Western Living September 2023

WL Interior Designers of the Year Kelly Reynolds and Chad Falkenberg of Falken Reynolds

DISCOVER CALIFORNIA CLOSETS – BC

Two fabulous California Closets locations serving the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area

California Closets is delighted to announce the grand opening of a beautiful Burnaby showroom located on 5049 Still Creek Avenue. We have also upgraded our latest Vancouver showroom (situated in the heart of South Granville) to include the all the latest finishes and design ideas.

We invite you to stop by for a visit to either showroom where our customer liaisons will help you get started in turning your rooms into beautiful and functional spaces. The showroom is a place that immediately brings calm in our otherwise chaotic world. The options are unlimited, from walk-in closets, reach-

in closets, media centers, murphy beds, home offices and pantries, with a new collection of 24 finishes to complement any home design.

For more than four decades, California Closets has built a reputation as a leader in premium and luxury space design, delivering truly custom products and unparalleled service. We’ve helped transform spaces and allowed people to get more out of their homes and do more in their everyday lives.

We believe exceptional design and organization can transform people’s lives. We see home as more than a place—it

is a source of comfort and refuge, a space for connection and celebration. Everything we do at California Closets is rooted in our commitment to offer quality custom storage solutions that help people become better versions of themselves, with more time and space to focus on what matters most.

We are here for you. From the individual homeowner, custom home builder or large scale developer, California Closets offers the ultimate in design expertise, worldclass manufacturing and expert installation to help you organize all the rooms in your home.

All California Closets systems are custom manufactured in Burnaby, BC, at “CC BC’s” new stateof-the art manufacturing facility. Exclusive to California Closets is our lifetime warranty.

HOMES + DESIGN

15

TRADE SECRETS

Farmer’s Daughter Interiors creates the perfect prep kitchen for a busy family.

16

SHOPPING + OPENINGS

Bold floor coverings, innovative office chairs and more of the latest and greatest from top design stores.

20

GREAT SPACES

A Calgary boutique thinks pink (long before a certain doll-inspired movie came out).

22

THE BIG SHOW

IDS Vancouver has returned: here’s what to expect at the best design show in the West.

26

MY PUGLIA

Designer Ami McKay shares her go-to Italian itinerary.

FEATURES

31

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

It’s our favourite annual issue: the Designers of the Year awards are back

86

FINALISTS

But wait, there’s more—meet all the finalists who wowed our 2023 DOTY judges.

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JUDGES

Local and international design icons alike make up the 2023 Designers of the Year judging panel.

FOOD + TRAVEL

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ONE-POT WONDER

Boxed macaroni and cheese gets an elevated makeover thanks to expert chefs.

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FEELING OK

Our favourite recipes from the newly published Okanagan Eats cookbook.

101 THE L.A. AGENDA

Your sun-soaked guide to a jampacked weekend in Los Angeles.

PLUS

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MOOD BOARD

Francesca Albertazzi injects fun into often-overlooked spaces: here’s more of what keeps her inspired.

Aly Velji/Michelle Johnson; Stria pendant: Propellor/Nik Rust; Tanvi Arora and Simon Montgomery: Kyoko Fierro; Bioi: Eymeric Widling

INspiration Furniture proudly unveils its dedicated Natuzzi Italia showroom, showcasing a comprehensive collection of exquisite furniture. Step inside to discover an extensive range of armchairs, beds, dining tables, area rugs, and accessories crafted by the renowned Italian brand. The spotlight remains on Natuzzi's iconic sofas, which have solidified their position as leaders in living-room design and unparalleled comfort. Highlighting the showroom's diverse selection are the Adam and Skyline sofas, designed in collaboration with Marcel Wanders. Additionally, a rare limited edition olive wood torsion table stands as a true gem among the displays. Natuzzi's commitment to Italian craftsmanship and luxurious furnishings is evident throughout, making this showroom a must-visit destination for discerning buyers.

