wong Residence - Burnaby, BC
Story
The clients, a family of five, have made their home in a North Burnaby community. They purchased the site for its large yard, quiet neighbourhood, and direct connection to Beecher Creek. Their priorities are rooted in outdoor living, gardening, calm surroundings, and the ability to host friends and extended family—often up to 14 guests at a time—while creating a lasting home of their own.
Family life, with 3 teen/pre-teenaged children, has begun to outgrow the existing 1960’s house. Drafty windows, a leaky envelope, smaller communal spaces, shared bedrooms and bathrooms, and a less-than-ideal layout have led the clients to seek out a new-build solution.
Vision
The home needed to be designed to be multi-generational and adaptable, so the program is organized across two levels. Communal spaces, the secondary suite, and a guest suite are located on the main floor, while family-focused and individual spaces are placed above. The secondary suite can serve as a mortgage helper, while the guest suite can accommodate elderly grandparents in the near future. Over time, the arrangement allows the husband and wife to move first into the guest suite and eventually into the secondary suite, enabling one of their children to take over the primary residence. The design and details must also be suitable for the changing climate as they plan to age-in-place here.
Response
The design was shaped by the site, program, and budget in equal measure. The clients’ desired patterns of use, the relationships between spaces, and the need for separation where appropriate guided the layout. Because the site slopes down 3.3 metres from front to rear and the budget did not allow for a basement, the plan also had to be carefully resolved in section.
The solution was to selectively step the main level down the site, minimizing excavation and limiting changes to the topography while preserving the aging-in-place goals of the program. This creates a compressed entry experience that gradually expands along the main corridor toward the communal spaces and rear yard, allowing occupants to remain connected to their position on the land.
Rather than treating the home as a freestanding block surrounded by landscape, the design weaves landscape through the site by placing an intimate, private courtyard between the house and detached garage.
Selectively placed glazing and an operable skylight above the main stairs support whole-home cross-ventilation and bring daylight deep into the home. Together, these strategies help reduce reliance on mechanical air conditioning and allow the clients to witness the light and shadow of the day and dynamics of the changing seasons throughout the year.
The secondary suite is positioned towards the front of the site giving its users an enhanced sense of privacy and separation from the primary residence.
The form, envelope, and internal organization allow the home to be thermally efficient and relatively affordable to build. By stacking approximately 80% of the walls, the layout reduces the need for engineered structural members while supporting a more affordable construction strategy.