Builder: Smallworks Studio Inc.

This lovely little laneway house was developed for a young family looking for an alternate investment solution to buying a condo. A rational was reached to build a laneway on their property, move into the laneway and rent the main house and the basement, thus providing two rental incomes on their standard lot. 

The total costs of this 550sf laneway, with a 220sf garage, reached roughly $280,000 (HST Included)

When looking at the borrowing cost a laneway project here is an approximate breakdown:

Downpayment on 5% $285,000 = $14,250
Mortgage amount = $270,750
Current interest rate = 5% (average over the life of the mortgage)
Amortization Period = 30 years
Approximate Monthly Payments = $1445
Cost per SF = $509/sf (living area only) or $363/sf (including the garage)

The average cost a new 550sf condo in Vancouver is around $300,000, plus property transfer taxes, various fees and strata fees.

The potential rental income for a the upper floors of a house averages $3000 and a basement suite averages about $1500 providing a total of $4500 of rental income. Not to mention the ease of mind of maintaining and over-seeing rental property that is basically all within your own property.

The development of laneway homes in Vancouver will prove to be an interesting part of this city’s evolution giving citizens, both owners and renters, a multitude of housing options.

This new house sits perched on a sloping lot with dramatic views of downtown Vancouver and the North Shore mountains. The floor plans are shaped entirely around capturing views from anywhere on the main floor.

The program also called for the main floor to be suitable to entertain a large number of guests without having dead ends or dead spaces.

On the second floor the master bedroom faces the views and a luxurious ensuite and generously sized walkin closet is incorporated into the master bedroom area. Three kids bedrooms and two shared baths comprise the remaining areas. A rooftop patio is provided to capture even more view and to provide even more entertaining space.

This contemporary home is brought to life using simple shapes and standard wood framing techniques making the construction process come together with ease.

Builder: Best Builders Ltd.

This complete gut of a Japanese style house produced new interior spaces that drastically improved the flow and natural light into the home while retaining the original shell and architecture of this unique structure in Southwest Vancouver.

The main floor space layout achieves big airy entertaining spaces with ample indoor outdoor connections from multiple locations. A roomy and highly functional kitchen perfectly suits the chef of the family who had much input towards the customization of the kitchen. A media room, a spare bedroom with ensuite, and a hidden powder room are other features of the main floor.

The upper floor consists of two spacious bedrooms each with an ensuite. The master bedroom boasts a converted kids bedroom into a walkin closet and luxurious bathroom with spa like features.

The refurbishing of all aspects of the interior spaces breathes new life and longevity into this home.

Builder: Aspera Homes

This carefully designed home provides our client with a long lasting investment into Vancovuer’s prime real estate market. The 4600sf lot boasts a 3200sf home with a 580sf laneway and the completed home with have 3 viable dwelling units of various sizes and functionality that can suit a wide range of users.

Situated on a corner lot, we were able to provide complete privacy for the laneway home while providing access to the main house and access to a 1 bedroom basement suite all from the front of the lot. This allows for a very private back yard to be enjoyed by the principal owner of the home living on the upper floors of the main house. This also begins to explore the potential use and re-purposing of our highly under-used front yards.

Creating such a private and well planned 3 unit dwelling on a single family dwelling zoned lot is one of many answers to the ‘Affordable Housing’ question.

The concept of co-ownership or shared equity arrangements (refer to this article from the Vancovuer Observer) is very possible when you first begin with a well planned layout designed to achieve very functional and private spaces.

Through design our goal at Architrix is to provide unique and creative housing solutions for future generations of residents of Vancouver. We hope this new home can be an example of that.

Builder: Smallworks Studio Inc.

This 1000sf coach house was designed as part of a multi-generational program from the current homeowners and their children. The existing house will be lived in by the children, who are actually adults with two little children, and the coach house will be lived in by the grandparents.

This type of development is an excellant example of creating affordable housing for emerging families not to mention the benefits of multi-generational housing developments. This coach house contains a full master suite with a guest suite and spacious entertainment/ grand children playing areas. Ample storage is also provided in the coach house along with a large enclosed garbage and recycling area accessed from the parking pad. Two open parking spaces are provided with direct access into the coach house through the kitchen.

The classic cottage massing is intended to introduce a small, welcoming and timeless home to the quiet neighbourhood without creating visual impact. We hope this coach house functions and ages well for Alfredo, Pia, their children and grand children.

In the Gothic quarter of Barcelona where we stayed, almost every door, doorway and security gate was painted on. Some of which was plain old graffiti, but much of which was highly skilled artistic expression. At street level many of the retail stores had metal roll down security gates that provided security but otherwise would be visually bland. The majority of these gates, whether intentional or not, was graffitied on. It appeared to be that many of these stores commissioned or allowed graffiti artists to paint on their gates. The security gate became a billboard for the store but also a framed canvas within the gallery space that was the street.

