Gregory Henriquez

Gregory Henriquez is a Canadian architect, best known for the design of complex community-based mixed-use projects in Vancouver and more recently in Toronto, Seattle and Calgary. He is the managing principal of Henriquez Partners Architects.

Gregory Henriquez was born in 1963 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in 1987. In 1988, he attended the Master of Architecture Program in History and Theory at McGill University, studying under Alberto Pérez-Gómez, whose ethical approach to architecture had a creative influence on Henriquez. In 1989, he joined his father Richard Henriquez' practice, Henriquez and Partners Architects, as an associate and became a partner of the firm in 1995.He taught at the University of British Columbia's School of Architecture in the early 1990s and has served as a guest critic in various university architecture schools. His projects have won numerous awards, including the Governor General's Medal in Architecture, Design Exchange Gold Medal, Architizer A+ Awards, and the Award for Planning Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners. Henriquez is an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and in 2007 became a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

In Henriquez’ books Towards an Ethical Architecture (2006), Body Heat (2010), and Citizen City (2016) he discussesthe role that architects can have in society and the place of ethics, activism and critical commentary within contemporary practice. In the books, Henriquez states that he grapples with these themes in his practice: overcoming the collective amnesia of architecture's ethical dimension and exploring a sense of authentic expression beyond conventional style to ultimately nurture the growth of an inclusive city.

Poetic Expression of Social Justice

Henriquez is a supporter of “ethical architecture” and the idea that building aesthetics should not be separate from its ethics. Further, Henriquez believes that architecture should contain an element of social justice by being oriented within the community where it is located.

One author has called Henriquez a "pragmatic utopian," stating that he understands both the aesthetic-practical and deeply moral-social dimensions of architecture and strives to integrate them in built space. The author states that through his practice, Henriquez has modeled a leadership role for the architect in the "profane" world of developers, non-profits, governments and politics while resisting societal pressures for the profession to serve as an instrument of private interests.

One example of Henriquez placing a focus upon social considerations in his architecture was 60 West Cordova, a prototype of affordable residential ownership in Vancouver for moderate income households. The project features a floor of twelve non-market housing units that were sold at cost to two non-profit organizations, PHS Community Services Society and Habitat for Humanity. Then, the housing units were indexed to the local cost of living and sold at below-market rates. In an effort to create an internal community within the building that had an existing connection to the immediate neighbourhood, each purchaser had to prove that they currently worked, lived or volunteered in the Downtown Eastside, Gastown or Chinatown. Bruce Eriksen Place is another example of an architectural project by Henriquez with a societal and community-based approach to design issues. The project has 35 self-contained housing units for low-income residents and was completed with the help of Vancouver advocate Jim Green, who was able to increase government funding for the project and raise the average unit size to 40m² from the proposed 19m².Additional examples of Henriquez's socially-conscious architecture are the mixed-use, mixed-income Woodward's Redevelopment, which was the centerpiece of a major urban renewal scheme, Central Presbyterian Church, Lore Krill Housing Cooperative, and Immigrant Services Society of BC, all of which are in Vancouver.

Inclusive Cities

In the book, Citizen City (2016), Henriquez promotes his vision for the ideal city, one that “transcends the traditional urban goals of economic stability and working infrastructure, and allows for inclusivity of its people, with a variety of economic levels, different cultures, and diverse identities.” This concept encourages democratic and civic engagement, as well as cultural and community development.

Political Advocacy and Public Consultation

Henriquez considers the political dimension of architecture an important responsibility of the architect's role. As one example, for the Woodward's Redevelopment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, the project required the architect to fulfill many different stakeholder needs in both the public and private sectors. This requirement necessitated expanding the mandate of the architect to encompass spheres of activity not typically considered to be the architect's responsibility, and led to Henriquez negotiating with the City of Vancouver on behalf of the project's developer. Henriquez has stated that when approaching city policies, it is important to understand the intentions of the policy if hoping to get beneath the surface of its rules and regulations. To quote Henriquez, "If you can find a way to understand the intentions, and if they are good, then there's often a way to work around perceived limitations." Procedurally, Henriquez utilizes public consultation to catalyze public support towards an outcome that contributes to a project's community. Public consultation was a part of the design process for the Mirvish Village development in Toronto, built upon the site of the locally renowned Honest Ed's retail store.

