Muse Flats

Completed: 2021
Size: 103,000 ft² / 9,570 m²
Cibinel Architecture in collaboration with Michael Maltzan Architecture, Los Angeles, California

The project, a 119-unit residential building at 290 Colony Street for The University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation 2.0 (UWCRC 2.0), is composed of a range of unit types, including (28) studios, (59) one bedroom units, (29) two bedroom units, and (3) three bedroom units, with an integrated affordable housing component. The building is 14 storeys tall, with a 15th level penthouse for mechanical equipment. The ground floor level contains 3,700 square-feet of commercial program, 17 stalls of street level parking, and new offices for the owner. On the 10th floor, amenity spaces and an adjacent rooftop terrace area provide shared common spaces for tenant use.

The architectural concept for the building emphasizes the verticality of the massing by creating a “bundle” of five residential towers organized around a central circulation tower. The individual towers have varied footprints and heights to emphasize their individuality and give the massing a twisting bias. The modulations in shape and size also lend a more human scale to the urban presence of the project. By maximizing the number of corner units, the residential suites are afforded sweeping views of the surrounding context, creating more powerful relationships between the building and the city of Winnipeg. The building fenestration complements its massing, with diagonally organized windows accentuating the twisting bias of the towers while choreographing the residents’ views of the city. At the ground level, floor to ceiling storefront glass along the property line captures the greatest area for commercial program, and is capped by a thin roof slab. The residential towers rest upon this transparent base, appearing to float above the ground.

NEWS
CBC News “Plans Unveiled for 119-unit Downtown Winnipeg Residence”
Winnipeg Free Press “Art Gallery-Area Housing to get $26M Boost”
Muse Flats, U of W Community Renewal Corp
The Art of Affordable Housing, Government of Canada
Federal Funding Announced for Affordable Apartments New Winnipeg Art Gallery, Global News
Imagined Lines of Movement and Spaces of Rest Along Colony Creek, Wall To Wall

_{Photographs by Lindsay Reid}