A guide to VHS' physical space

This is our building! It's short in the front, long in the back. A great mullet for happy hackers! Currently this is the sixth iteration of Vancouver Hack Space, and one of the largest we've been able to inhabit so far. We're truly excited for all the great projects we can get started on now that we have this building.

We're located at 1601 Venables St., at the corner of Woodland Drive, 2 blocks West of Commercial Drive. The front door is normally locked to the public, but keyholders voluntarily open the space to other members. Our open house nights are always on Tuesdays 4:30-9:00pm, where we welcome the community to come down, say hi, and work on a project.

• Take the #20 from downtown along Hastings and up commercial drive to Venables. Walk down Venables
• Take the #22 from downtown along Pender and Prior to Clark. Walk up Venables
• Take the #95 up Hastings to commercial drive, then take the #20 to Venables and walk

• Take the train to Commercial Broadway and then take the #20 down Commercial Drive to Venables
• Take the #22 from Knight St.

• There is a bike share nearby on Adanac and Woodland drive just around the corner

There is free street parking on Woodland drive and temporary parking in the alleyway behind VHS. \ There is also free 2-hour street parking out front on Venables from 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday

There is a city bike rack with room for two bikes on the street in front of the space. There are also suitable poles and trees nearby. No bike shed.

Our bay doors at the back are large and wheelchair accessible, though our front door and side door are not.

To see if VHS is open right now, check is VHS Open?

• List of nearby restaurants
• Learning Resources
• Local Suppliers

Please water the rose bush.

To the right of the front entrance is our clean office room / flex space. Can be used for meetings, workshops, or just a cleaner area to work on a project.

This is a designated clean area, so no dripping wet paint or sawdust, please.

To the left of the main entrance is the kitchenette. We have a fridge, espresso machine, induction cooktop (pending installation), and hot plate. The Mini Fridge is downstairs in the hangout. Please see our food storage and organic waste policies.

There is an attic. The entrance is above the top of the stairs down into the main room. It's locked. Talk to the #surplus-committee for access. Are there ghosts in there? Potentially.

Down the stairs from the front entrance you will find couches, a TV, a speaker system, the giant LED wall, and our front desk space. Sit back, chat with other members, and relax! This is a space to retreat from the chaos, socialize, unwind, and chill. There is a mini-fridge for drinks.

The metal desk at the bottom of the stairs contains a lot of important equipment and information, especially for new members.

• VHS Code of Conduct sign
• Waiver / sign-in sheets
• First aid kit
• Naloxone kit
• Fire extinguisher
• A telephone. The old fashioned kind that has to be plugged into the wall to work.
• The “Is VHS Open?” clock
• Fliers, buttons, etc.

VHS has a set of lockers used for community purposes. They are located on the east wall towards the front of the building, next to the couches.

• The first two lockers on the left side are used by the crafting area
• The top is a mini library for patterns and machine documentation
• The bottom locker stores a roll of pattern drafting paper for public use

• You can Donate cash directly to VHS, this will be used to fund the space
• The VHS Improvments locker
• This locker is for storing item donations used to improve the space. Items in here should not be used for personal projects.

Located near the front of the building is the crafting area consisting of two tables. The sewing desk against the wall, and the cutting table in the center.

Do not dump your junk on the cutting table.

Learn more on the Crafting page.

The crafting area has a mini library in the lockers beside the desk, containing machine manuals and patterns, as well as other helpful books and inspiration.

-Document library contents here-

If there is a major break, contact Liz on the Compendium of Champions

Post on Slack in #sewing-and-more

The heart of VHS is the four large work tables in the middle of the main room. Please keep them clean!

For Spills, chills and thrills. Mostly spills.

This room is located just off the main room on your left as you come in from the front - along the west wall of the space.

More info at the Paint and Mess Room page.

This is an area for painting, airbrushing and doing messy work. Also, a storage space for paints and liquids. The paint room is governed by the paint and mess room committee. Any question regarding usage and training should be directed that way.

Learn all about the VHS Laser Cutter here.

VHS has a number of 3d printers, both filament and resin based. See the tools page for details. Resin printers live in the paint and mess room, while filament printers live along the east wall next to the main table.

More info: 3D Printing at VHS

There are two electronics workbenches located at the back of the main room, by the entrance to the wood shop. Here you will find soldering irons, breadboards, oscilloscopes, and many electronics components.

More info at the Electronics at VHS page.

The wood shop is located at the back of the space, behind the large sliding door. See the Woodworking at VHS page for more

Where the wood CNC lives! Just on your right as you enter the wood shop. For training on the wood CNC, talk to the #cnc group on Slack.

See the CNC group.

• The back doors open up to the alley.
• Please keep the area just inside the doors, labelled DMZ, clear. Do NOT store stuff here.

More info: Welding at VHS

Located off the wood shop area, the welding zone is mysterious and unknowable. As these power tools are potentially dangerous, specific training is required. Check out #welding on VHS slack, or go to https://talk.vanhack.ca/t/tour-requests-from-non-members/10837 to book a tour

• Miller MIG welder
• Horizontal bandsaws
• Steel welding table with vise
• Coal-fired Forge
• Bench shear (work in progress)

Located off the main room at the back-east side - the VHS machine shop is stocked with some dangerous and awesome machines.

See the Machine Shop page for more info.

Located under the main entrance/kitchen - turn left at the bottom of the front stairs.

We have two washrooms in the space, a near washroom and a far washroom. They are not restricted by gender.

Seat down, please.

Please replace toilet paper as it gets used, TP and towels can be found in the server room.

This room contains the IT infrastructure, and stuff to maintain the IT infrastructure at the space.

Servers:

• Server Rack
• Infrastructure Servers
• FPGA Cluster

Located off the lounge, enter via the door at the south end of the east wall.

This room is for deep storage and admin stuff. And spiders.