*Skyline Sofa

*Briq Bed

*Torsion Table *Adam Sofa

westernliving.ca

ceo & group publisher Ryan Benn

group vice president, publishing & operations Nina Wagner

editorial

editorial director Anicka Quin

editors-in-chief Nathan Caddell ( BCBusiness ), Janine Verreault ( Vancouver magazine)

managing editor Alyssa Hirose

assistant editors Kerri Donaldson, Rushmila Rahman

editor-at-large Stacey McLachlan

wine and spirits editor Neal McLennan

contributing editors Melissa Edwards, Amanda Ross, Julie Van Rosendaal

editorial intern Tanushi Bhatnagar

email mail@westernliving.ca

design

senior art director Jenny Reed

art directors Stesha Ho, Edwin Pabellon

sales representation

vice president of sales Anna Lee

senior media specialists Brianne Harper, Mira Hershcovitch, Amy LaJambe, Sheri Stubel

sales specialist Roberto Diaz

email sales@canadawide.com

production/administration

group vice president, education and administration Jane Griffiths

vice president of hr/admin Joy Ginete-Cockle

director of operations Devin Steinberg

production manager/digital

ad coordinator Kim McLane

production support technician Ina Bowerbank

director of circulation Tracy McRitchie

circulation Kelly Kalirai

executive assistant Hannah Dewar

publisher emeritus Peter Legge, OBC, LL.D (HON)

finance

group vice president, finance Conroy Ing, CPA, CMA

vice president of finance Sonia Roxburgh, CPA, CGA

accounting Terri Mason, Eileen Gajowski

Design by Falken Reynolds/photo by Ema Peter

MACKENZIE STREET

DESIGNED BY STEPHANIE BROWN INC.

Photography: Ema Peter

LOUIS XIV COLLECTION I CHAMPAGNE PARQUET & PLANKS

Design with Purpose

Each year, as we put together our annual WL Designers of the Year issue, we send a survey out to our winners. It’s a series of questions meant to help our readers get to know who they are and how they think, from “What are you listening to right now?” (’80s alternative for Knight Varga’s Trish Knight, Justin Bieber “courtesy of my kids” for SMStudio’s Simon Montgomery) to “What do people often get wrong about design?” The latter question, I find, is very effective at eliciting responses that illuminate how a talented designer can make all the difference on a project. (The former is just fun to know.)

For Chad Falkenberg, one-half of Falken Reynolds—this year’s WL Interior Designers of the Year—the question of what most people get wrong about design is pretty simple: forgetting to ask “What is it supposed to do?” until after they decide how it should look. You see that commitment to purpose throughout the body of work we celebrate in this issue: it’s function-first design, beautifully done. If the homeowner has a dog, for example, the Falken Reynolds team will have a conversation about pup-life before the first draft of the design even starts. “Let’s figure out how you feed them, and how often they go out, and where you are going to put the leash,” says Falkenberg. “And then we can plan everything so that a big part of their life is taken care of.”

The nine winners of our 2023 Designers of the Year awards—their fields ranging from architecture to jewellery design—all understand intimately that holistic place where design meets living. From a furniture designer who dared to reinvent the dining chair to a residential designer who brought durable, industrial-grade materials to the exterior of a Vancouver home (solving a major setback issue as a result), these WL Designers of the Year are, at their essence, problem solvers. And if their solutions are gorgeous too? Well, we think that’s even more reason to honour them here.

A huge congratulations to each of these inspiring winners. If you would like to meet a few of the designers we profile in this issue, join us in-person in Vancouver on September 14, when we celebrate together at our WL Designers of the Year awards party. Head to westernliving.ca for more details; meanwhile, I hope to see you there!

Anicka Quin , Editorial Director anicka.quin@westernliving.ca

Follow Anicka on Instagram @aniqua

Anicka Quin portrait: Evaan Kheraj; styling by Luisa Rino, stylist assistant Araceli Ogrinc; makeup by Melanie Neufeld; outfit courtesy Holt Renfrew, holtrenfrew.com Follow Western

From Concept to Cooking

Combining standard & custom cabinetry sizes and features helps create your dream kitchen while optimizing your investment.

HOMES+DESIGN >

Spotlighting the best of architecture and design in Western Canada.

