TransLink is planning a four-storey data centre and office building measuring approximately 18,000 square feet on its Southridge Drive property in Burnaby.
The site already has an office/industrial building formerly owned by Bombardier for the assembly of SkyTrain cars. That building is now owned by TransLink, and the new building will be built on a vacant portion of the property, as seen in the site plan below.
As the new building is primarily a data centre, the amount of parking needed is minimal. However, in an ironic twist for a building designed for a transit authority, the zoning bylaw in Burnaby requires an additional 183 parking stalls based on the site’s location within Edmonds Town Centre.
Because of the site’s substantial slope, only 155 parking stalls can be accommodated, according to TransLink.
City of Burnaby documents state that TransLink could purchase the remaining 28 required parking stalls at $10,000 per stall, or offer transit passes, end-of-trip facilities or enhanced bicycle storage as an alternative.
The development is also required to provide eight loading spaces — but only five are possible due to site constraints.
Thankfully, the City of Burnaby states, “as the proposed development is primarily automated, the available 5 loading spaces are deemed to be sufficient to serve the site.”
Still the requirement for 183 parking stalls for the combined development stands, and any transit pass offering to offset the missing 28 stalls will need to be approved by the city before the development can begin.
The architects of the new data centre are RDHA Architects Inc.
