Big Red Box 2008

Client: Jawl Enterprises
Architect: D’Ambrosio Architecture + Urbanism
800 Yates Street / Atrium
Victoria, British Columbia 

The project emerged from the consciousness that construction sites for large buildings have an intrusive and significant physical presence in the city, sometimes for years. The idea to engage the problem on an aesthetic level was received favourably by both the clients and the constructors. The Atrium site’s trailers, shacks, tool cribs, and portable toilets would be collected within an enveloping wall. Grilled slots aligned with windows behind and allowed air to pass through. The colour joined the industrial palette of the signal yellow of the crane, the red of various safety equipment, and the grey or blue of the sky. The Big Red Box sits atop the black-painted framework of the sidewalk canopy, which is the canvas for the mural painting called ‘Prelude’.