TRADE SECRETS

Designed by KELSEY GROSE, Farmer’s Daughter Interiors Swift Current, Saskatchewan

The Look: Feeling Preppy

When your kitchen is the most hightraffic area of your home, you’re going to get a few rush-hour jams now and then. But rather than endure the chaos, one busy Saskatchewan family reached out to Kelsey Grose of Farmer’s Daughter Interiors to help redirect the morning traffic and bring some calm back to breakfast. With the addition of this soothing prep kitchen—all warm wood details paired with Benjamin Moore’s Carolina Gull green—the teens now have their own space to make smoothies or pull together the day’s lunch on the clean quartz counters while staying visually connected to the rest of the fam through the charming arched doorway.

Delina Langridge

Eco Elegance

This eco-chic Ocean OC2 lounge chair ($635) by Mater cradles you in comfort as you enjoy the great outdoors (or wherever you wish to lounge in style). With a rich green hue and sleek design, it’s sustainably made using discarded beer kegs and upcycled plastics for the perfect blend of style and eco-consciousness. austingoods.ca

Noteworthy

New in

Flip the Script

In the spirit of Missy Elliott’s iconic line (putting things down, flipping them, reversing them), the Poldina upside-down portable lamp ($255) takes a playful twist on lighting solutions. This quirky floor lamp look-alike is cord-free and ideal for ambient lighting, and its base doubles as a convenient container. lightformshop.com

Asari Office Chair by Herman Miller, $2,407. eq3.com

I’m a big believer in mixing high and low when it comes to furniture—for example, in my living room, the forest green sectional that set me back a few thousand dollars exists comfortably alongside a set of $20 chairs in poppy colours that are tucked under my free-from-Grandma’s-house dining table. It’s important to know what items are worth the splurge, and as I sit here typing (as I often do), I know that an office chair is one of those things. Herman Miller’s latest offering, an upholstered rolling chair designed by Naoto Fukasawa, is both ergonomic and beautiful. B onus: it comes in yellow.

Alyssa Hirose, managing editor

For more editors’ picks visit westernliving.ca

Flower Power

Retro meets modern in Verloop’s Flower stripe throw ($225). The bold quilt patterns in olive, salmon, red and cobalt blue bring a pop of colour to any space—perfect for cozying up on cool nights or adding vintage charm to a modern space. shopvanspecial.com

Artful Repose

In celebration of Togo’s 50th anniversary, Ligne Roset presents the limited-edition special upholstery Toile du Peintre sofa (from $3,463). This v ibrant, painterly piece (inspired by the art of Heather Chontos), is more than seating—it’s a masterpiece. But act fast: this canvas of comfort is only available until December 2023. livingspace.com

Subtle Stunner

Whether in a cozy living room, a chic office or an avant-garde gallery, the Piston side table ($1,985) by Objects and Ideas is a real charmer. Quietly stealing the spotlight wherever it’s placed, the impeccably crafted table is a sculptural marvel that’s a great conversation starter. providehome.com

EDITOR’S PICK

Petals of Poise

Inspired by a blooming flower, the Hana chair ($628 for a set of 2) by Simone Bonanni for Moooi is an elegant blend of organic shapes and petallike curves. But it’s not just about looks—it’s about making it yours. Choose from six pleasing colours and finishes, and even customize the base for seating that’s sure to flourish. livingspace.com

Step into the ring of restful slumber with the Shiko Wien bed by Miniforms ($7,000 for a queen). Drawing inspiration from the “shiko” stomp of sumo wrestling, this bed blends strength and serenity. Its soft, mesmerizing natural Vienna straw cane headboard (also in black) provides a warm, natural aesthetic to your bedroom for a peaceful sleep you won’t have to wrestle with. dwellmodern.ca

Mix and Mingle

Two for the price of one— but make it stylish. That’s the Thomas Bentzen Mingle cushions ($195) from Muuto’s Fall 2023 collection: a playful mix of contrasting Kvadrat textiles—smooth and textured—in complementary muted tones. And here’s the best part: they’re reversible. grshop.com