The streets acted like a gallery for the street artist. I appreciated this as it portrayed a strong character for the city and its support, and not suppression, of art. As this tone was set visually at street level, it became apparent that the entire city was filled with edgy art and architecture. Click here to see more doors in Barcelona.

In Florence, a small almost resort city, the tone was set by its impressive historical significance and renaissance art/ architecture. Home of Michelangelo’s David, and countless other renaissance masterpieces at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence portrayed a more calm, conservative and established tone. Florence felt more like a polished display case for classical art. At street level, the doors, doorways and security gates were all meticulously maintained and/ or replicated to mimic the surrounding architectural style. Where extra security is needed, intricate wrought iron gates are placed. Virtually no graffiti was seen on buildings or doorways.

Almost every door was unique in size, design and detailing with an array of knockers and handles. To me, the doors represented mysterious passageways to the past, or grand entrances to holy spaces or intimidating, impenetrable gates to some very wealthy residences, it became apparent that Florence was a place of profound preservation. Click here to see more doors in Florence.

This observation of how a doorway can so drastically effect the tone of a city can be used when thinking about the front door of your home. This element of a home can be looked at as an important part of the overall character of the home and can start to describe the personalities behind the front door. What does your front door say about you?

The City of Vancouver and VanCity Bank have teamed up to test a pilot program called the ‘Greenest City 2020 Home Energy Loan Program’. The program is aimed at providing easy and affordable financing for energy efficient upgrades/ renovations to your home. We’ve looked over the list of eligible upgrades, the terms and conditions that must be met in order to qualify, and the financing features, and it appears to be a no-brainer that if taking out a loan to do some or all of the eligible upgrades is the route you’re considering, then this is definitely an option to look into.

Vancity’s Home Energy Loan key features:

- low fixed interested rate of 4.5%
- 10 year amortization period
- 4.5% rate is available for loans approved prior to April 13, 2012 while rates for loans approved after this date are currently undisclosed

Should that not entice you enough to pursue such energy-smart purchases/renovation, there are a couple of rebate programs, both at the provincial and federal government levels, to be had which can be used to pay down your VanCity (or other) loan for your energy-efficient upgrades!

For residents outside of the City of Vancouver (ie. Burnaby, New Westminster etc), VanCity does provide a similar package, which in conjunction with the province’s LiveSmart BC program, sets out to achieve the same thing – to provide an avenue for financing your homes energy efficient upgrades.

So, go replace that old energy-consuming appliance with an efficient one or commit to that home renovation you have been toying with and be confident that you’ll not only be reducing your carbon footprint and saving money with energy smart upgrades, but you’ll also be making smart financing choices too!

Builder: Odenza Homes

This generously sized traditional home was created for a growing family on an unusually large RS7 Vancouver lot. The program was to create a home that felt both spacious and cozy for both the interior spaces and the exterior deck/ porch spaces.

As you enter the house you are welcomed with big open rooms with many view lines to capture your interest.  As you move through the house the rooms become more intimate and focused. From the street this house appears conservative in size which cleverly hides the bulk of the home as you move through the site.

We believe that the entry stairs are as important as the new door, the new windows, the new cladding, or the new roof that was installed during the renovation. Furthermore, the entry stair is one of the first things that you see as you approach the house, it is also the first thing that you interact with, thus it was critical to address its existing aesthetic. Borrowing material context from the cedar-cladded bay windows and the cedar soffit, the existing structure will be retro-fitted with wood treads that appear to float above the existing concrete steps and sleek frame-less glass guardrails.

The wood to be used may be of a certified pressure-treated variety (ie. pressure treaded 2x’s) or a natural wood species such as IPE or Ironwood. In order to elevate the new wood treads from the original concrete ones (to reduce contact with standing water), cut metal tubing will be installed between the wood tread and the concrete step. Finally to cap the stairs off and to provide a more contemporary feel, not to mention compliance with VBBL regulations, we’ve proposed glass guardrails with polished metal standoffs face-mounted to both sides of the stairs. We feel this will tie the entry stair in with the modern aesthetic that is reflective of the overall renovation.

This modern residence, situated on a narrow pie-shaped lot, presented various challenges during the design & development stage. In the end the overall design was driven and influenced by various contextual cues from the site and its surrounding environment.

The siting of the house on the lot was in part due to the desire to provide ample separation from the adjacent property. This was further achieved by providing a sunken patio for the basement suite off the North side of the house creating an open breezeway between the two properties. Then there was the response to the house’s proximity to the elevated Skytrain tracks that is two-fold: 1) the roof design and orientation minimized the noise pollution from the Skytrain and 2) it  proved promising for the clients as the roof’s orientation fit into their plans of installing solar collection panels on the roof in the future. Lastly, the angled fin walls on the south face of the house were inspired by the Skytrain substation that resides across the lane from the property. The effect produced by the fin walls of the two buildings is a gateway-like presence at the entrance of the lane.

As with all of our designs, there can never be enough emphasis placed on a site’s contextual influence.