A half-storey architectural oddity exists between the first and third floor of many historic buildings in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Sometimes referred to as 'cheater floors', they are generally thought to be an excuse to evade taxes. However, the concept
was introduced to China by Portuguese and Italian builders as a response to the climate. Used as a passive measure
to control temperature on the first floor, the mezzanine would be equipped with trap doors to allow hot air
to vent upward. Opening exterior windows at the mezzanine level would allow a cross breeze to exchange this stale air
for fresh and cool exterior air.