Venetian Dawn

The Rialto console (from $10,487 USD) brings the beauty of Venice right into your living room. Inspired by the historic Rialto Bridge, it blends timeless elegance with modern design. The welded aluminum frame, transparent grey (or light-reflecting) glass top and indirect LED lighting casts an ethereal glow not unlike a Venetian sunset. inform interiors.com

VANCOUVER Monos

Travel buffs and adventureseekers: a new travel and lifestyle store has just landed in Vancouver. Kitsilano’s Monos is transporting shoppers with a tunnel-like shop that spotlights hybrid luggage, impact-friendly carry-ons and the Metro Weekender bag. There are also airplane-regulation slots to realistically check that carry-on size. Monos is designed in Vancouver and is Climate Neutral Certified—they’ve got this in the bag. 2131 W 4th Ave.

VANCOUVER Ligne Roset’s Shop-in-Shop at Livingspace

This September, Livingspace is spicing up Vancouver’s Armoury District with a sleek Ligne Roset shop-in-shop. Celebrating 50 years of the iconic Togo design, the space will feature two limitededition sofas: the artsy Toile du Peintre (see page 16) and the chic Atom ($5,356). But that’s not all—expect a parade of French luxury with pieces like the Prado sofa by Christian Werner, the Pumpkin armchair by Pierre Paulin, the new Marechiaro bookshelf by Philippe Nigro and the Oxydation coffee table by Kateryna Sokolova. Housed in a former glass-blowing studio, this stylish annex is your stop for the best in highend home furnishings. 1706 W 1st Ave.

Sumo Slumber

KI ATELIER: IMMERSIVE STORAGE DESIGN

Custom Millwork + Storage

Known for its gorgeous custom kitchen designs, KI Atelier goes beyond, supplying complete millwork packages for the entire home, including closets, built-in units, TV and living room units, closets, and modern vanities. In fact, nearly any custom storage solution is possible.

Kitchen Infinity Atelier—Gastown’s immersive kitchen and cabinetry design experience where blueprints and samples are only the beginning. Step inside the 7,000-square-foot, family-owned showroom and discover a world where your drawings, design dreams, and Pinterest musings are welcome among the designers’ expertise, and custom, luxury spaces take shape.

“We invite high-end, DYI-curious homeowners to explore the showroom and explore their Q&As and wish lists with our design team,” says Carlos Muller, principal with KI Atelier.

This is where the magic happens, as clients can explore the project elements— colour, texture, surfaces and storage options—and make changes on the fly. The best part? KI Atelier has most of the hardware, cabinets, drawers and other components in the showroom, configured in sample layouts.

“Our approach is to go through an exhaustive interview process with the customer and resolve their storage needs by checking on the volumes of articles that are to be stored and designing their custom furniture to fit it efficiently and access it ergonomically,” Muller says.

Your Dressing Space

Renowned Italian kitchen manufacturer Aran Cucine, known for its world-class quality craftsmanship and design, brings elegance to KI Atelier millwork packages—particularly with its Night series, the perfect addition to any walk-in or reach-in closet, bedroom or dressing area.

Envision a walnut island with an optional glass top, customizable drawers and sliding shelves—each piece made 100% in Italy with exquisite detail. Outer wardrobe doors might be dressed in eco-leather, fabric, high-gloss lacquer, glass or wood, while the interior goes beyond shelves and drawers to customizable shirt storage, pull-out trouser racks, shoe racks, elegant glass pull-out shelves, drawers with small compartments for ties or jewelry, and built-in LED lighting. If you can dream it, Aran can supply it.

These gorgeous pieces are also environmentally savvy—Aran produces everything it sells from recycled, ethical sustainable materials. Its mainly Forest Stewardship Council certified wood is processed at its facility, which operates an internal waste collection system that recycles 90% of its waste. Soon, Aran will be self-sufficient, thanks to its four solar plants and more on the way.

Discover Your Dream Space

KI Atelier’s space at 101 Water St. has beautiful displays of custom storage and millwork components, cleverly peppered between the kitchen displays.

