CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun Intern architect David Battersby sits on the stairs of his unit in the house he shares with Heather Howat. Their workspace is a shared area.

CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun The East Vancouver house is a showcase to the intern architects’ design approach to urban living.

Many urbanites determined to own a home in the city make compromises and settle for small spaces or less-than-ideal neighbourhoods. But that doesn’t mean they have to give up their visions of owning a great home.

The key to living well in small city places is in the design. And today’s architects, particularly in a place like Vancouver, are coming up with innovative ideas to create spaciousness on small city lots and improve upon streetscapes.

Intern architects Heather Howat and David Battersby have done just that in a run-down East Vancouver neighbourhood, near Hastings and Commercial Drive.

The modern home they built two years ago is so design-savvy it was selected as one of 21 to be featured in an exhibit called Living Spaces: 21 Contemporary Canadian Homes. The show opened last month in Cambridge, Ontario and continues until Nov. 21.

Exhibit curator John Ota, in a recent article for Canadian Architect, noted a “dishevelled street of chain-link fencing and abandoned spray-painted buildings in East Vancouver is not the first place one would look for one of the city’s most innovative and alluring homes.”

But Ota noted while many of the city’s best and brightest architects “flee to the burbs, this new design firm is intent on challenging convention, maintaining its principles and delivering cutting-edge design.”

Both Battersby and Howat believe no matter where the home is located it is still worthwhile to create a “space of value.”

The couple, who were once married, have built a home with separate units and a shared office — spaces that suit their individual lifestyles and maximize every square foot on the Vancouver standard 33 by 122 square foot lot.

“You can pack a lot of diversity into a small [building] envelope,” said Battersby, whose 1,100-square-foot unit is shared with his partner Bradley Thompson, two dogs and a cat.

(Howat’s unit, including the shared office on her side of the home, is about 1,350 square feet.)

“It’s about being realistic of how you live your lives and setting up a scenario where you make the space efficient as possible without making it mean. Sufficiency often suggests marginal, but we always try to focus on quality and not quantity,” said Battersby.

Howat adds some of their favourite projects have been the most challenging – clients with small lots and small budgets. This is something they know, considering they too were in the same dilemma, wanting to make the most out of their limited lot size and budget.

The home they built now serves as a showcase to their design approach to urban living – one that is realistic and affordable. The cost to build their living/work space was about $180 a square foot. But Howat estimates to achieve something similar today would be around $200 to $250 a square foot – still considerably less than the average $420 a square foot to build in downtown Vancouver.

She said before moving to East Vancouver they had always lived in the city’s downtown or west-end, but changed locations because it was so much more affordable.

CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun Heather Howat and David Battersby find a shared office space works well, although their living arrangements are separate.

CREDIT: Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun The open-concept design of Howat’s unit (left) has continuous glass windows that create a secure, loft-like feeling.

“The [original] house here was an old-timer in wretched shape,” she said, of the decision to tear it down and start from scratch. “The area was in transition.”

Battersby is more blunt in his assessment of the neighbourhood, noting “the whole street was held hostage by kids who were squatting in one of the homes.”

“We have a 90-year-old neighbour who didn’t go outside because he was so terrified,” said Battersby.

That is no longer the case.

“The illegal activity has diminished in part because we’re always here. We can look out these windows [from their front office] and see everything.”

Battersby adds while the city isn’t particularly supportive of home-based offices the advantage is they can keep an eye on the neighbourhood and report problems quickly to police.

Both Battersby and Howat said while they love their neighbours they aren’t thrilled with the “architecture of the neighbourhood.”

Their contemporary style home, built of glass, wood and grey stucco stands out among the bungalows, “Vancouver Specials” and squat apartments nestled nearby.

“We’ve always believed basically you can’t control your neighbours but you can always control your context,” said Howat.

Thus, their own home is an oasis of calm. Even the step into the front yard creates a sense of tranquility. The entrance was designed precisely forcing visitors to turn and face the garden before meandering down the communal pathway that leads to separate unit entrances.

Battersby, whose background is in landscape architecture, and Thompson, who owns the landscaping company Dig-It, have a space that focuses on their garden. While their home is behind Howat’s southern-facing unit the sloping roof helps to increase the amount of sunshine their garden receives.

Wall to wall windows and a back glass door that steps out onto their patio was built low, at a height of 6’3″ to block out the view of rooftops beyond.

Howat’s home was also built with her specific needs in mind. Because she is single and concerned about safety her home is one where visitors “step up” to reach and its open concept and continuous glass windows create a secure, loft-like feeling.

Her home also is shielded from an unsightly view of the neighbourhood thanks to fast-growing bamboo, that lets in a soft filtered light.

As for their office the view is at grade level to the front door garden and again it typifies their approach to design.

“It’s a tight environment but it works pretty efficiently,” said Battersby.

“We do a lot of expensive custom homes [in their design firm] but we love doing urban homes, particularly like this where there is a challenge of having limited space.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004