Ductal

The Atrium / D'Ambrosio Architecture & Urbanism

Jawl Properties, the owners of this high-density office development set in downtown [Victoria](https://www.archdaily.com/tag/victoria), challenged its architects. They asked if a speculative office building could be a catalyst for the revitalization of a moribund urban area and contribute somehow to city life. The answers emerged from a highly collaborative multi-disciplinary approach. Occupying the length of a city block, the Atrium actively engages its civic context. To complement [Victoria](https://www.archdaily.com/tag/victoria)'s historic downtown and reintegrate the block into its urban fabric, the building has two sub-levels and seven above-ground floors. It is built to the perimeter of the site and forms three street walls that define the public realm. A palette of authentic, durable materials invests the block with a sense of long-term commitment. A tall and transparent ground floor exposes the cafés, restaurants, and shops along the street and lining the internal atrium space inviting people to approach and enter. Rain gardens ring the site, a first for private development in [Victoria](https://www.archdaily.com/tag/victoria), catching and cleaning the site's stormwater and polluted street run-off. Trees and special plantings buffer the sidewalk from traffic and soften the cityscape.