Strawberry Hill Community Hall

Client: City of Surrey

Location: Surrey, BC

Program: Cultural. Community. Heritage

Photography: Brett Ryan Studios

Strawberry Hill Community Hall is a contemporary reconstruction of a historic civic building lost to fire in 2017. Designed for the City of Surrey and located in the city’s scenic Strawberry Hill neighborhood, the new facility re-establishes an important community landmark while adapting it to support present-day needs, including childcare, public events, and cultural programming.

Rather than replicating the original structure exactly as it once stood, the project focused on recovering the qualities that made the hall meaningful to the community while meeting modern standards for accessibility, safety, and sustainability.

An indoor children's playroom with wooden floors, light wood ceiling, and large windows. Several children and an adult are sitting at a small table, playing with toys. There are baskets and shelves with toys, and a small sandbox in the foreground. The background shows a kitchen area with stools and a counter.
Close-up of beige wooden shingles on a building exterior with a black cylindrical light fixture and a portion of a green window frame.

The project focused on recovering the character that made the place meaningful.

The project began as a direct reconstruction effort based on earlier renovation drawings for the original hall. As the design process evolved, however, it became clear that substantial upgrades were needed to meet current building code, accessibility, and energy performance requirements.

The design team studied archival documentation and traced the building’s many alterations over nearly a century of use. The final proposal restored several original architectural qualities — including roof proportions, awning forms, and material character — while improving the building’s functionality and long-term performance.

Children and a woman engaging in activities in a classroom or play area, with a chalkboard, small chairs, and furniture, and a child drawing on the chalkboard.
Green storage room door labeled 'STORAGE ROOM 102' with a black handle, a lock, and a vent at the bottom.

The material palette evolved from an initially brighter daycare-focused concept toward a more neutral and natural approach that could support multiple types of use.

Wood became the project’s unifying material, connecting the interior and exterior while referencing the hall’s vernacular construction. Whitewashed cedar shingles, painted wood trim, wood wainscoting, and a tongue-and-groove feature ceiling create a calm and consistent atmosphere throughout the building.

The result is a durable and welcoming environment that feels equally suited to everyday childcare and larger community gatherings.

The hall was designed to support a wide range of activities, from daycare programming to weddings, gatherings, and public events. Early planning focused on flexibility, testing different furniture and occupancy configurations to understand how the space could adapt over time.

Two experiences became central to the design: creating a welcoming backdrop for community events and providing a bright, comfortable daycare environment with stronger visual connections to the outdoors — including windows positioned low enough for children to easily look outside.

A person dressed in white walking along a sidewalk in front of a beige brick building titled 'Strawberry Hill Hall.' The person wears a pink turban and a dark jacket. There are small trees and green plants in front of the building, with a clear sky and green trees in the background.
A group of children and an adult in a classroom with large windows, wooden furniture, and toys, engaged in activities on the floor and at tables.

A major challenge was the requirement to reuse the existing concrete foundation after the fire, which limited the building footprint and required careful coordination to integrate contemporary mechanical and electrical systems into the original volume.

The project also pursued ambitious sustainability goals, including a fully electric HVAC system and EV charging infrastructure, requiring significant coordination between consultants, utilities, city officials, and the client team.

Strawberry Hill reflects O4’s commitment to thoughtful public architecture grounded in collaboration, technical rigor, and careful detailing.

Close-up of the front entrance of a house with a green porch, stairs, and a door, surrounded by a garden with green plants, in a suburban neighborhood.
A play kitchen setup with wooden cabinetry, a toy stove, and various play food items, set against a green-paneled wall and a window with sunlight streaming in.
Children and adults sitting on a green carpet in a bright, modern classroom with large windows, wooden ceiling, and green storage cabinets, inside a childcare or preschool facility.