MAPPING VICTORIA - 934 Balmoral Rd

934 Balmoral Rd

Building Info

First Met

6 storey rental building - 129 apartments
55 car parking stalls, 199 bike parking stalls (162 long term, 37 short term)
Addition of a one storey building which will be the primary public and accessible entry point into the First Metropolitan Church (built in 1913). The addition includes a community gathering area, a stage for performances, a shared-use kitchen and accessible washrooms.
The church will be re-envisioned and upgraded to offer rehearsal, performance, worship and gathering spaces, but will be a cultural venue and not function as a church.

Developer

Aryze in partnership with the United Church of Canada
Developer Project Website

Architect

Architect: MA+HG
Architect Project Website

Context

Directly across from Estoya, 1708 Quadra Street
Brochure on the history of the church
North Park Neighbourhood Association engagement and feedback

City of Victoria Development Tracker

Project Folder

Status

March 2026: Active - Original plan submitted to the City in June 2025, revisions submitted in September and December 2025 and most recently in March 2026. See Planning Deep Dive below for more details on the latest revision.

Media and Images

April 2, 2025 Times Colonist story on the proposal

April 1, 2025 Global News story on redevelopment plans

Images from Aryze's March 12, 2026 Revised Plans - © MA + HG

Images from Architect's Project Website

All images © MA+HG

Location

Google Street View

July 2025
July 2025 view includes view of 1708 Quadra
May 2014
June 2009

Planning Deep Dive

In a March 10, 2026 letter to the Mayor, Council and City staff Aryze Properties summarize the design evolution and policy alignment:

This proposal has strengthened through the City’s formal review process, earning a unanimous recommendation for approval from the Advisory Design Panel (ADP). In response to the panel’s review, we have since focused on enhancing the "mews-like" connection and utility of the space between the buildings, and creating a more porous and inviting pedestrian experience. We also further refined the architectural expression of the concrete plinth and the building frontage along Balmoral Rd, ensuring the new residential building maintains a respectful relationship with the public realm and a positive user experience.

The Heritage Advisory Panel (HAPL) provided positive feedback and a recommendation for approval on the adaptive re-use proposal, and guided our approach towards materiality and sensitively resolving transitions between old and new. The final design utilizes colored glass elements that intentionally mirror the stained-glass tones of the historic sanctuary while conveying them through contrasting and contemporary expression. This approach ensures that the new development does not mimic the historic fabric, but rather acts as a modern backdrop that highlights the prominence of the church building, creating a visually cohesive building program that honors its architectural legacy.

In addition to the comments above the revised plan also has setback and landscaping changes and perhaps the most significant change is the elimination of bedroom without windows in the project as indicated in the Architectural Revisions List:

"Residential units updated to remove all inboard bedrooms. Window placements updated to suit."

Project Architects - Ma+HG

As you probably noticed by now MappingVictoria is a celebration of architecture and the architects behind the buildings. For this project the architectural firm is Vancouver based MA+HG, named after the two principles Marianne Amodio and Harley Grusko. Western Living Magazine crowned them Architects of the Year for 2025 and profiled the two in their September 11, 2025 feature article.

Their signature design features bold pastel colours, geometric shapes, use of metal and steel and small yet visually prominent balconies. While the design has been shared above a few good examples of the real world results of their work can be seen below.

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