Western Living BC + AB, September 2020 by Canada Wide Media

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B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 49 L NUMBER 6

The Very Best of Western Canadian Architecture and Design

Designers Year2020 of the

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HOME LUXURY 34F Design brings multi-layered experience to every residential project.

ancouver-based 34F Design is a world-class interior design firm specializing in corporate, academic, and multi-residential projects across British Columbia. The executive team—Erica Wickes – CEO / Founder, Terence Chan – Associate, Elizabeth Servage – Associate and Megan Bennett – Senior Interior Designer—are residential experts who approach every project with experience, detail and thoughtfulness.

“We bring knowledge we earn facing challenges in the commercial and industrial markets to our residential projects,” says Wickes. “Those multi-phase projects are layered, and

although residential is less complex, we still bring the same attention, awareness and financial review to each and every private residence.” The home is a reflection of who you are. No two spaces are the same. No two tastes are the same. Why design a space that is the same as someone else’s? Creating an individual interior design plan requires knowing who you are and what the space means to you. Functional yet dynamic. Modern yet traditional. A plan needs to consider all facets and your own taste.

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34F Design employs modern tastes and a functional approach. Striking contemporary style with West Coast flair. Modern with abundant natural light? Traditional with a twist? When it comes to it, the space created for you must work. It must reveal the natural beauty and elegance of the structure and allow its flow to reflect your taste. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your home after allâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and you should demand the best.

Every project is finished to perfection. The award-winning design team at 34F Design is broadly certified to ensure your project completed properly, professionally and efficiently. Its designers possess sustainable design certifications from Green Business Certification Inc. (LEED Accredited Professional); interior design qualifications from IDIBC, IDC, and NCIDQ; and building code qualifications for the BC Building Code.

Learn more at 34f.ca.

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HOMES + DESIGN

Shopping

Linens, lighting, a pandemic-inspired desk and more, new in store this month.

The Great Design Pivot

Highlights from IDS Vancouver’s upcoming virtual and live shows.

TRAVEL

Home Court Advantage

The spots in our own backyard that have us considering leaving our passports in our drawers, indefinitely.

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 27

The Winners

Design has the power to shape our experiences, in good times and in tough ones, too. And our 2020 Designers of the Year are shaping our future for the better.

The Judges

The all-star judges from around the world who were a part of this year’s judging panels.

The Finalists

PLUS

Trade Secrets

Exposed wood panelling on every surface envelops this dining room with warmth.

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CONTENTS 2020 /

westernliving.ca

The talented designers from across the West, shortlisted in each category.

Cover: Ema Peter; this page: Omar Gandhi’s Rabbit Snare Gorge Cabin: Doublespace; Pilgrimme’s Melon & Cucumber: Jarusha Brown; Cedric Burgers: Kyoko Fierro; Allison Holden-Pope: Lillie Louise Major

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Frits de Vries Architects + Associates Ltd. Frits de Vries Architects + Associates Ltd. is an award winning architectural studio with a diverse portfolio of projects and a special expertize in residential design. Our client-focused team delivers innovative & thoughtful architectural solutions to projects of every size. We view design as a collaborative process between client, builder and architect, resulting in a truly unique architectural product.

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JWT Architecture

MBAC

Elevating the design community since 2016. Our work has been acclaimed for its sensibility to sustainability and has been widely published. JWT has consistently been winning regional, provincial and international awards including being named Western Living’s Eco Designer of the Year (2015) and the BC Wood Council’s Architect of the Year in 2019.

We practice architecture because we believe in its capacity to materially enrich the world. We work at multiple scales and in a wide variety of physical and conceptual contexts, but always with the objective of developing robust and resilient designs that can adapt to their environments as they evolve. Together with our clients, we embrace the rich potential in architectural practice for the discovery of innovation and the manifestation of intention the creation of value in all its dimensions.

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WESTERN CANADA’S TOP DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS

Measured Architecture

Quake Studio

Rochelle Cote Interior Design

Measured Architecture is a full-service Vancouver-based studio practice focused on modern design, interiors and landscapes.

Inspired by nature and rooted in the artistic vision of our founder Lisa Turner, Quake Studio is a vibrant art and design studio that is reimagining preconceived ideas of Pacific Northwest Design. With our exclusive use of locally sourced materials we create refined functional art pieces for our clients.

Rochelle Cote Interior Design (RCID) is a Calgary-based group of highly qualified and experienced interior designers focused on high-end residential design. RCID does more than create interior selection sheets and custom millwork packages for clients. They help their clients take a home from the drywall stage to completion…right down to the final touch! Rochelle Cote and her team help their clients bring their dreams to life!

We are engaged in every phase of a project from concept to completion, enabling the creation of buildings, interiors and landscapes that facilitate the desires of clients. Our goal is to create unique, sustainable buildings designed to meet our client’s needs and celebrate distinct opportunities of their sites.

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Our collections and private commissions of beautiful objects resonate for those whovalue design and quality.

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Stephanie Brown Inc.

At _SA we are inspired to make communities a better place, to improve people’s quality of life. More than architecture: we COLLABORATE, we CONNECT, we CREATE, we enhance the human experience.

Stephanie Brown Inc. is an award-winning Vancouver based Interior Design firm specializing in high-end residential design. The firm's portfolio is representative of the vast range of aesthetics that personify each client. Whether modern or traditional, casual or formal, near or far; Stephanie and her team seek to create fresh and uplifting interiors that transcend client expectations.

Whether it’s your home, a multi-family mixed-use building, a transit and transportation project, or a world-class cultural attraction, we turn your vision into a purposeful and captivating reality.

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SOLO at WD Western Designers Furnishings Ltd. Imagined and realized by Allan Switzer, the SOLO collection brings the knowledge and history of the Switzer family design legacy into a conversation with Modernity. Hand crafted in the Vancouver Atelier, SOLO has been produced with the utmost reverence for locally sourced materials while also recognizing the intrinsic value of handmade luxury home furnishings. SOLO is designed with passion for living consciously and elegantly.

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WESTERN CANADA’S TOP DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS

Synthesis Design Inc. For over 25 years, Synthesis Design Inc. has collaborated with clients to create thought provoking custom homes, additions and interior design projects. We focus on designing smart sustainable homes, constantly pushing towards progressive prefabrication and modular construction methods. We have consistently built a reputation that exceeds our client’s expectations from modern to traditional, and everything in between. We listen to our clients’ thoughts and ideas, helping to drive the design and create their perfect home.

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Vancouver Development

34F Design

A full service multi-disciplinary firm that emerged from "Design . Build . Sell" concept in 2009. Our commitment is to create astonishing designs-build results, surpassing client’s expectations from research to planning to execution on time and within budget. This year we are nominated for 9 awards and expanding internationally, focusing on authentic sustainable designs with functional merits. Current projects range from Mixed-Use Developments, Medical Office, WineBar and Single Family Homes.

The award-winning design team at 34F Design is broadly certified to ensure your project completed properly, professionally, and efficiently. Our designers possess sustainable design certifications from Green Business Certification Inc. (LEED Accredited Professional); interior design qualifications from IDIBC, IDC, and NCIDQ; and building code qualifications for the BC Building Code.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you to our loyal and valued clients and Western Living for the nominationâ&#x20AC;?. WD Western Designers Furnishings Ltd. 604-255-3200 | 110 - 611 Alexander Street, Vancouver www.wdwesterndesigners.com | www.solobyallanswitzer.com

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q& A

Anicka Quin portrait: Evaan Kheraj; styling by Luisa Rino, stylist assistant Araceli Ogrinc; makeup by Melanie Neufeld; outfit courtesy Holt Renfrew, holtrenfrew.com; photographed at the Polygon Gallery.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

WINNING A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

This month we asked our contributors, “Have you changed anything about your home space since we all started spending a lot more time there?” Aaron Pedersen, "Masters of All Trades" page 66

Follow Anicka on Instagram @aniqua

When we launched our Designers of the Year awards back in 2008, we had a separate Eco category for those designers who put sustainability at the forefront of what they do. And we saw some pretty incredible work in both the architecture and the product design fields: off-the-grid buildings, upcycled fashions, chessboards made from discarded cork... In fact, one year, the Sunshine Coast’s This Is It took the top prize in no less than three categories: Furniture, Industrial Design and Eco Design. But in 2016 we decided to shift our criteria for all categories: sustainability became one of the elements by which each piece of work would be judged. Eco Designer of the Year was retired and, in its place, we now see contributing to a better future as being a key value for all Designers of the Year. For this year’s Architect of the Year, that value shines through loud and clear. Cedric Burgers—himself a 2010 winner of the Eco award—has made it his life’s mission to design homes that are at once beautiful, sustainable and smart. To Burgers, the three are no longer separated: each informs the other, beginning with design as the pivot point to a more sustainable future. “Design has to come first, because it’s how people live,” he says. Each of our other eight winners also take sustainability as seriously as artistry, from Interior Design winner Measured Architecture (who assess the materials included in each project on a sustainability scale) to Fashion Designer of the Year Irene Rasetti (who dyes her fabrics with flowers harvested from her backyard and salvaged from discards at the local florist). And there couldn’t be a better time to witness this shift. One of the messages that’s grown clear during this time of COVID is that the economic setbacks we’ve experienced so far are modest compared to the tidal wave we can expect if we don’t work together to combat the climate emergency. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s how quickly we can make decisions when we’re in crisis—and it’s time we did. A huge congratulations to each of our 2020 Designers of the Year. In lieu of our annual awards party, we’re hosting a virtual celebration in which each of our winning designers will offer a mini-tour of one of their projects—a rare chance to see and hear from these all-stars as they showcase the work that they love. I hope you’ll join us on October 8! Visit westernliving.ca for details on how to connect.

