Modern Spaces in the Pacific Northwest

Perched over a cliff face, the hooded deck of the Gambier Residence reads like a ship’s prow over Howe Sound, the scenic waters near Vancouver.

A-frame cabin in Whistler, Vancouver; Architects: Scott and Scott

A Whistler A-Frame | British Columbia, Canada Scott & Scott Architects design an outdoorsy Vancouver family’s dream cabin

Vanglo House, Vancouver BC, Urban Design Award City of Vancouver

The whole exterior of the home, including the trim, is painted Wrought Iron by Benjamin Moore for a monochromic, quiet look.

In the living area, a Ligne Roset sofa accompanies a vintage Adolf Loos coffee table. The 2003 photograph Pond Garden is by Stephen Waddell.

The interior of the Museum of Anthropology, created by Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson.

Vanglo House, Vancouver BC, Urban Design Award City of Vancouver

Each of the residences has outdoor space attached to it; the family’s unit has a roof deck. In lieu of a green roof is a galvanized tub filled with grasses—a collaboration between the architects and landscape architecture firm space2place.

With its proximity to both water and mountains, Vancouver makes for a wonderful getaway destination. Photo by: João Canziani

“The sunsets over the cliffs behind our backyard are beautiful, operatic events, even when the weather is bad. It’s amazing that someone built such a nondescript house on this sublime site. Since the foundations are crumbling, we plan to demolish this home and rebuild one that fully takes advantage of the location. We converted the attic space into a bedroom, and it’s really incredible: The whole area is open and reflects the layout of the home below it.”

Stephen Waddell and Isabel Kunigk worked with architect D’Arcy Jones to breathe new life into their “dank old” structure. The couple chose to sacrifice square footage inside in order to make the most of outdoor space.

In the backyard, Kunigk “montaged” what she admired in the work of John Pawson, Tadao Ando, and Piet Oudolf, the Dutch garden designer who collaborated on landscaping for New York’s High Line. She plans to reconfigure the plantings again with the landscape designer Rina Zweig, who worked on the front yard.

VIVA Vancouver, a city-run organization dedicated to promote walking and spending time outdoors in downtown Vancouver, sponsored a design competition for an outdoor seating arrangement. The winning design, Urban Reef, offers passersby myriad ways to relax in the streets of Vancouver.

The entire 800-block of downtown Robson Street will be open as an Urban Reef, 24 hours a day, through September 1, 2014.

The backyard’s emphasis on nature is mirrored in the front of the home, which also underwent extensive landscaping by Considered Design. The owners and Parish wanted to “tone everything down” and turn the home into a backdrop for a natural setting.

The “mid-ground” between the three structures serves as a community hub. Dick takes advantage of the site’s shared bicycle storage and its proximity to a popular bike lane.

The laneway house features Kentwood engineered-wood floors, Cascadia windows, and aluminum-bar grating. The Eames DAX chair is vintage.

In Vancouver’s Strathcona district, two side-by-side lots now hold seven residences—thanks to a thoughtful renovation of a pair Edwardian houses and the addition of a laneway, or alley, building by Shape Architecture. The team salvaged as much 120-year-old siding as they could for use on the street-facing facades.

Resident Misha Bukowski plays with young Zachary in the walkway between the renovated buildings. The new units are clad in stained local cedar.