Modernizing the Popular Vancouver Special House Style
Vancouver Specials are still a popular style of house in Vancouver, with lots of these homes in Vancouver needing a modern renovation. The homes were generally built very well, with easy to utilize spaces, great floor plans if you need the mortgage helper suite and garages.
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If you’re looking for some ideas on renovating Vancouver Specials, take a look at these three articles. It’s a good mix of standard updates and full scale changes to the home. As always, let us know if you have any questions about Vancouver Specials – we have a lot of experience in renovations (large and small) as well as good connections with fantastic modern architects and developers in Vancouver.
Our WeLoveEastVan Team Member Rob Zwick renovated his own Vancouver Special a few years ago. Photos and blog updates about the project are on his Vancouver Special Reno Blog. Though it was a large renovation, it’s still very reminiscent of a Vancouver Special.
Vancouver Special Reno by D’Arcy Jones Architecture
View the Huffington Post article here.
This Vancouver Special reno (the main photo above is of the exterior) by D’Arcy Jones shows a large interior renovation as he flipped the typical floor plan, moving the kitchen and living spaces to the main floor, with the bedrooms upstairs. Along with utilizing the attached garage space as interior space (and adding a detached carport), the main level living space allows the owners to have a good connection to the backyard. The architect included large windows and skylights to ensure the home has a lot of natural light, and opened up the stairs to allow for good light flow through the main floor.
Though I don’t know the intricate details of this renovation, I imagine it would’ve cost somewhere between $300k and $400k.
Vancouver Special Reno by Iconstrux Architecture
View the Contemporist Article here.
This Vancouver Special retained some aspects of a typical Vancouver Special, but made some large changes to the exterior of the home creating a very unique style of home with lots of modern details and materials, and clean lines. There aren’t enough interior photos to get a good sense of the space, but the exterior shows that anything is possible, even if you retain some of the original architecture.
Hopefully these renovations give you some inspiration to tackle your own Vancouver Special Renovation in the near future.
