This renovated townhome is in a lovely complex with a shared courtyard, where children are free to play outdoors in a safe environment. Built in 2002, the complex is located in Strathcona, a longstanding neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The floor-to-ceiling storage wall cabinets running the entire east wall combine open and closed shelving and not only accommodates the clients' beloved dining table, but also a linear fireplace with a TV above. A galley kitchen offers more accessible storage with secondary storage up to the ceiling. Continuity of natural Douglas Fir flooring from the Ground Floor to the Upper Floor expands the spaces. Removing the bulkhead between kitchen and dining further contributes to openness.
The clients are a professional couple with two young boys. The need for the boys to each have their own bedrooms on the Upper Floor resulted in developing a unique private loft bedroom off main entry on the Ground Floor with built-in wardrobes and secondary storage deeper underneath. Additional understair storage adds more wardrobe capacity and is seamlessly integrated.
Natural daylight is optimized with light reflective colours and LED fixtures for ambient, accent and task lighting. Daylight is controlled using top down/bottom up window treatments, with black-outs in the bedrooms. Borrow daylight with diffuse white laminate French doors. Finishes and materials are low emitting and low VOC.
As typical with many townhomes and condominiums, there was a lack of storage. The existing living fireplace was in the corner at a 45 degree angle and the kitchen was U-shaped, both very dated. In general, the entire townhome was worn and outdated.