The thing that has changed about my home is that my kitchen has finally caught up with my age (40). My wife and I are used to living like 20-somethings since we don’t have children, which meant having only what we absolutely needed on hand and we could go out for anything else. Lockdown definitely made me realize I need to cook for myself more, and for that you need a proper spice rack and organized cookware. Now my kitchen is set up for actually making food and not a place to put takeout containers.

Chloe Finn, “Ones to Watch” page 60 Pre-pandemic, I spent a lot of time in my car, and I longed for the days I could spend at home… oh how naive. These days, I spend my working hours in the backyard, turning the outdoor dining set into my makeshift home office space.

BEHIND THE SCENES The winner of our Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for an emerging residential designer, Sean Pearson of RUFproject, climbs a ladder to get in the perfect position for his portrait. To see the final shot, turn to page 44.

VISIT

anick a quin, editorial director anick a.quin@westernliving.ca

westernliving.ca / EARLY F ALL

2020

HOMES+DESIGN N E W & N O TA B L E • I D S VA N C O U V E R ' S P I V O T • W L D E S I G N E R S O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 2 0

Running with It

Ema Peter

Our Interior Designer of the Year, Measured Architecture, was praised by our judges for the seamless integration of interiors, architecture and landscape—as demonstrated so beautifully in the renovation of this 1950s split level. Read more about all of our 2020 Designers of the Year starting on page 27.

westernliving.ca / e a r ly f a l l

2020

HOMES + DESIGN • SHOPPING

SPONSORED REPORT

children and seniors,” she says. “They are passionate about those issues, and they quietly go about doing extremely difficult work to bring hope to those people.”

advance professionally, there is help needed on broader scale.

The women’s addiction program will be transformational in BC because it will bridge the gap in the community when it comes to women struggling with mental health and addiction. Forty percent of the DTES population is women, and their challenges are different from those experienced by men. Trauma, violence, exploitation, physical, mental, and sexual abuse, survival sex work, complex family structure issues, and responsibility for children create more complex barriers for women and require specialized support.

“Addiction, abuse, sex trafficking—these are not sexy topics for corporations to talk about, but it is happening all over,” she says. “The women facing these issues don’t have a voice. Any voice we can give, anything we can do to shine the spotlight on these issues can change lives.”

“Besides this intersection of vulnerabilities, these women don’t have the financial resources to access treatment, and that is why they need the community’s support,” McGarrigle says. “People need to understand that addiction knows no boundaries and it does not discriminate.” Even in the best circumstances, the wait for women to access treatment can be three to four months, compared with two to three weeks for men. “Having a facility that offers the best and latest programing and resources will give women their best chance to access safe and immediate support,” Kempe says. “It will give them the network they need to be successful. That is what makes it so realistic and sets the program up for success.” At The Salvation Army, many employees and volunteers are individuals who have experienced similar struggles and circumstances, and this creates a strong network for mentorship. “Women supporting women is not a new concept, but it continues to evolve,” Kempe says. “I have seen value in coaching and mentoring— it gives a person a sense of security and confidence. There is a particular element of camaraderie when women support women, from business and career standpoints.” McGarrigle says from a corporate perspective, women taking a step up in their careers tends to refer to professional advancement, but where women in business might be eager to help one another

“Navigating an addiction is hard enough without the added barriers women experience,” Kempe says. “Imagine doing that and not having the appropriate resources, not knowing where to go or what questions to ask. That is where my passion for this project came from. It is going to make such a difference for so many people. They will be welcomed with open arms and provided resources to fit their needs.”

For more information or to get involved with the project contact Karenina Trinidad at info@ninestoriesofhope.org. Visit www.ninestoriesofhope.org

The women’s treatment program will take up the third floor of the new Vancouver Harbour Light building scheduled to be complete in 2023.

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Designers Year2020 of the

It has been a year, to say the least. But throughout the chaos, we found joy, beauty and inspiration in the incredible work of our 2020 Designers of the Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a reminder of the power design has to shape our experiences, and to craft a better world.

westernliving.ca / e a r ly f a l l

2020â&#x20AC;&#x201A;

Architect Cedric Burgers (photographed in his home office, opposite) hired an arborist while designing this home on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast to preserve as many of the trees as possible. Judge and architect Patricia Patkau commended the design’s open living room in its midst. “It is an unexpected space of great generosity.”

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Sterling Lorence

Gorgeous and Green

architecture

GREEN LIGHT

Cedric Burgers pairs thoughtful, sustainable design principles with stunning modern architecture.

ack in the early 2000s, what made for sustainable building design wasn’t always easy to put into simple terms— nor did said practice always accomplish its goal of treading softly on the earth. Architect Cedric Burgers of Burgers Architecture has been chasing that perfectly green building design for years (and, in fact, won our Eco Designer of the Year back in 2010, when “green” design was enough of a novelty to be a separate category)—but, back then, the solutions were patchwork at best. “We were focused on water recycling, on materials, on these aspects of what green design was, and it was a smorgasbord collage of different initiatives—from geothermal heating to solar panels—that wasn’t really focused in any one particular way,” he says. “And it was hard for people to understand.” Clients would inevitably carve off certain initiatives for

by Anicka Quin // portrait by kyoko fierro

budget, assuming they could pick or choose what made for a green building—and, when it came down to it, did they really care if they got a plaque that said they were LEED certified if they weren’t living in their dream home? Then Burgers, our 2020 Architect of the Year, discovered Passive House construction, which finds its roots in both Canada and northern Europe (where it’s known as Passivhaus). He’d been looking to understand how Northern Europe was moving to sustainable design—and quickly learned that it was primarily about energy consumption. “Buildings consume the greatest amount of energy of all the things that use energy—they never shut off,” he says. “What they’re doing in Europe is they’re saying, if we don’t focus on energy consumption of buildings, we’re missing out. You can have sustainable materials, and that’s great too—but if we don’t focus on energy, we’re

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The roofline of the Sunshine Coast home is designed to reveal how it’s built, like that of an upturned boat. “People love the fact that the way it’s constructed is visible,” says Burgers. “I guess it’s human nature, people like to know how things are put together.”

not really addressing the issue.” The highperformance buildings that result from Passive House construction—reducing energy by a factor of 10—were easy to explain to a client: thick walls, good insulation, plenty of southfacing, technical windows from Europe. (In fact, the heating requirements for these houses are so low they’re able to work without a massive heating system—a 7,000-squarefoot house can function on an electric heater the size of a shoebox.) Walking inside one is what converted him, and what converts most potential clients too, he says. “There’s

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no odours because the air is constantly refreshed, there’s no cold spots, and there’s no noise—it’s like this warm mausoleum. It’s extraordinary.” He had, he says, officially drunk the Kool-Aid. The puzzle was to figure out how to make these buildings architecturally beautiful, too. Could the simple box that is passive design be translated to a more complex, architecturally dynamic building? When he started designing his own home a few years ago—nearing completion now—his wife took one look at the

plans, “a beautiful little German box in the centre of our beautiful site,” he says, and she said, “No, I don’t want to live there.” “I had been so enthusiastic about this that I had forgotten the design principles I grew up with,” he says. (Burgers is the son of the late architect Robert Burgers, and interior designer Marieke Burgers—design is certainly part of his DNA.) It took time, but he could find a way to create the design he loved with Passive House principals. “Design still has to come first—it’s how people live,” he says. “And that was thrilling for me, because I realized all the things I’d been working on for the last 20 years still apply. I still love the notion of comfort, I still love the notion of flow through the house.” It’s beautifully demonstrated in his Buckhorn house in Whistler, which was built offsite at the BC Passive House facility in Pemberton. Floor-to-ceiling windows line the south-facing side of the home, and while their size might typically lead to increased energy use, their European construction means they’re incredibly efficient. Exterior shades roll down in the heat of the summer, keeping the space cool, and solar panels on the roof mean the house operates at a net-zero level. But there’s nothing about the space that feels as though design was sacrificed. Notes judge and architect Rachael Gray of Gray Partnership, Burgers’ projects “successfully tie together exterior massing and interior spaces to always create a cohesive whole where the hand of the architect is almost invisible.” For a home designed on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, Burgers brought in an arborist to carefully preserve trees on the land and worked the building around them. The house is composed of four lobes: a main trunk with a kids’ room and great room, an offshoot to the west containing a suite for the owners’ parents, a separate bedoom suite and library and a covered outdoor space. The latter means that all the bedrooms have a view to the water—the owners’ parents’ room is set just behind it— and it’s a striking space that architect and

Sterling Lorence

It’s in the Details

architecture

Q&A WITH CEDRIC BURGERS

What was your first design project?

All in the Family

Burgers designed this home for his late father, Robert Burgers, and his mother Marieke. It’s designed to have close connection to a kitchen garden and orchard in the rear yard, and because of its proximity to a noisy street, the north side of the house features four-inch veneer concrete walls to dampen the sound of traffic.

A boathouse for Port Moody’s sailing and rowing programs out of Rocky Point. We re-used the huge roof structure from a 100-year-old sawmill, raising it up on stilts for the tall bays for the rowing shells below. The total cost was $800,000 for a 10,000-square-foot building. It seems like peanuts now— we couldn’t even build a small house for this today.

What classic object is most in need of a redesign? Suburbs and the single-family house. We still build neighbourhoods and houses the way we built them 100 years ago. Even the outward style is painfully conservative—the demand for traditional homes is relentless. Would anyone drive a Model T Ford as their daily commuter? Yet that’s how we build houses. Housing needs to progress much further—our houses should be larger, with more families under one roof, and much more energy efficient. We need to move on from dated styles and urban formats.

Martin Tessler

Who do you admire most as a designer?

judge Patricia Patkau of Patkau Architects commended for its ingenuity. “It shelters visitors as they close their umbrellas, it stores lots of wood for colder weather and acts as an alternate living room,” she commented. “It is an unexpected space of great generosity, not as specific as the interior places, rather... open to interpretation. We need to consider spaces that are capable of such interpretation and reinterpretation over time, to build in the suggestion of multiple ways of occupying space as people’s live change, families come and go, seasons change, et cetera.”

