Who it's for
Three readers.
One memo.
Housing societies, co-ops, churches and First Nations build homes that rent below market, with no development profit to absorb a wrong guess. The people around one of their sites read different documents at different times. The memo is the one thing they all read.
01Who reads what, and when
Today each layer is read by someone else, one stage too late.
The five stages of a non-profit housing project, and the five layers of rules. A dot is where a layer is usually read today, and by whom. The lit column is where the memo reads all five.
First Readday one, cited
City planning staffat pre-application
First Readday one, cited
The architectif someone asks, during design
First Readday one, cited
Planners and an arboristonce a site plan exists
First Readday one, as flags
The architectduring design
First Readday one, against each program
The development managerwhen a call opens
Pre-development costs $200,000 to $500,000 per project and is where the answer arrives today. The memo moves the answer to the stage before, when a wrong answer costs hours.
02What each reader does
Three flows through the same tool.
The tool is laid out around these, and its top bar has a switch, Manager · Architect · Reader, that picks the layout: the memo with the inputs beside it, the forms and the ledger open with Revit at hand, or the memo alone as on paper. The filled step is the one each reader came for.
Flow 1
The development manager
Site in, memo out. Before any money goes to design.
Open the tool as the manager- 1Types an address. The point from OpenStreetMap, the zoning district and the parcel from the City's open data; the lot's area and shape follow.Start from an address · 1 Find the site
- 2Chooses the programs and reads the site. Layers A to C on the site alone, before any option: outright limits, the rezoning path, transit, trees.2 Choose the programs · 3 Read the site
- 3Shapes the option from the rules, or their own. Outright, Benchmark or Funder-ready; every figure Suggested | Mine with its rule beside it; what no rule settles is asked.4 Shape the option
- 4Runs the rules and reads the three answers. Summary, Detailed or 3D preview: the plan with dimensions, the section, the axon.5 Run the rules · Summary | Detailed | 3D
- 5Works the open items. Each names the person who resolves it and what to do.answer 3 · open items table
- 6Issues it to the architect, and the PDF to the board. The architect sees the revision in their top bar.6 Issue · Download PDF
- 1Opens a run. A past run from the picker, or a link from the manager.Open a past run
- 2Edits the option. Fields are marked: needed to run, read by a rule, drawings only. Save as… keeps it reproducible.step 2 · Edit
- 3Runs again. The new memo is the site's next revision, R2.Run the rules · Revision R2
- 4Compares R2 with R1. One sentence on the trade-off, the four answers for each, only the rules that read differently.Compare with… · Side by side
- 5Reads the ledger. Layer by layer, each rule with its numbers used and its source.Full ledger · A to E
- 6Takes the massing to Revit. Two shell lines; the sheet comes back as FIG 03.step 4 · Export to Revit · Check Revit result
- 1Reads page one cold. Address, option, revision, rules date, then the three answers with the rules that decide them.PDF · page 1
- 2Reads page two. The open items, each with a person. A planner looks for the uncertain rules; a funder's officer for the missing figures.PDF · page 2
- 3Follows a reference. Every rule is A1 to E4; every source has a number and a URL.PDF · clauses, sources
- 4Decides. The pre-development money is voted, or not. The memo is dated, so a later reader can tell whether it is still true.the board gate
03What stays with people
The tool checks. It never decides.
A chat answer is not citable, repeatable or dated. The memo is the opposite of a guess, and the judgements are handed to the people whose judgements they are.
- 01Site facts
Confirming what is true of the lot.
The transit-oriented tier is read from the City's map by a person, not the tool.
- 02The option
Choosing what to test.
Storeys, mix, tenure and the program to chase are the provider's call.
- 03The massing
Judging the picture.
The massing is a picture of the rules, not a design. Whether it is a good building is the architect's.
- 04Uncertain rules
Interpreting what the engine cannot.
A CD-1 negotiation, a waived charge, a benchmark height: named and handed over.
- 05The decision
Whether to proceed.
The board votes. The memo is what it votes on, not who votes.
- 06The stamp
Anything that gets stamped.
A person checks the rule table before it is data, and the numbers before the revision goes on.
04Who tests it
Each reader judges the part they would use.
User sessions through November and December 2026. The brief's rules apply: permission before anyone's site or documents are used, nothing confidential in the public repository, credit with consent.
- By 13 NovSession 1
A non-profit's development manager
Runs the tool on their own site and reacts to the massing and the memo as a board would.
- By 27 NovSession 2
A project architect at a housing firm
Uses the memo in a pre-application or a Development Permit Enquiry, against a recent feasibility package.
- By 3 DecSession 3
A funder-side reader
Checks the funding-fit answer for one program and the memo's plain language.
- BetweenAsynchronous
A housing planner
Thirty minutes on the boundary cases: 280 m², 400 m, transit-oriented areas, the uncertain rules.
- 6 and 27 NovPeer reviews
A classmate as a board member
Reads the memo cold, with no briefing, and says what a non-expert cannot follow.
- OptionalData
A housing-data contact at UBC
Supplies housing-needs figures for the test municipality and comments on the rule table.