THE HOMESTEAD

This project consisted of the design of a new house on a corner lot in the established Calgary community of St. Andrews Heights. The design takes cues from the surrounding 1960s era bungalows and maintains the existing scale of the urban fabric.

The house is made up of three simple gabled forms – a public wing (kitchen, dining, living), a private wing (bedrooms, bathrooms), and a detached garage – arranged on the corner parcel to define two outdoor spaces – one a private courtyard, and the other a street-facing forecourt. Influenced by prairie farm homesteads, the arrangement of volumes on the site shields the courtyard from strong west winds and views of a large adjacent hospital complex; this was accomplished by extending the house deep into the parcel along the side street (necessitating a relaxation of bylaws). The second outdoor space, facing the street, lies adjacent to a basement walkout and provides a more exposed forecourt where homeowners can casually welcome friends and passers-by for a drink or an evening around a fire.

Inside, separate wings allow the clients to entertain friends and family while providing separation from bedrooms and sleeping children. Living spaces contain large windows and patio doors overlooking the courtyard, encouraging life to spill outdoors and blurring the visual boundaries between inside/outside and public/private. This transparency lends a relaxed and informal character to the house, as playful and unexpected views from one wing of the house to the other are established across the outdoor spaces.

The simple form of the house belies the obsession with craft and detail on the interior, where specially-designed moments relating to the personalities and relationships of the clients add meaning and delight to the rituals of everyday life.

Construction was done by Vélin Homes.