I admire my contemporaries—the dozens of hard-working architecture and design firms on the West Coast whose work continues to push the limits of what we do. It saddens me to see our great commissions, like Vancouver’s new art gallery, go to a firm from Europe. Imagine the boost this would have given a local firm, if given the opportunity, and how much better and more contextual the design would have been. Internationally, I love Tadao Ando’s work. It’s so spiritual.

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Sustainable Whistler

The Buckhorn project in Whistler, which won our 2018 Home of the Year, was built offsite at the BC Passive House facility in nearby Pemberton. The floor-to-ceiling windows are incredibly efficient—there’s little to no heat loss in the winter, and in the summer, exterior blinds roll down to keep the heat of the sun out.

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The roofline on the Sunshine Coast home has become a signature design for Burgers. The gutterless, cascading design sheds both water and evergreen needles easily; it’s supported by visible tie rods underneath, keeping the beam structure open to the view as well. “The exposed structure looks like an upturned boat,” says Burgers. “People love the fact that the way it’s constructed is visible—I guess it’s human nature, people like to know how things are put together.”

Perhaps that understanding of human nature is what continues to result in successfully sustainable, beautiful homes from Burgers: people love to understand how their home comes together, and if the story is that they’re contributing to a more sustainable future, all the better. “We want to demonstrate that a good quality of life and sustainable thinking are not at odds with each other,” says Burgers. “You have to change, for sure. But it’s a change in a good direction.”

Ema Peter

architecture

Bring your home to life

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Kamloops Edmonton

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Burlington Toronto

IN GOOD MEASURE

The team at Measured Architecture prizes collaborative relationships with their clients and the artisans they bring into every project. by Anicka Quin // portraits by kyoko fierro // additional photos by ema peter

Playful Design

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Measured Architecture’s Clinton Cuddington (left) and Piers Cunnington, photographed in the Combo House. The home features tilework from Popham Design Co., as seen in the kitchen here and opposite—the detailed patterns for which were carefully tracked in a four-inch binder.

interior Design

egular readers of WL will likely already be familiar with Measured’s architecture—in fact, their playful home with a pixelated shingle treatment on its exterior was featured on the cover of our March 2020 issue. The homes are thoughtful extensions of the firm’s collaborative methodology: the architects, the homeowners and the many artisans whose work is part of the design— they’re all involved in the creative process. And so it’s likely no surprise that the interior design of their homes is as much a part of the final work as the architecture itself. “As much as our emphasis has been to break down the barriers between the disciplines,” says architect and Measured co-principal

Clinton Cuddington, “we also want to make projects that do not have strong divisions between the architecture, the landscape and the interior design.” In fact, this year’s win as our 2020 Interior Designers of the Year is their third victory in our awards program since we launched back in 2008—though those first two (in our launch year, and again in 2015) were solidly in the Architecture category. But their work has always seamlessly integrated architecture, interiors and landscape, and perhaps the interior design acknowledgement is long overdue. “Fundamentally we believe that to achieve an outstanding project, the project can’t be what any one person would have imagined at the outset,” says architect and co-principal Piers

Cunnington. (Not for the first time, we need to acknowledge that their similar last names will no doubt cause mild confusion throughout this article—they’re used to that.) “It’s the process of navigating the needs of the client, the municipality, the site, the feedback from consultants and many, many design charrettes. We’re always saying, ok, let’s find out where this process is going to take us, so that we’re building something that is unique to the clients and unique to the site.” Sometimes that process is more obvious— helping the client feel more comfortable talking about what’s important to them, drawing out their personal stories so that their home truly reflects what they want. And sometimes it’s having antennae alert to any sense of the

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interior Design Art and Light

In the Combo House, the homeowners moved from 4,200 square feet to 2,800 square feet, so a central part of the design was storage—including the 11-foothigh cabinets disguised here in the entryway (right). Colourful tiles throughout the home set up a space that’s ripe for playful details, like the Zettl’z chandelier from Ingo Maurer (bottom right). Typically decked out with little notes on Japanese paper, it’s instead dotted with colourful origami cranes over the main entryway.

homeowners feeling out of their element—something they learned when the owners of the Shift House (said March cover story) toured a lighting store that turned out to be off-narrative with the project’s goals. “They went to a space that they immediately found intimidating,” says Cuddington. “We stopped the conversation and said, well, what does that mean? They said they were shopping in what they perceived to be an environment they wouldn’t shop in—that they found the process a bit soulless.” Cuddington got them thinking about working with an artist instead: “Get the art off the walls and into the DNA of the building.” The couple expressed admiration for ceramic artist Heather BraunDahl of Dahlhaus—and so began the process of bringing another collaborator on board. “Every project will have those moments where we activate the introduction of an artisan, and we’re looking for those,” says Cuddington. “They’re not everywhere, but where are those moments of flourish?” In their Combo House, the homeowner wanted a space inspired by her favourite blazer—impeccably cut and tailored on the exterior, a riot of colour inside. That’s seen in the careful selection of brightly coloured furnishings, but also in the graphic introduction of tiles from Popham Design, a Morocco-based company that brings traditional

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interior Design

Great Pairings

For the Shift House, coarse materials such as rotary-cut plywood and nail-laminated timber pair with hand-finished tile and artisan lighting from ceramicist Heather Braun-Dahl.

Q&A

WITH MEASURED’S PIERS CUNNINGTON AND CLINTON CUDDINGTON

What was your first design project? A wooden boat that I designed with my dad.—P.C. Rearranging my bedroom. Pro bono.—C.C.

Who do you admire most as a designer? Alvar Aalto.—P.C. Donald Judd.–C.C.

Who’s a Western Canadian designer that’s one to watch? Marianne Amodio and Harley Grusko.—P.C.

Metric or Imperial? Metric is my preference, but I principally work in Imperial.—P.C. Imperial. I visualize space based upon a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood.—C.C.

Marrakesh techniques to a modern palette. Throughout the home, eight different types of tile line walls, fireplaces and floors—in patterns so carefully executed they required a four-inch binder to track. The home itself is beautifully integrated between indoors and out, with 27 feet of glazing on the back wall of the living space opening into the garden. The furniture is practically floral in its colour selection, too. The custom sofa from Bombast Interiors is covered in an Irish wool the client selected in a turquoise plaid—a choice that was not only a pivot point for many of the other pieces in the room, but is also indicative of the kind of design-making decisions the team will support from their clients. “We’re working to really facilitate the level of dive that a client wants to take into a problem set,” says Cuddington, “to explore textiles because she’s hell-bent on textiles. That may be a departure from the traditions of interior design, where an interior designer would bring and lay down what they feel are appropriate fabrics—but we’re not worried about that. What we’re

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worried about is being able to put the tools on the table, to ensure that it balances and harmonizes with the other pieces designed for the space.” And so said fabric decision spawned a pair of similarly toned Facett armchairs from Ligne Roset. A contrasting pop of red hangs overhead with the Beam light from Zero, with an elegantly mid-century-influenced pattern of those Popham tiles on the nearby fireplace. It’s the kind of combination that had judge Michelle Biggar of the Office of McFarlane Biggar Architects and Designers comment, “Their interiors have a timeless element while still being playful and unique. Their confidence with materials and palettes is refreshing.” Throughout all of their projects, given how careful the material selection is, it’s perhaps no surprise that sustainable choices are a dominant part of the consideration. Cradleto-cradle materials like Forbo linoleum, which has a buyback program at the end of its already-durable lifespan, and the use of local suppliers reduce the carbon footprint of each

What books are on your nightstand right now? Quichotte by Salman Rushdie, Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.—P.C. Unread books.—C.C.

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interior Design

Renewal and Restoration

In the renovation of this 1950s split-level, the client loved the idea of taking a more low-brow material like plywood, and elevating it into millwork, used in the cabinetry. The slat walls seen at the back, and also in the entry (left), were taken from walls removed in the home—old growth fir that the team at Measured wanted to preserve.

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choice. Cuddington draws on his experience working for architect Bing Thom earlier in his career, and the checklist he used to assess any given material: what it’s made of, its off-gassing properties, what happens in a fire, its life expectancy. It’s something that the pair takes into consideration as they specify every material on a project. “Every project we do is a small industry,” says Cuddington. “So if we can create opportunities for local fabricators, I think that’s an incredible victory.” The firm’s body of work ranges in both budget and scope—from a long-burning project in Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood that’s essentially a poster child for how to retain an existing home while threading a modern design plan throughout it, to a renovation of a 1950s split-level that plays with everyday materials such as construction-grade plywood, white paint and the odd Ikea hack. “Measured’s work feels hyper original, and perfectly tailored to the owners’ way of living,” notes judge David Nicolay, interior designer and principal at Evoke International Design. And it’s the storytelling and the perfect tailoring to each homeowner that attracts the team to tackling both the interiors and the exteriors of the projects they work on. “The adornment of one’s interior, that’s often where people’s most personal possessions reside,” says Cuddington. “And we’ve been working to try to pull those stories out of people, to find ways to curate their spaces—more importantly, to allow for their spaces to continue to be their homes.”