Woodward's Redevelopment

At $475 million, the Woodward's Redevelopment was one of the biggest developments in Vancouver history. The project site covers a full city block and includes four interconnected buildings with a central atrium. Built on the edge of the Downtown Eastside, the project site is several blocks from the business district and the city's historic Gastown neighbourhood, and was the original location of the Woodward's department store until it closed in 1993. Given the original Woodward's store's strong association with community activity, the design of the Woodward's Redevelopment aimed to restore the site as a neighbourhood centre with inclusive spaces for the surrounding community. Early public consultation by the City of Vancouver determined that community participants overwhelmingly saw the Woodward's site as a place for living with supportive services nearby. Consequently, the variety of program in the redevelopment includes over 500 market-rate condominiums, 200 affordable housing units, a supermarket, a drugstore, Simon Fraser University's School for Contemporary Arts, office space for the federal government and non-profit organizations, a bank, a restaurant and a rooftop day care centre. The building also includes a 30’ x 60’ photographic mural depicting the 1971 Gastown Riots by artist Stan Douglas, and display cases for sharing stories of both the neighbourhood and the former Woodward's department store. The central stair in the Woodward's atrium is a reference to an umbilical cord, acting as a symbol of the site's rebirth.

The Woodward's project is unusual for how it represents a coalition of interests unprecedented in their variety and size and the relative unlikelihood for such a coalition to occur within the conventions of contemporary urban, architectural and development practice. The project's site regeneration was achieved with new economic partnerships that included the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia, residents, activists and developers. Gregory Henriquez negotiated with the City of Vancouver on behalf of the developer and consulted with community groups to maintain the project's financial feasibility and meet the neighbourhood's social requirements. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighborhood's collective fear of gentrification had become concentrated on the Woodward's site, so the project team emphasised public involvement in the design process, as well as community needs, large-scale diversification of tenants and residents, and economic revitalization. Developers were permitted more height and density; in return they provided more amenities, which subsidized social housing, community benefits, and cultural facilities.

Ultimately, Woodward's has gained global attention as a symbol of diversity and inclusion in urban renewal. The Woodward's project presents a new model of connected urbanity, one where citizens share a common ground, co-exist socially and economically, and have their own defined spaces to inhabit. The success of Woodward's spawned numerous other projects for the Henriquez Partners studio with similar social, community-minded intentions.

Mirvish Village

Mirvish Village is an upcoming 1 million square foot mixed-use development in Toronto, Ontario, featuring a program of residential apartments, retail, a public market and additional public spaces. The project falls on the former site of Honest Ed's, a discount retail store in Toronto that was owned by the renowned public figure and philanthropist, Ed Mirvish. The project is considered notable for its city-led, public consultation process between the city, neighbourhood and architect. The consultation process was praised by city officials, with one Toronto councillor, Mike Layton, stating, "I don't know of a more robust city-led and public process than the one that got us to this point, in Toronto or in Canada." In total, the project will consist of 40 buildings with varying materiality, many of them low-rise, and will mimic the small-scaled variety that characterizes active downtown streets. In addition to the newly-designed buildings, the project will preserve and retain 23 of 27 designated heritage houses on site.

Oakridge Redevelopment

Located at West 41st Avenue and Cambie Street in Vancouver, the existing Oakridge Centre shopping mall sits upon a 28.3 acre site with 1 million square feet of retail program surrounded by parking spaces. Prior to being razed for the mall development in the 1950s, the site was originally a forested area. The upcoming 3 billion dollar redevelopment project re-introduces the site's original topography with a public park that varies between at-grade and one level above street-level; the park complements a series of towers, low-rise buildings, and mid-rise buildings. The program for the project will include almost 5.0 million square feet of residential, offices, retail, library, community centre, day care, a performing arts academy, and a live music venue.