Vancouver Sun May 6, 2023 The beleaguered balcony is wide open to a rethink

 

When Vancouver Sun journalist Doug Todd sent me an email asking if I knew someone who might want to participate in a story about whether balconies are used, I knew just the person. Ralph Wettstein had a balcony he rarely used, due to the nearby SkyTrain noise, and wind, and rain impacting his 19th floor balcony at the east end of False Creek. But then he installed fully retractable glass panels on the inside of his existing railing and everything changed. You can read more about this below:

Douglas Todd: The beleaguered balcony is wide open to a rethink

Many apartment balconies expose householders to harsh weather, traffic noise, pollution, vertigo and the eyes of strangers. Here are some ways to redeem them

It’s hard to find anyone who believes Metro Vancouverites take full advantage of their balconies. Architects, developers, planners and ordinary residents tend to agree that, with notable exceptions, the balconies of most apartment buildings end up as weather-beaten places to store a bicycle or stick a struggling plant.

Still, most householders hold on to fantasies of stepping out onto their own private outdoor space.

That feeling was boosted during the pandemic when government restrictions isolated people more than usual. Some took to balconies to taste the wider world, as well as to bang pots for health-care workers.

Despite hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of balconies existing across this country, it’s virtually impossible to find a statistical study of how much time people spend on them.

Anecdotes about good intentions are rife, however, with Canadian architect Rodolphe El-Khoury becoming known for his quote: “The balcony may indeed be the architectural equivalent of the NordicTrack machine.”

The reality in Metro Vancouver is that, with glistening new condo complexes constantly being erected, balconies are increasingly controversial.

“Balconies are the appendices of Vancouver residential towers — vestigial organs with no remaining purpose,” says architectural writer and curator Trevor Boddy, one of many who notes how rarely they’re used, particularly in luxury highrise neighbourhoods like Yaletown and Coal Harbour.

The popularity of apartment balconies lies largely in real-estate marketing, Boddy maintains. “Like those no-function abdominal organs, balconies may do nothing, but we insist on having them, or rather our real-estate brokers insist our unit cannot be re-sold without them.”

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Most apartment blocks built in Metro Vancouver before the 1970s don’t have balconies, mainly because municipalities at the time insisted on including their square footage in interior floor space. PHOTO BY MICHAEL GELLER /Handout

Architect Michael Geller says most apartment blocks built in Metro Vancouver before the 1970s don’t have balconies, mainly because municipalities used to insist on including their square footage in interior floor space. But now most municipalities encourage, and even mandate, balconies.

But why do so many end up looking as stark as a concrete jail cell?

“Balconies may do nothing, but we insist on having them, or rather our real-estate brokers insist our unit cannot be re-sold without them,” says Vancouver architect Trevor Boddy. PHOTO BY LUMON CANADA INC. /Handout

B.C.’s cold and wet weather does not exactly work in favour of a comfortable balcony experience.

And experts cite many other negative factors — particularly the way most balconies are too noisy, too polluted by vehicle traffic, too high above the ground, too windy or too exposed to the eyes of strangers.

Given the empty-balcony phenomenon, some developers, like Lanterra’s Christopher Wein, largely want to stop building the projecting platforms. They say balconies leak energy, because every door creates a thermal break in a building’s structure. That leads to extra carbon emissions.

Balconies also add five to 15 per cent to the cost of construction. Thus, builders going the no-balcony route promise, at least in theory, to pass on the savings to owners and renters.

In the end, though, it’s not necessary to be either-or about balconies. There are options between the extremes, which consist at one end of throwing up yet more of them without thought. And, on the other hand, just not bothering with them, which is the norm in urban East Asia and the Middle East.

Even while experts are far from agreeing on what to do about balconies, policy experiments and design changes are underway.

The benefits of full-glass retractable panels

Ralph Wettstein realized he and his wife had a problem when they moved into their otherwise stunning 19th-floor apartment with its “exciting” view of Science World, B.C. Place Stadium, downtown Vancouver and the yachts of False Creek.

The trouble was their 120-square-foot balcony was awfully loud because of the busy traffic below on Quebec Street and the grinding sounds of the constantly running SkyTrain.

Geller was among those who recognized early on there is a downside to Metro Vancouver’s push to build residential towers around transit and other transportation hubs.

“The irony is Metro Vancouver is now building more and more buildings next to SkyTrain stations and busy streets. And these are the worst places, in some respect, to have balconies.”

What to do? The Wettsteins began working more than five years ago with Geller and others on obtaining permission from Vancouver city hall to install retractable full-height glass panels on the balconies of about 17 units in their condo tower, called The National.

The decibel level on Wettstein’s balcony soared into a sound-meter’s red zone when his glass panels were in their retracted position, snuggled against the exterior wall. The decibel level went down by 15 per cent when he drew the panels around the balcony railing, a process that took about a minute. The Wettsteins say they now use the balcony at least eight hours a week, in all kinds of weather.

“The beauty of them is that they just roll away,” adds Keith Morgan, a building neighbour who also uses retractable glass. He notes the panels make people, especially children, feel safer when they’re high in the sky. Research, in addition, suggests glass panels surrounding balconies reduce energy loss by five to 15 per cent.