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A STATE OF BALANCE

Sean Pearson of RUFproject shows a deft hand at blending old with new. by Neal M c Lennan // portrait by kyoko fierro

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arthur erickson memorial award

Ivan Hunter

he leafy streets of Vancouver’s west side seem tailor-made for Georgian mansions and Craftsman bungalows, and while a great many of our talented architects try to inject a welcome dose of modernism into this staid environment, it takes a skilled hand to both push boundaries and fit in with the grand bucolic scheme. It was almost a decade ago that the WL offices were abuzz when one of our editors, while driving his daughter to school on Vancouver’s Blenheim Street, passed a building so memorable—contemporary without being harshly modern, striking while still blending in with its environs—that he immediately pulled his car over to snap some scouts. The name on the sign said RUFproject, and later that morning at the office we gathered around a computer and googled it. The first project that came up was a training space for Nike in Pretoria, South Africa, and we assumed that the Blenheim house must have been a one-off from an overseas designer. It turns out, the “overseas” was Sean Pearson, the Canadian-born, University of Manitoba grad principal behind RUF. And while this year’s Arthur Erickson Award winner for an emerging residential designer may not be an exotic foreigner, he concedes that his path to this award has been anything but straight. After earning his masters in architecture from U of M, he moved to London and promptly landed at the prestigious Hopkins Architects before joining the innovative design collective Jump Studios and ultimately landing at Nike Europe, Middle East and Africa, in the environmental design group, a multidisciplinary role that mixed branding, design, photography and industrial design. For a young creative only a few years out of school, it was a plum gig. And yet.

Rustic Modern

For this home on Salt Spring Island, RUFproject’s first, the client wanted a modern log cabin. The interior uses no drywall—all the walls are millwork—making the open plan functional with large amounts of integrated storage. The house structure is post and beam, made from Alaskan yellow cedar beam and steel columns.

Vintage in the front, modern in the back: the West 1st house represents a resolution of dual architectural identities while remaining cohesive in its design. Perched on a sloping lot, its early-20thcentury facade is hidden from the street by a dense tangle of trees (above). The dining room, situated between the living room and the kitchen, is a transition point: a hybrid of new and old elements (below).

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Ema Peter

Smart Transitions

A chance opportunity to design a house on a place called Salt Spring Island called to him. “Brand work can last a few years, a month or even a few days,” he recalls thinking, “but a house lasts maybe forever. Most people build one house in their lifetime.” Pearson wanted to be part of that process. And this was no “look at a topographical map, crank out a design, make a few site visits” gig. This was an “I want you to move to the island to get a feel and then supervise every step” sort of gig. He was in. The house that resulted is almost inconceivable given that it was, for all intents and purposes, the first residential project Pearson built. “The residence can’t help but remind us of the West Coast modernism of the Smith House by Arthur Erickson,” says judge and architect Patricia Patkau of Patkau Architects, not one to throw around a legend’s name lightly. While building it, Pearson fell in love with the island, but soon realized that running a design practice that skewed very contemporary would mean relocating to a bigger centre—and Vancouver seemed a good fit (especially as he was still “commuting” to Soweto while the Nike project wrapped up). One of the first projects in Vancouver was the aforementioned Blenheim house—actually something of a salvage job from a building and design that had stalled under a previous architect. It was the type of magic that got him the attention of those who wanted contemporary, sometimes even uber-contemporary, while still blending into oftentraditional Vancouver neighbourhoods. A few more thoughtful renovations followed, and he began to build a name as someone who could channel modern in a traditional shell, a mantra that perfectly encapsulates the West 1st Residence. It was a disaster when he came upon it: a great turn-of-the-century house that completely ignored the spectacular view. Pearson’s first thought was to go all glass, but the clients loved both modern and traditional. The result was what Pearson jokingly calls a “mullet house”: heritage in the front, party in the back. The entry and living rooms are more original house, then the building morphs more modern as you move through toward the sightlines.

arthur erickson memorial award

Present and Past

Ema Peter

The West 1st house preserved many of the original elements, including the staircase, window casings and stained glass (right); further into the home, as in the ensuite (above), the space is decidedly modern.

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arthur erickson memorial award

Q&A

WITH SEAN PEARSON

What classic object is most in need of a redesign? The automobile. I think the way they are designed right now is hindered by their own history and most probably people’s idea of what they should be based on what they used to be. The car really is begging for a fundamental reinvention as it doesn’t really make sense anymore in the way we need it to perform, especially in cities like Vancouver.

Who do you admire most as a designer? Jasper Morrison. I am a big fan of his thoughts around Super Normal. He continues to produce amazingly fresh ideas within the framework of highly familiar objects.

Letting in Light

In the West 27th Residence, the design is an attempt to reinvent the typical organization of an infill mid-block house. Light is brought deep into the interior spaces of the house through large cuts to the side yard elevations.

What’s your go-to material of choice? Wood. Come on, we live in B.C.! The variety of species, colours, grain and sculptural qualities innate within the material are endless—especially now, with modern milling techniques, I think it’s the most invaluable and critical modern architectural material other than glass.

Is there a famous project or object you wish you’d designed? Plywood.

It’s an ethos that also informs the West 27th Residence, even though the buildings don’t resemble each other, something that’s a huge positive for Pearson (“I don’t want to have style, I want to have a process,” he says). Unlike his other projects, West 27th is in an area populated by post-war bungalows, hardly a design era that’s subject to much critical love. But to Pearson it presented another opportunity to channel several ideas in one design. For starters, he needed to mediate the design scale: “We had a normal sized, ’50s bungalow to the east and a ’90s large block house to the west, and I needed to work with both.” The solution was to focus on keeping the front calm and stoic while working in innovative channels of glass and light in the interior spaces. Again, from Patricia Patkau: “I think that the front facade and street landscape of the West 27th Residence and the effectiveness of the cut-in small courts is a surprising, successful and innovative response to a mid-block suburban house.” The City was less convinced, but when the neighbours around the house all signed letters in support, the plan was approved. Talking about the house, Pearson notes that it feels big thanks to the cutouts, but in reality it’s not a huge square footage. “A box sets the limits of your space—but here there’s a flow that expands the place.” And while these words describe West 27th perfectly, they also apply to a designer who brings a unique set of tools—designer, brander, photographer—to his next project.

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ALL IN

One Seed’s Allison Holden-Pope pairs pragmatism with striking design. by Alyssa Hirose // portrait by lillie louise major

llison HoldenPope’s career in architecture and design began by happy accident. “In high school, I intended to sign up for a photography class as an elective,” she explains, “but I entered the code wrong and ended up in a drafting course.” While she wasn’t too hot on the more technical aspects of the class, an end-ofterm floor-plan design project fired up her love of architecture. After earning her master’s in architecture from McGill University, Holden-Pope scored a job at an integrated firm in B.C., where architects, interior designers and engineers worked together. To her, the incorporation made perfect sense. “I knew that when I started my own practice, I wanted to work with architecture and interior design holistically,” says our winner of the Robert Ledingham Memorial Award for an emerging interior designer. “Pulling it together cohesively seemed like a no-brainer.”

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Martin Knowles

robert ledingham memorial award

Q&A

WITH ALLISON HOLDEN-POPE

Who do you admire most as a designer? I draw inspiration from so many designers, but Alvar Aalto and wife Aino Aalto’s work immediately pops to mind, as it has brought me joy since I was first introduced to it in school. They define Scandinavian modern, and design all aspects of a space, from the architecture to interiors to furniture and textiles—all the way down to the glassware. They are masters at combining wood and light. In particular, their wood screen at the Villa Mairea staircase has informed our work.

If you weren’t a designer, what job would you be doing?

Renovation and Renewal

Architect Allison Holden-Pope (photographed at home, oppposite) has created a firm known both for its integrated architecture and interior design, and for its sustainable focus. For the Multigenerational Vancouver Special shown here, the renovation accomodates the homeowners and their kids, and features a separate suite for their aging parents.

I would have a lot of fun operating a minimalist tea shop with a small selection of loose-leaf teas and locally crafted objects related to the making and enjoyment of tea. I would create a highly ritualized experience that could be a personal retreat or provide an intimate experience for socializing...it would also obviously have a killer design.

What’s your dream project? My dream project would be to design a public sauna and spa. My husband and I visited a hammam in Córdoba, Spain, several years ago, and I left with such a sense of calm and clarity that I turned to him and declared that the ritual of bathing was my new life’s passion. I was kind of joking, but at the same time it piqued a real interest in the healing and cleansing power of water and restfulness in design. Until that day comes, I am more than happy to continue creating calming bathing spaces for our clients.

Is there a famous project or object you wish you’d designed? I wouldn’t dare imply that I could have designed it, but the perfect project to me is Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals spa in Switzerland. I have not yet had the opportunity to visit it in person, but I have been planning a trip there with my girlfriends in the design community for years. By playing with scale, light, shadow and views, he creates spaces that range from inwardly focused sanctuaries to expansive communal experiences, almost exclusively using a single material, a local and linear stacked stone.

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F a e in si b

For a “no-brainer,” her work is very thoughtful. One Seed Architecture and Interiors creates unique residential spaces with intentional, functional details. Judge and interior designer Michelle Biggar, principal at Office of McFarlane Biggar, calls the Vancouver-based firm’s work “strong technically, with solid space planning and great integration with architecture.” That integration is clear once you step inside—then outside, then inside again—her Third Chapter House on the North Shore. An angled feature wall clad in hemlock runs from the address numbers straight into the living room. Hidden panels provide closet space without clutter. “It’s pragmatic as well as visual,” says Holden-Pope. The floating staircase in One Seed’s Multigenerational Vancouver Special also mixes pretty and practical. Fitting two families into one home required some smart thinking, space-wise, and the Japanese-inspired wood-slat screen has a built-in bench to compact the dining area. The multidisciplinary firm makes a big impact in the little things, too—like their West End Nest Condo renovation, which features a custom timber coffee table CNC-cut with an abstracted map of Montreal (where the homeowners met). “We only take a few projects on at a time, so we can dedicate ourselves to providing our clients, and the design, with the attention they really need,” says Holden-Pope.

Let in Light

The homeowners’ suite in the Multigenerational house is an oasis that includes a large bedroom, walk-through closets ending at a built-in makeup table that spans a full-height window (above right), a work space punctuated by a mid-century inspired geometric wall covering (right) and an ensuite bathed in light that features barnboard tiles (above).

