Y-K LANEWAY HOUSE

This laneway house for a young couple is a combined garage and backyard suite in Crescent Heights, a well-established historical neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. The house shares a site with a modest bungalow on a very small lot that is accessed on the side by a lane.  The fabric surrounding the site is a mix of century-old bungalows and larger urban infills with varying degrees of sensitivity to the older existing context.

The house balances the necessity to be respectful of the size of the lot and the adjacent bungalow with the desires of the clients for a spacious and open living area.  With a formal nod to local vernacular prairie architecture, the roof echoes the lines of surrounding houses. Efficiencies in terms of size are gained by minimizing the height of the building adjacent to other parcels; this was done by grouping the elements that require a full height space in the middle of the plan, allowing a reduction in ceiling height along the east and west walls. Dividing the living space longitudinally by a bank of millwork allows for a soaring ceiling in the public living space with skylight windows that bring in plenty of light, while the private areas retain a cosier and more intimate scale.