And the transparent panels, which cost Wettstein $18,000, are virtually invisible from the street below. That means they don’t add a sense of “bulk” to a building’s overall look, something which planners worry about.

Ralph Wettstein retracts the glass panels on his Vancouver balcony, which overlooks False Creek. They help overcome the downside to Metro Vancouver’s push to build residential towers around noisy transit and SkyTrain hubs. PHOTO BY DOUGLAS TODD /jpg

Despite planners’ fears that glass-shrouded balconies will be exploited as extra bedrooms, Geller said it rarely happens, in part because there are narrow spaces between the panels that continually allow in fresh air.

Despite their effectiveness at sound reduction and softening the harsh impact of weather, Geller, who consults for Lumon Retractable Balcony Systems, says there are still only about 2,000 balconies in Metro Vancouver fashioned with the glass panes.

While Geller says almost all Canadian municipalities allow retractable panels around balconies, as long as a strata council supports them, the city of Vancouver has been among the least co-operative.

“At the moment, as long as the city of Vancouver does not allow glass panels unless the balcony area is included in floor-space-ratio calculations, an apartment dweller can only install panels if their particular building is not built to its maximum allowable size, or is located in a zone where so-called enclosures are permitted,” he said.

Wettstein and other condo owners had to fight hard with Vancouver city hall.

“Eventually he received permission for a ‘demonstration installation,’” said Geller, “and I obtained approval for additional installations, since it turned out their building had a zoning that allowed enclosures.”

In contrast to Vancouver, Geller noted, there are already millions of glass-panelled balconies in Europe.

They are not the only way to redeem the beleaguered balcony, however.

Many tiny, apparently disused, balconies. PHOTO BY WIRESTOCK /Getty Images/iStockphoto

Balconies can contribute to emotional health

More effort is needed to render balconies truly livable, say designers at Happy Cities, a Canadian organization devoted to healthier urban spaces.

Project coordinator Madeleine Hebert says research shows people living in multi-storey buildings, and especially in small units, tend to gain the most from balconies. The way they can extend a unit’s living space is most important for families with children or pets.

“People who have access to balconies and porches are less likely to report feeling lonely,” said Hebert, since they feel more connected to neighbours.

“Balconies on the first three storeys can allow social connection with friends on the street. They can boost social ties and vibrancy. However, above the fifth storey, they offer no social connection with the street whatsoever.”

Even while the psychological deck is stacked against balconies that hover above five storeys — including because of what Boddy calls the often-unspoken fear of vertigo — the design of a balcony always matters.

Qualitative studies, including from Poland, confirm balconies are not only enjoyed more in low and medium-rise buildings, they’re also more appealing when they open onto a courtyard, and, to the surprise of some, when they face north.

“Balconies on the first three stories can allow social connection with friends on the street. They can boost social ties and vibrancy. However, above the fifth storey, they offer no social connection with the street whatsoever,” says Madeleine Hebert. PNG

Significantly, balconies get more use when they offer both quiet and a sense of privacy. But that’s hard to realize when far too many urban balconies in residential towers are exposed to hectic thoroughfares.

Still, at least some sense of enclosure or privacy on balconies can be obtained through the use of opaque or frosted glass, screens, lattices, plants or trees, says Hebert.

Designers at Smart Density maintain balconies should also not be too small — or too long and narrow. Their size needs to correlate with how many people are expected to venture onto them. Families, for instance, need to be able to sit around a small table.

Balconies that are recessed into a building often provide more weather-protection and shade, especially from southern exposures, adds Smart Density.

Life without balconies

What is it like to not have a balcony? It’s an option some developers are starting to promote, particularly since it’s already the practice in many metropolises around the world.

Gary Paterson and Tim Stevenson have lived for decades in a 14th-floor rental apartment without a balcony in Vancouver’s West End, overlooking English Bay.

“I wouldn’t want to sacrifice floor space for a balcony. And if I did I’d definitely want a large balcony to hold chairs and a table and plants and possibly a barbecue,” said Stevenson, a former Vancouver city councillor. “Most of the balconies on almost all the buildings in our neighbourhood are small, and totally useless. No one ever uses them. So if you offered me a small one, I’d reject it.”

Although Paterson, a retired United Church minister, sometimes fancies growing flowers on a balcony, he’s largely satisfied with going downstairs for walks to experience the West End’s gardens and parks.

“We are also lucky to have a shared top-of-the-building garden, a common space with lots of room to have a meal, an evening drink and a conversation with a view.”

In a somewhat similar vein, Vancouver architect Bruce Haden believes the future for balconies lies in design flexibility. When new apartment buildings go up, Haden would like to see developers provide “generous, sunny, wind-protected balconies for fewer units.” But no balconies for other units, since inhabitants likely won’t use them.

Some developers favour this approach. Lanterra is constructing apartment blocks with fewer private balconies and more communal terraces, enhanced with tables and gardens and barbecues.

Whether a shared terrace will solve householders’ continuing yearning for outdoor living space remains to be seen, since the industry-wide belief across North America continues to be that most apartment dwellers still, in their minds at least, prefer a personal balcony.

The potential for balconies is huge, but so far it’s been hard for most to overcome their pitfalls.

You can find a link to the article here: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-the-beleaguered-balcony-is-wide-open-to-a-rethink

dtodd@postmedia.com

@douglastodd