Shutters

Shutters is a 185-home strata on the Songhees waterfront in Victoria West, built in 2007 across two addresses, 66 and 68 Songhees Road. It was developed by Westbank and designed by architect James K.M. Cheng, whose later work includes the Fairmont Pacific Rim and the Shangri-La in Vancouver. The complex sits within the City of Victoria, directly across the Inner Harbour from downtown.

Architecture & design

Two curvilinear buildings, one nine storeys and one six, are set at roughly right angles around a landscaped courtyard of lagoons and water gardens, with a two-storey waterfall over the porte-cochère. The white, sinuous form draws on Miami Beach modernism and has been a Songhees landmark since it opened. The building takes its name from the quartets of white louvered shutters staggered floor to floor along its exterior walkways. Five townhouse villas sit at grade with private street entrances and decks onto the lagoon.

Circulation runs along the outside of the buildings. Glass columns enclose the elevators and stairs, and homes are reached by open exterior corridors, giving the upper residences a townhouse-style arrival rather than an interior hallway. The single-loaded floor plans run the full width of the building, so most principal rooms have a water or courtyard outlook and cross-ventilation. Construction is steel-and-concrete.

The homes

Homes range from one-bedroom-plus-den layouts of roughly 1,000 to 1,050 square feet up to two-bedroom penthouses above 1,350 square feet. Common features across the building include floor-to-ceiling windows, open-plan kitchen and living areas, granite counters, stainless appliances, in-suite laundry, and balconies with a natural-gas BBQ connection. The penthouses in the nine-storey building add ceilings around 15 feet and rooftop heat pumps for heating and air conditioning; homes below rely on cross-ventilation rather than in-suite air conditioning.

Amenities

• Heated 75-foot outdoor lap pool with a cascading water feature over the main entry
• Two hot tubs, sauna, and steam room
• Fitness centre
• Owners' lounge and guest suite
• Boardroom
• Secure underground parking, separate storage lockers, bike and kayak storage, and visitor parking
• Landscaped lagoons and water gardens through the inner courtyard

Location & walkability

The Westsong (West Bay) Walkway runs along the waterfront at the door and connects to the Galloping Goose Regional Trail. The Inner Harbour ferry stops nearby, and downtown Victoria is about a ten-minute walk across the Johnson Street Bridge. Harbour-facing and upper homes look out over the Legislature, the Empress, Fisherman's Wharf, and the working marine traffic of the harbour.

Who it suits

Shutters suits downsizers and part-year owners who want a low-maintenance waterfront home with a full amenity package, and professionals who value the location and the resort-style common areas. It is an appreciation hold rather than a cash-flow investment: the price point and strata fees put it outside most rental-yield strategies. The complex presents inward, with landscaped frontage rather than active street retail. As with any building of this era, reviewing the depreciation report and contingency reserve is a sensible step before purchase.

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