Alliance Française Vancouver opens landmark $24-million francophone cultural facility
Four-floor, 30,000-square-foot building features a professional theatre, media library, artist studio space, French café and bistro, and plenty more
Exterior facade of Alliance Française Vancouver’s brand-new cultural facility, located at at 6161 Cambie Street. Photo courtesy of Alliance Française Vancouver
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE VANCOUVER has just unveiled its brand-new $24-million cultural facility, a decade-long undertaking that reached completion just in time for the nonprofit’s 120th anniversary this year. Measuring in at 30,000 square feet, the independently run building is now the largest of its kind in B.C.
Located at 6161 Cambie Street next to the new Oakridge Park shopping centre redevelopment, the expanded four-floor site now notably includes a 165-seat professional theatre, a 1,120-square-foot boutique art gallery for local and international artists, and 2,700 square feet of flexible artist spaces for affordable residency studio rentals.
Other spaces within the new building support the preservation of francophone culture in Vancouver, such as a media library with thousands of all-ages books and multimedia publications (now the largest francophone collection of that sort in B.C.), and 16 classrooms for French-language and -culture courses (Alliance Française Vancouver offers lessons to folks age three and up).
Media library at the new Alliance Française Vancouver site. Photo courtesy of Alliance Française Vancouver
Yet more design elements highlight French cuisine. There’s the French-inspired Champs Élysées Café & Bistro offering up breakfast and lunch during the day, and wine by night; and a fully equipped demonstration kitchen is prime grounds for hosting cooking classes.
A product of McFarland Marceau Architects, the sustainably designed building was awarded a Jury Prize from UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere program in 2022 for outstanding preservation of the environment. It also pays homage to the surrounding West Coast landscape with its mass timber structure and wood detailing. A skylight amplifies the light-filled design, and a large west-facing exterior terrace offers a sunny patio space and mountain views for visitors and event rentals.
Alliance Française Vancouver’s exterior terrace. Photo courtesy of Alliance Française Vancouver
Talks of a new building for Alliance Française Vancouver began in 2015 when it became clear that the organization’s previous historic 1968 building, measuring in at a much smaller 8,500 square feet, was not equipped to accommodate the growing local francophone community. The building was demolished in 2021, and operations temporarily moved to another location on Cambie Street while the new space was being made.
Construction was funded by all three levels of government, along with foundations, private companies, and individual donors. Alliance Française Vancouver is still working toward a fundraising goal of $6 million by the end of 2025; to date, $5 million has been raised since the campaign began in 2019. Individuals can also choose to name a seat in the new theatre with a donation of $750 (68 of 150 seats have been named so far).
To officially commemorate the new building’s opening, a ribbon-cutting ceremony with local government dignitaries will be held on August 14 at 5:30 pm. 
Light-filled lounge at the new Alliance Française Vancouver building. Photo courtesy of Alliance Française Vancouver
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