I love how Measured Architecture Inc. executed Vancouver’s modern Grade House using simple design elements.
Photo courtesy of © Andrew Latreille
Using the theme of an oblong rectangular volume that was repeated throughout the construction, these volumes have different sizes and orientations to help add variety to create variability from elementry forms.
Photo courtesy of © Andrew Latreille
The rectangular volume on the exterior is emphasized though a cantilevered overhang and the use of standing seam metal in polar white. The volume stands out against the charcoal stucco and mirrors the interior scheme where wood stands out against painted drywall. This simple strategy brings the architecture to life, while keeping costs low and construction efficient.
Photo courtesy of © Andrew Latreille
The clients were heavily involved in the design process. Constructed as a long-term family home, the owners elected to limit the floor space of the dwelling in order to maximize the potential of the front and back yards. This was a bold move considering the high price of Vancouver real-estate. It was important to the couple – one a designer and the other an academic – that the ground floor be only slightly raised from the grade of the yard. By aligning the walls of windows and glass sliding doors at the front and rear of the main floor, the barriers between inside and out are minimized, successfully achieving the owner’s directives.
Photo courtesy of © Andrew Latreille
In the interior of the house, Measured Architecture Inc. used a palette of clean-lined natural materials throughout the building. Contemporary wood millwork highlights the rectangular forms of the stairwell, the kitchen island, and the built-in cabinetry, while the floors on both levels are done in polished concrete. This simple move ties the difference zones of the house together into one cohesive whole, where the warm modern interior becomes an ideal backdrop for the owner’s furnishings which stand out beautifully against the white walls and the concrete floors.
Photo courtesy of © Andrew Latreille
I love how this building demonstrates that smart design and material restraint can be both practical and inviting – as modernism was meant to be.
To see more works from the firm’s great portfolio visit, Measured Architecture Inc.
Photography courtesy of Andrew Latreille
Written by Robin R. Vindum Whitteker, recent graduate of Environmental Design at OCAD University in Toronto