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Martin Knowles

robert ledingham memorial award

Frits de Vries Architects + Associates Ltd. is an award winning architectural firm with a diverse portfolio of projects and a special expertize in residential design. Our client-focused team delivers innovative & thoughtful architectural solutions to projects of every size. We view design as a collaborative process between client, builder and architect, resulting in a truly unique architectural product.

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Bold and Beautiful

Like with its architecture and design work, One Seed has a holistic approach to sustainability. That means its six—and counting—Passive Houses don’t just focus on the energy-saving strategies the form of construction is known for, but also on using materials that are locally sourced and renewable, and that tread lightly on the environment. “Materials are what bring the life to a project,” says Holden-Pope. “The finishes, the contrast, the unique characteristics, how they play together and change when paired... that’s where I think there is a real richness.” She also notes how materials are tied, consciously or subconsciously, to moments in life. A special hue, wallpaper or wood finish can make all the difference. “It’s not just about how they will use the space,” says Holden-Pope, “but about what brings them joy—the places they’ve travelled, childhood experiences, the things that bring them a sense of comfort and of home.”

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Janis Nicolay

Holden’s Third Chapter House features an angled accent wall clad in vertical hemlock (left), running from the front door to the living room, creating a sense of openness as you enter the house and move through the living room to connect with the dramatic views beyond. (It also provides hidden closet space.) The selection of architectural materials was influenced by the natural palette of the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic.

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fashion Design

PLAYING WITH FLOWERS

Irene Rasetti turns foraged materials into gorgeous natural dyes—and beautiful clothing, too. by alyssa hirose // photos by britta kokemor

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f there were a made-for-TV movie about a small-town fashion designer, scoring work in Milan would be the story’s grand conclusion. But for our Fashion Designer of the Year Irene Rasetti, something about the glamorous world of style in Italy just didn’t feel right. After a decade of schooling and working with top designers in Milan (including Gianfranco Ferré and Versace), she decided to start over in her hometown—Calgary. She took natural dye classes at the Alberta University of the Arts, and there found a more honest fit. “I started understanding that I could have a more authentic engagement to textile work through natural dyes,” says Rasetti. The age-old practice of natural dying felt magical, even witchy, to her. The women

she met through her classes didn’t care about creating something avant garde or trendy. “We would just play around with florals, leaves and all things nature related,” she says, “and for me, that was super grounding—and, in many ways, healing.” Rasetti’s fabrics are dyed almost completely from plants she grows in her home garden, and she also carefully forages while

Natural Bounty

Designer Irene Rasetti (above) creates her own floral dyes. For plants that aren’t native to Alberta, she sources imperfect flowers from local florists.

fashion design

Floral Design

Hollyhock, delphinium, peony, cosmos, yarrow and marigold are a few of Rasetti’s favourite dyes, used to create her Kaelen and Garden Blooms collection.

on urban and forest walks. For plants that aren’t native to Alberta (like eucalyptus, for example) she sources expired or imperfect “rejects” from local florists. “It’s a really sustainable practice,” she says. Judge Nicole Bischofer, head of design for women’s wear at COS, praises Rasetti for taking her practical experience and using it to execute an ethical business, and says the designer’s focus on sustainability and small batch production is very important. The garments themselves are proof that fabric dying is a thoughtful art: her collections range from crisp, clean prints (like Natural Conclusions, her 2017

line) to the abstract and deliberately messy (her 2019 collection, Kaelen and Garden Blooms, is less controlled). Flowy silhouettes that move with the body go hand-in-hand with Rasetti’s organically pigmented fabrics. Though always done with intention, there’s something about the uncertainty of the craft—the beauty in decay and imperfection, how every dye session provides a different outcome—that keeps Rasetti interested in a way high Italian fashion didn’t. “You just have to trust the process,” she says. “Nature’s going to do what it wants.” Roll credits.

one to watch: fashion design

PARTS AND LABOR In 2017, yoga instructor and interior designer Jennifer Mehalko began her own personal healing process—it started, she says, with “leaving behind something I thought was going to define who I was in my career, for something completely different.” And thus began Parts and Labor, her quirky clothing label. That journey brought to life a brand that cultivates all of her fiery obsessions—empowerment, selfexpression, courage, intention—into small-run collections where bold messages pair with juxtaposed materials and unusual silhouettes: a vintage army jacket with the words “Army of Lovers” emblazoned on its back, for example. The parts are the tangible things we use to tell our style stories and how we express ourselves, she says; the labour is the hard work and the sweat she puts into it. Or, as Mehalko would say, “the heart-work.”— Chloe Finn

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Q&A

WITH IRENE RASETTI

What’s your dream project? I would love to design costumes for a theatre dance company. I think what I do would marry well with movement.

If you weren’t a designer, what job would you be doing? I love playing with space, so maybe something like interior design, or production design for film. Almodóvar or Wes Anderson films would be dreamy.

What books are on your nightstand right now? I’m currently reading Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules, edited by David Sedaris. But the books that always sit there for me to reference back to are Upstream by Mary Oliver, The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur, Literary Witches by Taisia Kitaiskaia and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

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A SITE BETTER

James Tuer takes on every landscape design with the eye of an architect—and the heart of an artist.

Painting with Plantings For the past five years,

Tuer has been handling both the architecture and the accompanying landscape (including this “sky garden”) on an ambitious seven-acre site atop Bowen Island. Visitors are welcomed by a garden entry filled with water-smart grasses and Japanese maples; climb the stairs, and find a view of a floating garden.

by Stacey M c Lachlan // portrait by kyoko fierro

Take every left-hand turn you can take, and you’ll end up here,” says architect James Tuer. Our Landscape Designer of the Year is describing how to get to his latest project—a whimsical, sprawling compound that he describes as a “once in a lifetime” job, complete with a freestanding library and an orangery (home to an indoor orange tree)— but he could very well be talking about his own design career. It hasn’t been a straight path for Tuer (who previously won Eco Designer of the Year back in 2015). But he got somewhere fantastical all the same. Tuer studied landscape architecture at the University of Guelph in the ’80s, and got his

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start designing ski resorts. It was creating the village at Sun Peaks that inspired him to go back to school to get his architecture degree. Hopping between projects big and small—his own home on Bowen Island, the park at the Sea to Sky Gondola—he realized at a certain point that he didn’t have to choose between the two career paths, architecture or landscape. One informed the other, a beautiful loop of inspiration, the line between indoors and outdoors forever blurred. The uniting factor on all of the projects he undertakes with his firm JWT Architecture— whether garden or courtyard or building—is an unwavering celebration of a sense of place. “There’s an idea of ‘genius loci,’” says Tuer.

“I try to share a landscape with the building, and share the building with the landscape. I like to bring out the best in the site.” One literal example: the sloping courtyard of that once-in-a-lifetime project (dubbed Seven Buildings) features intentionally exposed raw bedrock, wet daily by concealed sprinklers to highlight the gorgeous colour of the natural stone. Tuer also works closely with Nat’s Nursery for all of his plantings to ensure everything is native and watersmart—his preferred palette includes ornamental grasses, Japanese maples and sedges. But don’t confuse “regionalism” with being provincial. The Pacific Northwest has a wide context of influence in and of itself:

From top: Deb Stringfellow; Andrew Latreille

landscape design

Asian culture, the Arts and Crafts architecture movement of the 1920s, Greene and Greene’s homes in Southern California and, of course, the natural landscape. Tuer finds inspiration in all of it, and beyond. On three of the structures for the Seven Buildings project, Tuer has installed a “sky garden,” inspired by the rooftop terraces of Morocco. The undulating surface is covered with sedum, in a rainbow of natural hues. “You have blue greens, red, reddish greens... you get to play as an artist and a painter.” Tuer is here to collaborate, not conquer, with an approach that impressed our judging panel. “Materials and planting work together and complement each other to create new places that still feel like a part of the landscapes they’re inhabiting,” commented judge Grant Stewart, principal at Seattle landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. “In his projects, topography is acknowledged and welcomed.” When his projects include both architecture and landscape, that sense of welcome is magnified. Operable walls, terraces and decks a-plenty bring the outdoors in, and even when you’re within a home’s four walls, windows are placed to frame the view—of the garden, of Garibaldi’s peak, of Texada Island—just so. “It’s almost like cinematography, or a painting,” says Tuer. “A way of framing nature from many different vantage points.”

Q&A

WITH JAMES TUER

What was your first design project? Niseko Ski Resort in Hokkaido, Japan, in 1990, with Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners—I was the village designer. I was right out of school and visited Japan 12 times over a year and a half. I told the Japanese team members I was 30, but I was still in my 20s.

What’s your dream project? I’d like to do a chapel.

Is there a famous project or object you wish you’d designed? Of course. The Sea Ranch by Lawrence Halprin, because it had the dream team of designers, when West Coast modernism was being discovered.

