Builders, architects to create playhouses for housing charity

VANCOUVER -- Local architects known for their modern towers, malls, hospitals, plazas and libraries, are scaling down their designs to raise money for families in need.

Their whimsical drawings will be built into futuristic playhouses and put on display at the Pacific National Exhibition this August, and sold off to corporate buyers who will donate them to community groups across the province. The proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity, a charity that helps low-income families build and buy their own homes. The designs and materials are all donated, and the finished playhouses will ultimately be made accessible to the public.

The idea came from Canfor, a forest product company, which is celebrating its 75th year in business next year. Its first wood products were used to build the famous Mosquito bomber planes during the Second World War, and the playhouse design theyre sponsoring takes the shape of that propeller plane.

The company wants to send a positive message about building with wood while benefiting Habitat for Humanity, said Canfor president Don Kayne.

Were trying to raise our profile as the industry rebounds from a pretty tough recession over the years, Kayne said. Its important to connect more with the community and connect more with the younger generation.

Other forestry firms have signed on as well, including West Fraser, Interfor, Western Forest and Conifex, Kayne said. Each will work with an architect and a local builder to turn the drawings into wooden playhouses. Kids can play in them at the PNE and then wherever theyre placed in public after the 17-day fair is over. Michael Green Architecture, DGBK Architects, Dialog Design, and Hughes Condon Marler Architects are among some of the local creative teams that have signed up to participate. There will be eight playhouses in all.

Besides the propeller plane, which was designed by architecture students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, other playhouses take on cubist or geometric designs. Theres even a teepee, designed by Michael Green and his 11-year-old son, who told him kids love teepees.

Its not that he meant literally build teepees, but that we should capture the spirit of what a teepee feels like to a kid, and why being in a teepee invokes our imagination, said Green, who is also designing the Ronald McDonald House for BC Childrens Hospital. He hopes his playhouse, made of stacked Douglas fir and chalkboard paint with a ball room inside, will end up there eventually. Green estimated the cost of his playhouse at $35,000 for materials, design and construction.

Canfor spokeswoman Christine Kennedy said the fundraising process at the PNE will determine how much money is raised for Habitat for Humanity.

zmcknight@vancouversun.com

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Builders, architects to create playhouses for housing charity