we build, and the planet we live on. This investment is a powerful driver in the decisions we make: from what and how we build, to how we get around, to how we spend our free time. Many make similar claims; Carscadden lives them.
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Equitable washroom, change room, and locker room facilities are an important and widespread initiative across municipalities in BC. A series of simultaneous studies are underway to assess and prioritizes actions needed to improve gender equity and accessibility for a diverse public and workforce. Watch for these seeds to take root in our future projects.
West Vancouver, BC
Pedalheads Pool is Canada’s first all-stainless steel pool – the pre-fabricated nature of the installation was a cost-saving win. Conveniently located in Park Royal Mall, parents can duck out for a well-deserved coffee break while kids learn to swim in this unique and playful facility.
Kelowna, BC
Designed and built to Passive House standards, this “three house” concept childcare centre ensures a healthy environment for Kelowna kids. Plus it’s cute as a button.
Randy was a thoughtful and valued member of our little family for more than a decade. We were heartbroken when he died. Karen wrote the most beautiful piece on him.
New Westminster, BC
Replacing the Arenex, a well loved multi-sport facility that had become unsafe for use, the Queen’s Park Sportsplex became the City’s first CaGBC Net Carbon Zero project. You can still find the memories of the Arenex in the reclaimed timbers used at the entry and reception.
City of New Westminster Announcement
Photography: Eric Scott
Vancouver, BC
After 19 years in the Downtown Eastside and 11 years on East Hastings, we moved to new digs just a little further east. We’re still bike-able, we’ve got more light, and we’re now carbon free. Stop by any time!
Photography: Andrew Latreille
North Vancouver, BC
A crown jewel in North Vancouver’s park system, Moodyville Park has it all – a pumptrack, terraced playground, epic views, and the Trans Canada Trail. Together with PFS Studio, we dropped a pavilion/folly into the mix to allow everyone to enjoy the park a little more comfortably.
Coquitlam, BC
Anchoring an expansion to Town Centre Park, this amenity building provides much needed washroom facilities as well as a location to get hot chocolate when it’s cold and ice cream when it’s warm – literally everything anyone ever really needs at a park.
Vancouver, BC
511 West Broadway – CityLab – was the City of Vancouver’s primary public engagement touchpoint and is a reimagining of how public engagement happens. Part coworking lab, part engagement space, CityLab daylit the mechanics of the City’s work by inviting the public in. Plus there was a pixelated pin-up wall, a fully custom-designed feature.
Photography: Andrew Latreille
All Over The Lower Mainland, BC
After we completed Translink’s flagship bike parkade in Surrey, we were asked to design and oversee the construction of Translink’s modular prototype bike shelters. Suitable for any circumstance, durable AF, transparent, and expandable, Translink’s Bike Parkades are a statement about the future: hopeful and ambitious.
Photography: Andrew Latreille
Whistler, BC
The culmination of a 2013 study by Carscadden and catalysed by the generosity of a Whistler resident, the MPSC Fitness Expansion capitalizes on the singular views offered by Whistler and the latent structural capacity of the existing facility.
Photography: Andrew Latreille
Vancouver, BC
One of only a handful of projects to make it through the City of Vancouver’s Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Project (MIRHPP, because that’s a mouthful) Stainsbury is a cost-effective, Passive House affordable housing project.
Surrey, BC
Designed to straddle the demands of dirty boots and business casual sneakers, the SSOC is the kind of place where the messy work of city making really happens. The building is durable in the extreme and easy on the eyes. But the cleverest thing about the building is the siting strategy, which deftly conjures a public park from a gravel parking lot.
Photography: Ema Peter
Calgary, AB
Canada’s largest outdoor wading pool is actually only one actor in a 14 hectare park which animates Calgary’s Northeast. Along with renovated and expanded change rooms, the pool is a critical asset for the community during Calgary’s occasionally blistering, if comparatively brief, summers. (With space2place)
Photography: Brett Gilmour
Burnaby, BC
SFU’s McTaggart Cowan Hall long suffered the undignified, if typical, abuse of university dorms. The renovations are more a reimagining than a refresh: Communal kitchens that could be on Top Chef, washrooms for this century, and – hold on a second… is that a make-out couch? Priortizing common areas for ths project reinforces the importance of the social aspect of university life.
North Vancouver, BC
Replacing the existing fieldhouse with two pavilions that house public washrooms, a concession, and changerooms; the Norgate Park Field House is sited to allow views into the park from Marine Drive for the first time in 50 years. After all, the park is the real star of the show, it’s best to show it off.
Photography: Krista Jahnke
Vancouver, BC
The LEED Gold heritage restoration and commercial addition to 564 Beatty Street in Crosstown is a flagship project for the Owner, Reliance Properties, and for the City. The first of its kind in Vancouver, 564 Beatty has set a precedent for the ability to retain and celebrate Vancouver’s commercial heritage projects and it’s legacy can be seen elsewhere downtown. The tower serves as a gateway marker for people entering the city via public transit, car, and bike. It is a confident and sophisticated, “You’re downtown now, baby!” (With IBI Group)
Photography: Sham Sthankiya
East Van, Yo
We think Jim Sutherland said it best about this project in Western Living:
[Maybe it’s more prose than poetry, but Carscadden’s description of the project as “beautiful decisions that fit within the rules” is as apt a description of a successful urban renovation as is likely to be found. Leave it to the client to supply the poetry. “There’s nothing about it that I’d change,” says Cossever (client). “We got it all.”]
Surrey, BC
Some projects remain dreams. The Cloverdale skatepark drew inspiration from the nearby BCHydro ROW – a crumpled structure of industrial steel, wrapped in translucent cladding.
Penticton, BC
In a complete reversal of the existing facility, this addition project is characterized by an introduction of daylight and bright colours to create a welcoming, fun aquatic centre for Penticton residents. The existing modest lap pool and teaching pool was upgraded into a new competition 10 lane lap pool, and generous leisure and hot pools – and a waterslide! (With MAD Studio.)
Vancouver, BC
Sometimes what starts as necessary and technical code and seismic upgrades results in much, much more. A five year process saw this community favourite lovingly upgraded to not only meet modern safety standards but to feature a large hot pool cantilevered over the spectacular Renfrew Ravine, a bright new lobby, and Canada’s first ever use of glass lockers.
Lake Country, BC
The anchor to a reimagined park in Lake Country, the park itself is an early catalyst for civic renewal in the area. It won awards and we remain very proud.
Photography: Yuri Akuney
Burnaby, BC
Vanguards of a quiet renaissance in BC public washrooms, Robert Burnaby and Kensington Park Washroom Buildings redefine the standards of park amenity buildings. Playful, durable as all get out, and each crafted to respond to their peculiar sites, these modest buildings are the grandparents for 20 years of park infrastructure.