Bellevue Residence

Our client approached us with a rare empty lot in West Point Grey, perched high above Spanish Banks Beach. Located in a hillside neighbourhood where the streets run at 45 degrees to the rest of the Vancouver grid, the sloped property faces Burrard Inlet, across English Bay towards Stanley Park and the downtown core. The Client brief was clear yet complex: to design a primary residence and laneway home that celebrate one of Vancouver’s most remarkable vistas, accommodate the Client’s adult children and their families, and support the Client’s changing mobility needs.

The property is uphill from the street, and most neighbouring homes have steep steps leading to their front doors. Working with City Planners, we introduced a level entry path cut into the landscape to create a wheelchair-accessible path from the sidewalk. A rear courtyard opposite the sunken entry connects the lower floor landscape front to back. Adjacent to the courtyard, the stair and elevator are located at the rear of the house to prioritize front-facing views for primary spaces. The lower floor is clad in black basalt, disappearing into the landscape and reducing the apparent mass of the home. The experience is of entering the home by passing under the floating level above.

The rear garden is level with the second floor, which is dedicated to the bedrooms and a secondary entrance from the garage. By shifting the home’s main foyer to the sidewalk level, the full width of the mid-floor’s front elevation is dedicated to light-filled bedrooms with views. The owner’s suite is clad in limestone with continuous windows connecting the rooms, separated by sliding door panels which can close off the owner’s den, bedroom and ensuite from one another. The son’s suite, adjacent to and slightly set back from the the owner’s suite, is expressed as a void of windows; a deliberate move to emphasize the floating effect of the glass box above.

The third floor houses the primary living spaces: living room, dining, kitchen and den. Conceived as a delicate, ethereal glass pavilion, this level is panoramically connected to the views and a large roof terrace. Vancouver’s height-envelope restrictions required the upper floor to step in from the level below, but the design turns this into an advantage: the terrace is tucked to the side of the glass volume rather than in front, preserving sightlines uninterrupted by guardrails. Glazing stretches past the floor and ceiling planes, dissolving boundaries so the view feels immersive. Above this level is another generous roof deck, also accessed by the elevator.

Car access is from the rear lane, roughly level with the upper floor of the main home. The laneway house and garage are connected to the rear garden by a stair and an accessibility lift.  By shifting the main home’s upper floor east and positioning the laneway house to the west in alignment with the terrace, the laneway house shares ocean views while maintaining privacy from the main residence.