Summary
The 50 Foot Lot booklet emerged from the Yee Project (2020 – ), a mixed-use intergenerational social housing project in Vancouver’s Chinatown and community co-development model. It was created in collaboration between 221A, Human Studio, and Tomo Spaces.
The booklet serves as a resource, providing an aid during early conversations about project goals, unit mix, and building form. It summarizes many of the parameters to keep in mind when designing on narrow lots and focuses on conserving Chinatown’s fine-grain urban fabric, while emphasizing intangible and tangible heritage values.
Lessons and reflections are presented in three main sections:
- The 50’ lot configuration, situated within Vancouver’s urban development history,
- Vancouver’s Chinatown’s history and current zoning and design constraints, and
- design explorations with applications and implications related to the future of the 50’ lot, demonstrating key findings at a schematic design level.
Chinatown serves as a great example of grassroots urban development. Many lessons can be learned from its narrow buildings and the liveliness, cultural vibrancy, and community networks these buildings support.
The project team understands the impact and influence that the design profession has on future land uses and forms of development. Just as the Yee Project built on the work of others, in sharing learnings via the 50 Foot Lot booklet, the team hopes to contribute further to the neighbourhood’s collective knowledge.
Cover Image: Jessica Hanzelkova, Human Studio Architecture + Urban Design. (2025). Diagram showing fine-grain grid in parts of Chinatown [Google Earth imagery overlay on archival image]. (Archival image: Ricketts, Tascherau & Co. (1912). Sheet 8: Heatley Avenue to Cordova Street to Carrall Street to Harris Street [Map]. H.A. Price Collection (AM358-: MAP 366.11). City of Vancouver Archive, Vancouver, BC, Canada.)
Acknowledgements
This project received funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) under the NHS Demonstrations Initiative, however, the views expressed are the personal views of the author and CMHC accepts no responsibility for them.
Ce projet a reçu du financement de la Société canadienne d’hypothèques et de logement (SCHL) en vertu de l’Initiative de démonstrations de la SNL. Cependant, les opinions exprimées sont les opinions personnelles de l’auteur et la SCHL n’accepte aucune responsabilité à l’égard de telles opinions.
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