Small-space living: A laneway home that’s big on style—The Vancouver Sun, October 11, 2022

This article was written by Lise Boullard and originally published in The Vancouver Sun on October 11, 2022.

Oakridge laneway residence showcases one-of-a kind, eco-conscious design

A laneway home on Willow Street in Vancouver’s Oakridge neighbourhood may be small in square footage, but it’s definitely large in creative design.

The work of Lanefab Design/Build, the 940-square-foot custom-designed residence was completed in 2021, initially imagined for homeowner David Miller’s mother-in-law, who is in her eighties.

“It’s all on one level [and] there are no stairs, which was huge for us…for mobility issues,” Miller said. “We ended up spending a bit more money on finishings [like] high-end appliances and flooring, and making it all clean and functional, and yet it’s super warm.”

Some of the design choices resulted in a laneway home unlike any other. Instead of standard hardwood flooring, Miller opted for heated concrete, which offers depth, texture, energy efficiency and longevity, so there will be no need to replace it, unlike hardwood.

He also chose to have a spectacular natural porcelain slab installed in the living room above the gas fireplace instead of the standard electric fireplace/flat screen TV combo. Although the feature posed a challenge—one of the slabs was broken during install—it truly makes the room.

“That’s something I have in my house that’s sort of a centerpiece,” Miller says.

Luxury features like quartz countertops, custom cabinetry and mid-century Scandinavian European wood windows—made in Poland and brought to Vancouver via shipping container through the Panama Canal—elevate the home.

A one-stop operation

Lanefab architect Bryn Davidson and his business partner, general contractor Mat Turner, started building custom laneway homes in 2009 after the City of Vancouver passed its EcoDensity bylaw designed to encourage their construction. The company is now a one-stop shop specializing in the architecture, interior design and construction of passive and eco-conscious homes featuring a West Coast modern, Japanese traditional and Scandinavian esthetic.

“We’re very much interested in the design aspect,” Davidson said in a video interview from the firm’s Mount Pleasant office.

Davidson and his team have become pros at implementing space-saving strategies like built-in millwork, ceiling-height cabinets and open-concept plans, which they did here. Space efficiency extends to the outdoor areas too, where the design team made room for a terrace.

“There wasn’t a ton of space in the backyard… Between the main house and the trees, we were left with a very defined area to work with,” Davidson said.

Sustainability is one of the cornerstones of Lanefab Design/Build’s architectural ethos, and eco-conscious elements, including thick super-insulated walls, as well as triple-glazed windows and doors throughout the Willow Street residence.

“For passive houses, one of the most important features is a really good performing window and door, so for the last five years we’ve been bringing in a lot of these really nice windows… [and] the interior design scheme starts to pick up on those wood textures,” Davidson said.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom Willow Street residence has an open-concept layout, 10-foot ceilings and two skylights. Windows built next to the ceiling and the one-level configuration allow for tons of natural light, more than can sometimes be seen in laneway homes in Vancouver.

Davidson also noted that the windows placed high up in the walls create beautiful views of the trees and sky, instead of the lane.

In the end, Miller’s mother-in-law chose not to move into the residence, so the family listed it for rent.

“This place is different,” Miller said. “It’s hard to convey that in photos but when [people] come to the house, [they say] ‘whoa—this is not your normal laneway house; it feels like a house.’”

Miller connected with a tenant who has lived in the home for over a year and is very happy. “He says, ‘I’m never leaving.’”

Architecture, build and interior design by LanefabDesign/Build