Urban Retreats In Tuer’s Alder Residence (top),

native plants, raw concrete, granite boulders and gabion baskets bring a hit of nature to an urban lot for an empty nester couple in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. In his Laneway House project (left), the space acts as an “urban cottage” for a stroke survivor and her husband of 40 years, who are no longer able to travel. Tuer turned the small courtyard into a garden oasis, complete with a serene pond, a high slatted fence for privacy and smooth concrete walkways.

one to watch: Landscape design

ACACIA LANDSCAPE Acacia founder Stephen McLeish may have started a gardening company when he was 16, but that doesn’t mean he always knew he’d one day design landscapes, too. That company was just a side gig to fund his schooling as an economist, and then as an engineer. But while working as an engineering works inspector with the District of North Vancouver, McLeish was introduced to the profession of landscape architecture: “I didn’t even know it existed at the time,” he recalls. Acacia was officially founded in 2001, and the company made a name for itself designing creative outdoor rooms and gardens, culminating with the design and installation of one of only two purpose-built natural swimming pools in Canada: the quiet freshwater pond on a private acreage is situated less than 10 minutes from Victoria’s urban core. Fed and filtered through the careful selection of water plants and layers of gravel (there’s no added chlorine or chemicals), the pond naturally matures: unlike a typical swimming pool, there’s little maintenance in this beauty.— Chloe Finn

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Q&A

WITH ONETWOSIX

What was your first design project? The first design project I was truly proud of was a walnut rocking chair that I designed in my fourth year of university.—Brendan Gallagher

What’s your go-to material of choice? Probably metal (steel or aluminum). There are so many processes that can be used to create objects, or parts of objects, with metal. Done right, metal exudes a sense of quality and value that goes hand in hand with products that are long lasting. And from a sustainability standpoint, aluminum is top drawer.—Nick Kazakoff

Thinking Outside the Box

Onetwosix’s Nick Kazakoff (left ) and Brendan Gallagher in their Edmonton workshop. Their Loop phone booth (immediate right) offered a smart privacy solution for open-space offices; their housing for an MRI machine (far right) was designed to help patients feel more at ease.

MASTERS OF ALL TRADES

Give Edmonton’s Onetwosix a problem and they’ll design their way out of it.

n our imagination, industrial designers possess that rare mix of engineering skill, design creativity and practical know-how that makes them the design community’s true problem solvers— present them with a quandary and they find a way to not only figure out a solution but also devise the implement to do the job.

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So how come, when we look at the body of work from most IDs, it’s so consistently narrow? That’s why Edmonton’s Onetwosix is such a breath of fresh air. They won this year’s competition with their designs for—wait for it—an innovative office module for privacy, a trickedout Mercedes campervan, a housing for an MRI machine and a curling broom. Seriously, if you

used a random word generator, you couldn’t come up with four more disparate projects. These unconnected wonders sprang from the minds of Onetwosix’s principals, Nick Kazakoff and Brendan Gallagher. The pair met at the University of Alberta’s nearmythic Industrial Design program, and while both went their separate employment ways

Loop Cube: Tina Chang

by Neal M c Lennan // portrait by aaron pedersen

industrial design

upon graduation, they stayed in touch over their shared love of pure design. Soon conversations became after-work meetings, often taking place in the 20-by-20-foot garage of Gallagher’s 126 Street home (hence their name) in Edmonton’s Inglewood neighbourhood. In mid-2014, meetings became full-out tinkering sessions, in which they’d design and make a few tables to consign at local shops. Repeat. Onetwosix was born. Their designs began to attract a lot of local attention, such that the duo took a deep breath and asked the big question: Can we do this for a living? Both had been extremely fortunate to get stable industrial design jobs right out of school, but there was no denying that their passions lay more in the objects that came out of Gallagher’s garage than in anything from their day jobs. So, they did it. Their first big break came with the Loop phone booth. The pair had been approached by a client (who was unaware the “company” was still operating out of a garage) about finding a solution to an office privacy problem. They analyzed the inherent drawbacks of the then in-vogue open-concept layout that many offices were switching to and came up with a modern, soundproof solution that accomplished the task of having a private space for meeting without sacrificing the spirit of the open plan. It was an idea perfectly situated for the moment, and it resonated with big-city clients such as L’Occitane in New York, who struggled with the challenges of the open-concept office—but its initial success was both hindrance and boon: to

Hurry Hard!

Olson Curling approached the Onetwosix team to design a new head for their upcoming line of curling brooms, and the result is Pyro (right). For a stylish retiree, they converted a Mercedes Sprinter van (left).

that point, they’d been so focused on solving the problem that they hadn’t figured out the logistics of manufacturing the solution. Here’s where the convivial closeness of Edmonton enters. The principals behind Izm—our Furniture DOTY in 2010—not only invited Onetwosix to set up shop in their large workspace, they also offered Kazakoff and Gallagher invaluable every-step-of-the-way advice on how to deal with day-to-day problems like shipping their product to the U.S. and related practical concerns. With that base of support, there’s been no stopping them. By 2016 they were adding team members and had outgrown the shared space with Izm. They’ve added a group of projects in an amazingly diverse groups of industries. Their MRI project required the duo to think about how to take the menace out of a daunting

machine that often enters a patient’s life at a most vulnerable time. The bespoke conversion of a Mercedes Sprinter van was done for a retiree who wanted a stylish and practical mode to explore the continent. And, in perhaps the most Canadian design gig of all, Onetwosix was hired by Olson Curling to bring some technological advancement to the staid sport. The result—the Pyro broom—is downright sexy. It all adds up to an expression of creativity married to practicality that refuses to be pigeonholed. As Judge Massimo Buster Minale of London’s Buster and Punch put it: “I really liked that these guys don’t just design for design’s sake (a disease in our industry), but they take an idea apart, innovate, change and then put it back together.” It’s that blend of curiosity and feasibility that’s made them this year’s Industrial Designers of the Year.

one to watch: industrial design

NIKKI ALAGHA DESIGN Nikki Alagha was encouraged to pursue the arts from a young age—though her path was not always direct. In high school, as Alagha dove into woodworking courses, she quickly discovered that industrial design was her calling—and, since 2018, she’s been operating her own design practice out of a studio in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood. One of Alagha’s first pieces, the Sii light, began as an experiment with materials, its balance of smooth, 3D-printed ceramics paired with hand-casted, textured silicone balancing both the machine- and handmade. Nearly a year in the making, the piece was accepted into 2019’s WantedDesign Launch Pad during New York City’s Design Week. “That moment was a huge burst of encouragement for me to continue,” says Alagha. Her design inspiration, she says, is human experience. “I love to be able to create an emotional response. When you can engage with a piece both mentally and physically, you’re more likely to use the piece and appreciate it for years to come.”— Chloe Finn

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perspective on Fougere’s quirky pieces, like his sleek, solid-ash bar cart, which is manoeuvered on its two hind wheels, or the asymmetrical Saddle chair, which offers the best of both recliner and easy chair in a streamlined, blush-pink package, reminiscent of an unfolding paper box. “Thom is not afraid to innovate, experiment and explore the next generation of seating,” noted judge Wendy Youds, creative director for online furniture company Article. “I imagine each chair will tell a story about the life of the user long after it has been handed down.” This is the second time Fougere has won a Designers of the Year award—the first time as Industrial Designer of the Year in 2015, the same year he launched his eponymous label as a side project while he worked for EQ3. And while he’s done excellent work for both the

PRAIRIE GOLD

Thom Fougere crafts every piece with a sense of place.

by Stacey M c Lachlan // portrait by Ian M c Causland

nyone living in the Prairies has experienced that outsider feeling at one point or another—Canada’s great plains are (sadly!) often disregarded in favour of the flashy big cities on either side. But our Furniture Designer of the Year (and Winnipegger) Thom Fougere finds something inspiring about being on the margins. “I find it empowering when searching for something original, an angle on a project,” he explains. “There’s this kind of overlooked beauty about the Prairies, and I think the overlooked is generally what I’m interested in.”

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Fougere grew up in Regina and graduated from the architecture program at the University of Manitoba, and while his near-decadelong stint as creative director for Canadian design brand EQ3 took him all over the world, he happily makes his home in Winnipeg—and finds his creativity here too. “There’s a fairly subtle and pragmatic quality to life here, but also some pretty exciting mid-century modern architecture,” he says. “There’s a subtle and introverted beauty to the Prairies that I try to not take for granted.” You can see the impact of that fresh

Practical Beauty

The bar cart (top) was one of Fougere’s many designs for EQ3 during his tenure as creative director, and serves to function as both serving cart and side table. The threelegged design is manoeuvered on its two back wheels; the top level detaches to become a serving tray, lined with buttery leather. Fougere took his inspiration for the Mjölk Tambour cabinet (above) from his grandparents’ roll-top desk. “It always fascinated me,” Fougere recalls. “There’s something so satisfying about a tactile piece of furniture, and this is just a continuation of that fascination.”

Bar cart and Saddle chair: Thom Fougere; Mjolk Tambour cabinet and daybed: Peter Andrew

furniture design

company and himself these past five years, it was his recommitment to his personal brand that made this another watermark year for Fougere. In February 2019, he stepped down from his EQ3 post, though not before leaving them with a beautiful parting gift—his first stand-alone building design, which would be the brand’s new flagship in Manhattan. From there, he kicked off 2020 (and his independence) with a bang, launching a line for Toronto producer Mjölk (“They’re kindred spirits,” says Fougere). The collection features the sliding-door Tambour cabinet, which takes its cues from vintage roll-top desks, and an elegant daybed topped with a cushy down mattress. In the works now are some new pieces commissioned by a handful of hushhush Canadian and international clients. Fougere’s skill lies in both his design acumen and his ability to delegate. “I admit I’m not a craftsperson, but I do like to be very involved and in constant dialogue with collaborators during the development process,” he explains. “In a way, I’m always a student.” His work starts with his own DIY scale models, which are then turned over to the experts—local woodworkers, brassworkers, leatherworkers—to be brought to life. He watches, he tweaks, he learns, he waits, bringing the resourcefulness and calm of his home region to every project. “I like being on the outside looking in. It’s helpful in gaining a new perspective on the everyday or overlooked.”

Q&A

WITH THOM FOUGERE

Who do you admire most as a designer? Sori and Soetsu Yanagi. Perriand. Corbusier. Zumthor. Fukasawa.

Mindful Materials

“The thoughtful choice of a vegetable tan leather, resulting in a beautiful patina over time, gives an insight into a design that has been built to last and endure,” said judge Wendy Youds of the Saddle chair (above). Fougere describes it as “a new typology of chair”: one can use the piece as an easy chair, lounger or anything in between. In his Mjölk Tambour Collection (below), designed for the company’s 10-year anniversary exhibition, a down mattress veritably floats atop the straightforward wood frame. “The attention to detail from a craftsperson perspective is strong,” said judge and furniture designer Kate Duncan. Judge Brent Comber of Brent Comber Originals praised Fougere’s “unique perspective” and “purpose-driven execution.”

