“I love my East Vancouver neighbourhood, but my house is falling down. I want to give back - to create new family housing that feels like it belongs on this tree lined street.” The brief: two 1100 square foot units, on a very tight budget - on a lot just over 3600 square feet.

Challenge calls for innovation. The City of Vancouver had just revised zoning bylaws to encourage density in low rise neighbourhoods. This site was undersized for a duplex, but in a great location for one. By creating extremely efficient plans in a context-sensitive package, we successfully petitioned the Board of Variance to make this project possible.

The solution: a front/ back pairing. Each unit has private outdoor space, a garage, three bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, and generous living space. Many spaces are multipurpose. The stacked laundry/ pantry closet under the stairs and the combination mechanical/ linen closet upstairs make the best possible use of valuable floor area. Even the stairway has two jobs: the center of each unit is lit by a skylight, carefully positioned to wash the whole back wall of the stair with natural light.

Spaces are arranged so that every primary room has views and fresh air. Bedrooms overhang the entries, creating a covered porch for each unit without giving up a single square inch of usable floor space.

The architecture takes cues from the neighbourhood, echoing heritage proportions, roof slopes, and essential character elements in a cost effective, modern build.

When we submitted these plans for review, Planning staff asked for a set to use for training. At completion, this project was a HAVAN awards finalist - and best of all, our client still lives in one of the units.

Special thanks to Alchemy Construction for the build.