# MONAD, Vancouver

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly), 2017-09-06

architecture, density, design, development, kitsilano, missing-middle, monad, oliver-lang, practice, uncategorized, urban, urbanism, vancouver

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Earlier today, [Nithya Vijayakumar](https://twitter.com/nithyavijaya), of The Pembina Institute, pointed out the above housing project to me [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/nithyavijaya/status/905118407862956033) through this [2013 Dwell article](https://www.dwell.com/article/a-modern-multiunit-prefab-prototype-in-vancouver-55fe6124) (worth a read).  

The project is called [MONAD](http://lwpac.net/news/news/projects/residential/monad/) and it’s a 4-unit, 12,600 square foot prefabricated multi-storey building in Vancouver on West 4th Avenue. 

The site itself is 33′ x 110′, which just so happens to be the same size as a typical single family lot in the city. However, this one sits on a main street.

Completed in 2011 and designed by [Lang Wilson Practice in Architecture Culture](http://lwpac.net/news/news/), the development was intended to be a pilot project and a rethink of urban living.  

There are real diseconomies when you develop at this scale, but if you make it high-end enough the math just may work. What a beauty.

Above image from [LWPAC](http://lwpac.net/news/news/projects/residential/monad/). More photos [here](https://www.dwell.com/article/a-modern-multiunit-prefab-prototype-in-vancouver-55fe6124).

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://paragraph.com/@brandondonnelly/monad%2C-vancouver)*