5468796 Architecture devised an intervention strategy that successfully bridged the gap between the landowner, municipal authorities, and private investment, ensuring the building’s preservation.
Located within the Exchange District National Historic Site, the development is organized around two residential blocks that flank the heritage building, now repurposed as office and restaurant spaces.
Each residential block is strategically positioned to foster new urban connections, respecting the original volume and enhancing the human scale. The north and south elevations are defined by open-air stairwells, offering views of the city, river, and park.
Pumphouse Commercial and Residential Building by 5468796 Architecture. Photograph by James Brittain.
Access points are located between the historic façades and the entrances to the residential buildings, allowing transitional spaces to accommodate two outdoor amphitheaters and public plazas. Pedestrian circulation is further enriched by the addition of two bridges that link the residential blocks with the protected buildings.
The interplay of volumes creates interstitial corridors at every level, establishing a dialogue between old and new. The residences have been designed with cross-ventilation, which not only improves natural lighting but also strengthens their connection with the surrounding environment.
Pumphouse Commercial and Residential Building by 5468796 Architecture. Photograph by James Brittain.
Project description by 5468796 Architecture
Built in 1906, Winnipeg’s historic James Avenue Pumping Station was slated for demolition after 14 failed attempts to revive it. Taking on a role outside of the usual scope of architects, 5468796 Architecture developed an unsolicited conceptual design paired with a financial pro-forma, and presented the business case to an existing client. This combination eventually led to the building’s successful preservation — and new life.
Two specific interventions made the project viable: in the first phase, the capacity of the original gantry crane was leveraged to suspend a ‘floating floor’ above the pump hall machinery. Second, a zoning amendment was obtained to build a five-storey residential building on a 13-metre-deep sliver of land between the heritage building and the street, arguing for a reinstatement of the original industrial streetscape that abutted the former railway line. Along with a second, wider apartment building on the opposite end, the residential developments made the project financially feasible while also expressing a distinct historical narrative within an area under transformation.
Elevated on columns that extend the grid of the gantry crane structure, the two self-standing, mid-rise residential buildings are offset from the existing building, creating new pedestrian lanes that respect the original pumping station envelope, reference the human scale, and expand the ground floor commercial frontages.
Rethinking the norms of multi-family housing efficiency targets, the design employs open-air egress and a skip-stop configuration. Typical nondescript interior corridors are turned into vibrant exterior passageways for neighbourly interaction, becoming an extension of the suites and creating a sense of shared ownership over communal space. Open-air stairwells provide unobstructed vistas of the city, adjacent river and park.
This multi-faceted, mixed-use development is the first proposal on the site that has gained the support of heritage advocates, municipal stakeholders and the community at large.
