What might have been a bus station has instead become an award-winning retail building in Tofino’s gateway area.
Located at 551 Campbell St., the building, designed by Tofino’s Flo Design, now houses a pizzeria and three-artist studio/gallery.
But the plan for the site had been quite different, said Cypre Corner’s owner, Dylan Green.
Also the owner of the Tofino Bus Company, Green said he’d had the land since 2005 and had hoped it could be a bus station for the bus company.
“We were running smaller equipment (and) we were hoping this would become the bus station, because my original bus station was across the street,” said Green.
The site ended up being too small, but Green went ahead with rezoning the site for general retail, “and this is the result,” he said.
“It was exciting to have been nominated, and it was even more surprising to win the award,” Green said.
“We felt that it was a small project compared to some of the other nominees, but we really did focus on design. Because it’s a small project, it allowed us more opportunity to focus on design.
“And especially it being on the main entrance to Tofino, we were really focused on making a building exciting — adding to the Gateway. We are in the Gateway zone of Tofino, so we really wanted to add to the appeal of the entrance to Tofino.”
The shape of the lot was both a hurdle and an inspiration for the design of the building, Green said.
“We had to work with the angles of the lot, but that became the main feature — that big corner.”
Creating a roof overhang proved both complicated and interesting, leading to the decision to keep the roof work exposed inside the building.
“It looks so cool when you see how it’s put together,” said Green.
“I’m excited that the building has won the award, and hopefully it will bring more business… and people are attracted to it and check it out,” he said.