Who’s a Western Canadian designer that’s one to watch? Ola Hiraeth—a new interior design firm based out of Winnipeg that is doing some really sensitive, bold, colourful work right now. Expect big things from them in the near future.

If you weren’t a designer, what job would you be doing? I never had a back-up plan.

one to watch: furniture design

HENRY SUN Like many designers, Henry Sun focuses on material and function with his products. Unlike many furniture designers, his creations are now flat-packed—so before they can settle into their custom lounge chair, his clients have to roll up their sleeves and assemble it themselves. Sun knows that self-assembled furniture has a bad rap in the design world. “I’m exploring people’s conception of something that is flatpacked, and how can that be altered,” he says. The designer’s newest line of seating arrangements— made of solid wood, with exposed hardware—earned him a spot in the 2020 Stockholm Furniture Fair, where he was the only Canadian exhibitor. “My designs are very simple and honest,” says Sun, “and that allows clients to celebrate the fact that they assembled it themselves.”— Alyssa Hirose

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maker

MADE FOR THIS

Kristy Turney of Scandinavia Wolf Designs can’t stop—won’t stop—crafting. by Stacey M c Lachlan // portrait by kyoko fierro

Into the Woods

Kristy and Jeff Turney of Scandinavia Wolf Designs outside their home studio in Squamish, B.C.

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o someone who has art in their blood, “What inspired you to start this brand?” can be a perplexing question. “I didn’t see any other way of living,” says Kristy Turney matter-of-factly. Yes, it wasn’t until 2014 that she started her own decor and jewellery label, Scandinavia Wolf Designs, but doing so was almost inevitable: from a childhood in the Kootenays spent building forts out of any sticks and stones she could find to stints in fashion school and jobs in interior design, painting all the while, Kristy has an innate creativity that’s impossible to untangle from her personality. When she’s not in a woodworking class, she’s at the pottery studio, or at her easel: wherever the muse takes her. For our Maker of the Year, pieces come together less by plan and more by feel. Kristy gathers her materials—wood, ceramics, metal and stone, mainly sourced from the West Coast wilderness and local suppliers—and lets the inspiration flow through her. “I might have a concept in mind, but I just let the energies of the natural materials happen,” she says. “It’s a meditative state. I just get in the zone and the materials kind of make it happen.” Whatever magic is taking place in Kristy’s studio sessions, it’s working. The resulting designs are gorgeous, mixed-media using natural materials with a minimalistic approach.

westernliving.ca

maker Local Foragers

The Unity wall hanger (left), the Ballin hook (below) and Asteroidea (bottom right) are made of clay and locally sourced cherrywood; the Aulopora sculpture (bottom left) is made of hand-sculpted clay and locally foraged wood twigs. Jeff and Kristy (bottom right) are photographed in their Scandinavia Wolf Design shop in Squamish.

Q&A

Y i T

WITH KRISTY TURNEY

What was your first design project? An interior design condo staging where I got the chance to create the pattern designs for the bedding and drapes as well as the bathroom tile design. Super exciting!

What’s your go-to material of choice? Wood, stone or clay. These materials can all be shaped how you want them, but Mother Nature has already put her beautiful stamp on the materials themselves. A couple of my favourite woods are arbutus and cherrywood. For gemstones, jaspers and B.C. nephrite jade are a couple of my faves. Red and calico clays are clays I’m gravitating toward right now.

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The rough-hewn Unity wall hanger pairs a hand-shaped double-glazed clay ring with a sleek, supple maple or cherrywood mount; the Asteroidea hook nestles a cherrywood bead in a spiky sculpted clay surround that looks like a sea anemone starburst; smooth reclaimed driftwood hangs from cotton ropes, now a clever, beachy spot to drape your blanket. Husband Jeff is a partner in the business, too, recently leaving his sales job to help full time both with the admin side of things and with contributing a skill for detailed woodwork finishing that surprised them both. (In addition to their studio, the two run a boutique in Squamish, also called Scandinavia Wolf Designs, that stocks Kristy’s pieces, along with home decor and other locally designed items.) When Kristy dreams up a new idea—say, a series of jacket hooks that look like perfectly polished maple eggs—the two will head out into the woods to find the perfect piece to make the vision into a reality. “She’s an inventor,” says Jeff. “She does things that are off the beaten path. And I pull her a little toward the ‘function-over-form’ camp. We’ve got that yin-and-yang balance.”

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judges ARCHITECTURE AND ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD Rachael Gray earned her graduate degree in architecture from Princeton University and established Gray Partnership in New York City. Gray has served as an advisory board member for the Parsons School of Design and as an assistant instructor at Princeton School of Architecture. Her designs have been reviewed in Interior Design, Elle Decor, Dwell and Interni magazines. Michael Green, founder of Michael Green Architecture, is an award-winning architect, speaker and author known internationally for his research, leadership and advocacy in promoting the use of wood, new technology and innovation in the built environment. A Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Green is the author of several international publications on mass timber and tall wood. Patricia Patkau founded Patkau Architects with her husband, John, in 1978. She is a professor emerita at the University of British Columbia, and has been awarded a Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal for lifetime achievement, as well as membership in the Order of Canada for significant contribution to Canadian culture. FASHION Lyndon Cormack is co-founder and managing director of Herschel Supply Co. and is responsible for overseeing sales and operations. Cormack brings with him several years’ experience working with brands in the fashion industry, and has ownership interest in apparel and lifestyle retailer Need Supply Co., as well as luxury boutique Totokaelo. Nicole Bischofer grew up in Austria creating garments for herself. Today, she’s head of womenswear design for COS. Bischofer’s creative process involves working immediately in three-dimensional shapes, placing and draping swaths of fabric directly on the stand. Bischofer encourages her team to take their ideas and inspiration, no matter how abstract, and immediately bring them to life. Gary Lenett is CEO of Vancouver-based clothing company Duer, which specializes in creating technical proprietary fabrics that bring athletic functionality to streetwear. In addition to dedicated storefronts in Vancouver and Toronto, Duer is now sold in over 300 retailers in 150 cities across North America and Europe. FURNITURE Ross Bonetti is founder and president of Livingspace, a Vancouver-based specialty retailer of European modern furniture, kitchens, closets and bathrooms. In conjunction with Emily Carr University, Bonetti helped establish the Livingspace Industrial Design Scholarship, which is awarded annually to students of the university’s industrial design program. Kate Duncan fell in love with woodwork in a junior high shop class. Twenty-five years later, she can be found in her Toronto-based studio crafting each piece by hand, utilizing traditional joinery techniques and sustainably harvested hardwoods. In 2014 Duncan founded Address, an inclusive annual design show that promotes both wellestablished and up-and-coming creatives. Brent Comber initially began working with wood as a garden designer in early 1990, creating pieces to complement his Pacific Rim-inspired gardens. Brent

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Comber Originals is an art and design studio that creates sculpted objects, functional pieces and design environments. Wendy Youds is VP of product and merchandising at Article, where she leads the product and merchandising team to build a product catalogue that customers love and that meets the unique needs of their space. Previously, Youds worked for international design brands like Lululemon, MEC and Dr. Martens. INDUSTRIAL Matthew McCormick is the designer behind Matthew McCormick Studio, a contemporary design company based in Vancouver. This “lifelong tinkerer” creates designs that range from simple stand-alone fixtures to large-scale illuminated art installations, and is now scaling up to explore new calls for commissions across Europe, Asia and Australia. Massimo Buster Minale is a London architect and industrial designer, and founder of the Buster and Punch label in 2012. In his career, he has carved out a reputation with his precision-cut lighting and beautifully crafted hardware.

Landscape Architecture, in San Francisco. Known for seamlessly interweaving sustainable landscapes, art and architecture, her designs highlight the experiential qualities of the built environment. Paul Sangha is the principal of Paul Sangha Creative, an internationally recognized landscape architectural practice in Vancouver. With over 30 years of experience, Paul Sangha has built his reputation on a pursuit of the highest quality of design, detail and service, establishing the firm as one of Vancouver’s premier design practices. Grant Stewart is principal at Seattle’s Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. With professional experience from around the world, Stewart brings a diverse design and management portfolio to GGN.

in memoriam: J u d s o n

B e au m o nt

Julien Montousse is senior director of design for Mazda North America, overseeing next-generation vehicle design, exterior, interior and brand strategy development. Byron Peart and Dexter Peart, founders of the acclaimed brand Want les Essentiels, launched Goodee in 2017 with the goal of working exclusively with products and items that make a strong social or environmental impact. The B-Corp certified home and lifestyle marketplace is an online destination for curated products and stories from around the globe that connect at the intersection of good design and good purpose. INTERIOR DESIGN AND ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD Jonathan Adler launched his first ceramic collection in 1994. Now his empire encompasses myriad product lines, each dedicated to bringing style, craft and joy to life. Michelle Biggar, principal of Office of McFarlane Biggar, has been practicing interior design for over 20 years. With projects in Canada, Australia and the U.K., her work embraces an extensive range of project types, reaching from hands-on crafting of small projects to project management and design leadership of large-scale, complex, multi-user facilities. David Nicolay is a founding partner and principal of Evoke International Design Inc., a multidisciplinary design firm established in 2000. A master of architecture graduate from Dalhousie University, he co-founded Evoke International Design Inc. to incorporate conceptual thinking, spatial design and graphic design to ensure consistent and coherent branded environments for its clients. Alda Pereira is principal of Alda Pereira Design, a Vancouver-based interior design firm specializing in private residential projects and multi-unit developments. The company has an extensive number of versatile projects throughout North America. LANDSCAPE Andrea Cochran brings over 30 years of thoughtful landscape design to her practice, Andrea Cochran

Vancouver furniture design stalwart Judson Beaumont passed away suddenly on Monday, February 17, at the all-too-young age of 59. As anyone who toured 1000 Parker Street in Vancouver knows— and more than likely learned on the Eastside Culture Crawl—the first time you stumbled into his studio, Straight Line Designs, was a trip. The name itself is the cheeky antithesis of Beaumont’s designs: his furniture was all glorious curves, all how-the-hell-did-he-make-that-by-hand playfulness of cartoon-like chests of drawers, the grandfather clock that was more grandfather than clock, the coffee table that appeared to lift one of its legs to piddle on the carpet. A regular finalist in our Designers of the Year awards, he created a dreamscape of designs that delighted kids and adults alike. “My rule is: if you can draw and design it, you can build it,” he once said. “I love it when someone tells me, ‘You cannot build that’ or ‘No one would want that.’ These words only encourage me more.”

ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING INTERIOR DESIGNER Alex Dampsey Design, Vancouver Amanda Evans Interiors, North Vancouver Hazel and Brown Design Company, Vancouver Form Interiors, Calgary Madeleine Design Group, Vancouver One Seed Architecture and Interiors, Victoria Peter Wilds Design, Vancouver PlaidFox Studio, Vancouver Rochelle Cote Interior Design, Calgary Rudy Winston Design, Vancouver SchĂŠdio Spaces, Vancouver Vancouver Development, Vancouver

ARCHITECTURE Alloy Homes, Calgary Burgers Architecture, Vancouver Frits de Vries Architects and Associates, Vancouver Hodgson Design Associates, Vancouver JWT Architecture and Planning, North Vancouver The Marc Boutin Architectural Collaborative, Calgary Measured Architecture, Vancouver Davignon Martin Architecture and Interior Design, Calgary Sturgess Architecture, Calgary Synthesis Design, Vancouver Vallely Architecture, North Vancouver

FURNITURE DESIGN AdrianMartinus Design, Calgary Autonomous Furniture, Victoria Henry Sun Studio, Vancouver Kurva Design, Victoria New Format Studio, Vancouver Origins, Vancouver Solo by Allan Switzer, Vancouver Thom Fougere Studio, Winnipeg

ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING ARCHITECT OR RESIDENTIAL DESIGNER Adam Becker Design, Vancouver Noble Architecture and Interiors, Vancouver One Seed Architecture and Interiors, Victoria RUFproject, Vancouver Vallely Architecture, North Vancouver

INTERIOR DESIGN Alykhan Velji Designs, Calgary Amanda Hamilton Interior Design, Calgary Enviable Designs, Vancouver Falken Reynolds Interiors, Vancouver Hazel and Brown Design Company, Vancouver Hodgson Design Associates, Vancouver Marrimor, Vancouver Measured Architecture, Vancouver Nyla Free Designs, Calgary RUFproject, Vancouver Sophie Burke Design, Vancouver Stephanie Brown Inc., Vancouver

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INDUSTRIAL DESIGN Moni El Batrik, Vancouver Nikki Alagha Design, Vancouver Onetwosix, Edmonton Origins, Vancouver Quake Studio, Vancouver Tantalus Design, North Vancouver

finalists

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Acacia Landscape, Victoria Green Over Grey, Vancouver JWT Architecture and Planning, North Vancouver

MAKER/ONE OF A KIND Printable Minds, Edmonton Scandinavia Wolf Designs, Squamish, B.C.

FASHION DESIGN Grandi, Coquitlam, B.C. Irene Rasetti, Calgary Parts and Labor, Calgary Scandinavia Wolf Designs, Squamish, B.C.

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ONLY 16 HOMES REMAIN The Van Maren Group started construction of The Cottages on Osoyoos Lake in 2012. The vision was to create a one-of-a-kind retirement and vacation community of 285 homes with plenty of green space and resort style amenities, all connected by a beautiful private sandy beach on Osoyoos Lake. Cottages site 2012

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HOME COURT ADVANTAGE With our borders effectively closed, we to look to our own backyard and zero in on the spots that make us consider leaving our passports in the drawer indefinitely. by neal m c lennan

11:44 AM

Rachael Griffin

Rockin’ Good Times

When you’re done eating on Galiano Island, there are a few other sights to hold your interest.

westernliving.ca / e a r ly f a l l

2020

FOOD + TRAVEL • HOME STAY

Victoria’s Hidden Gem

Classics Major

The rooms at the Union Club skew traditional, in the best sense.

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The tourist mecca of Victoria has always punched above its weight class when it comes to lodging. For the deep-pocketed, the recently refurbished Fairmont Empress, with its primo location, is tough to beat. For architecture buffs, Arthur Erickson’s Laurel Point is a winner. And for foodies, the nondescript exterior of the Magnolia Hotel contains the frequently wonderful Courtney Room restaurant. But hidden in plain sight among them is the most quirky, steeped-in-history room you’re likely to find this side of Winnipeg. The Union Club of B.C. was founded in 1879 and it’s not hyperbole to say that the province’s future has been frequently charted in its august quarters. As befitting a proper club, they’ve long kept rooms (22) for visiting members and dignitaries, but as use dropped off the club quietly opened them to the general public, albeit in the most low-key of ways. So, for roughly half of what the neighbouring Empress charges, you can come in through the club’s majestic entryway on Gordon Street and transport yourself back to the birth of B.C. The rooms are—thankfully—modern and the club retains the patina of exclusivity but with a modern civility. It is, simply put, the coolest place to stay in town—just keep it between us, ok?

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FOOD + TRAVEL • HOME STAY

Galiano’s Foodie Trail

1 Tranquilo

The new kid on the block was just opened this year by the island’s other Jesse, Jesse Keefer, a former competitive cyclist who took over the Bodega Ridge cabins on the island’s north end in 2003. COVID meant that the normal influx of weddings evaporated, so Keefer pivoted into an elevated restaurant that feels nothing like a pivot. Brunch is slain here: the Papa chorizo is worthy of an island named after Spanish explorer Dionisio Alcalá Galiano. The fried chicken is off the charts, too.

For the longest while, Salt Spring reigned supreme as the one Gulf Island you hit if you’re among those of the foodie persuasion (with the minor exception of Canada Day, when the legendary Saturna Lamb BBQ takes its turn to reign supreme). But five years ago a chef named Jesse McCleery, young in age but long in experience with cooking in high-end resorts, decided he wanted a place of his own. He chose a modest little spot a third of the way up Galiano and suddenly the skinny island best known as the last stop on the ferry back to Vancouver became a “Foodie Destination.” And now— sorry Salt Spring, Pender and Mayne—the competition is not even close. Here are four spots on this idyllic little sliver of land that are worth the ferry trip.

2 The Crane and Robin

Not far from the rustic elegance of Pilgrimme is this airy room overlooking Montague Harbour, serving cold craft beer and a predominantly Mexican menu with an energy that suits its maritime perch. The fish tacos come with local catch and are topped with veggies from nearby Cable Bay Farm, and the cod chowder actually reminds you you’re on an island. This season it’s takeout only, but that allows you to take your bounty and head down to the dock and watch as the energy of an active harbour flows over you.

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Pilgrimme The OG of Gali is not only the best restaurant in the area, on any given night it can also throw its chef’s hat (or at least McCleery’s ever-present black toque) in the ring as the best restaurant in the province. When it’s firing, it’s the stuff of dreams—a chef who seemingly cooks from pure passion and whose $85 nine-ish course tasting menu (hope you like kelp!) is the definition of handcrafted and almost invariably seems underpriced. A goddamn treasure. 8 6 e a r ly f a l l

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4 Oxeye

I fear including this gem may raise the ire of the locals, who cherish this Sturdies Bay modern café as their own. And, why wouldn’t they? Insanely delicious baked goods, larder boxes full of island produce—and then they’ll drop a daily housemade pasta that’s out of this world... for $14. How do we clone this place, says everybody in Ganges.

Pilgrimme: Kris Krug; Tranquilo: Jarusha Brown

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FOOD + TRAVEL • HOME STAY

Wine Country’s First Great Inn (Finally)

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Return of the King

Okanagan native Ned Bell is returning home and bringing some hospitality with him.

John Holland

First-time oenophile tourists to the Okanagan usually come away with two thoughts: these are the most beautiful vineyards on the continent; and, the lodging isn’t quite there yet. We have some top drawer urban hotels (the Nick Bevanda-designed annex to the Penticton Lakeside Resort pops to mind) and some great rooms attached to wineries (Burrowing Owl is the OG; Hester Creek; the modern rooms at Orofino) but we don’t have that wine country inn that’s so prevalent in California—great design, great food, cool, stylish owners who know all the good wineries to hit. Until now. Chef Ned Bell, wife Kate Colley and partners Maria Wiesner and Paul Hollands have transformed the 112 years of raw potential that was the Naramata Inn into our first great wine country lodging. The Okanagan-born Bell has perhaps the greatest Western Canadian resumé (Calgary’s Murrieta, Kelowna’s Cabana, Vancouver’s Yew, OceanWise) and early reports from the kitchen are stellar. The 12 rooms are that right blend of thread count, casual and location. In a season of staying close to home, we finally have our own Napa experience.

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The Look

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When the raw material is this beautiful, why would you cover it up? Architects Leland Dadson and Yvonne Popovska chose cross-laminated timber (CLT) for the structure of this Vancouver home for its sustainability, but the wood itself made such a bold visual impact that she decided to skip the drywall and let the material shine. Pair the floor and ceiling panelling with a matching wood table (designed by Popovska and milled, constructed and finished by the owners, a spirited couple in their 70s) and you’ve got a textured-but-neutral backdrop for a vibrant painting from Vancouver artist Brixton Neufeld, sourced on the Eastside Culture Crawl. “The space feels warm, even on grey rainy days,” says Popovska.

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