“The immersive experience means every design dollar spent on the project is productive,” Muller says. “Our design mandate is to ensure that the project is as beautiful as the client’s dreams, yet functional every step of the way.”

Learn more at kiatelier.com, kiatelier.com/closets

@ arancucine.ca

@ kitcheninfinityatelier

Gorgeous, functional and fully customized walk-in closets, built-in units, modern vanities and all-purpose storage solutions at KI Atelier will transform your home

DEAR SUGAR

Designer Alykhan Velji gives a flagship salon a sweet and strong aesthetic.

By Jacquie Moore / Photos by Michelle Johnson

While the words “body hair removal” may not summon tranquility into your heart, a newly opened esthetics boutique in northwest Calgary could significantly diminish the dread that can accompany such services. When owner Ashley Watt of Sucré Body Sugaring Boutique decided to open a third space in the Crowfoot Crossing neighbourhood, she hired designer Alykhan Velji to create a flagship location that stood out from the brand’s other studios while still following its signature blush pink and brass palette.

Sucré opened its original location eight years ago on 17th Avenue in Calgary’s Southwest, and its second in McKenzie Towne a couple of years later. Watts soon engaged Velji to boost her look with colour and details that would add warmth and luxury to both the customer and staff experience. The designer introduced a theme you could call “rosy feminism,” with pastel pinks, light wood tones and framed photographs of 1960s bombshells. In the newest location, he carries that theme further with a space dominated by pink hues and strong, sexy edges in the textures, furniture and fabric. It’s a sophisticated, pre-Barbie-mania pink that never tips to bubble-gum.

“When using pinks in design, you have to be careful that it doesn’t come across as too juvenile,” says Velji. “We wanted to create a feeling of beauty and strength.”

Indeed, softness tempers the hard edges from the moment you walk into the salon. A stained-glass wall treatment at the entrance diffuses harsh prairie light into a warm glow, and a monolithic reception desk doubles as a powerful piece of sculptural art. Each treatment room has a different pink-hued wallpaper, with patterns that range from languid naked ladies to ’60s-era geometric. Hardware, shelves and side tables in brass and rose-gold tones punctuate every space, as do hints of black in photo and mirror frames. Angular herringbone wood floors meet soft fabric drapes and a curved, pastelpink loveseat.

All in all, the salon creates the effect that you’ve drifted into an exquisite little universe—from which you’ll exit stronger and more confident than when you arrived.

Balancing Act

A round mirror, oval sink and arched recessed wall niche work in beautiful contrast to surrounding angles and edges.

THE BIG SHOW

IDS Vancouver returns September 21 to 24—and here are our picks.

After a roaring return to in-person last year (was there a local designer who wasn’t at the opening night bash?) IDS Vancouver arrives again from Thursday, September 21 (we’ll see you at the McKinley Studios-designed bar for opening night, take 2?) to Sunday, September 24. This year’s theme is Moving Parts, and it’s lined up to be Vancouver’s best show for trend spotting, attending great seminars and dreaming of that perfect sofa for the living room. Here are the features we’re extra excited about for 2023.

Western Living Sunday Stage

Expect some of your favourite designers—like 2023 WL Interior Designers of the Year, Falken Reynolds , and WL Landscape Designers of the Year, Donohoe Living Landscapes—to take the main stage along with editorial director Anicka Quin and managing editor Alyssa Hirose as part of the Western Living Sunday Stage. Join us for inspiring conversations around the intersection of art and design, working with a designer and what makes a West Coast Modern home.

By Anicka Quin

Get Design Smart

Friday’s Trade Talks are geared toward a deep immersion into the design world. A sampling: 2023 WL Designers of the Year judge Simone Vingerhoets-Ziesmann of Ligne Roset will be talking about the brand’s legacy in connection with the 50th anniversary of its Togo sofa (be sure to check out Livingspace’s Togo-centred display on the show floor). And: curious about AI? Head to the Future of AI & Design talk and get ready to play a game of “Is It a Photo, or Isn’t It?” Eight Station ’s Anastasiia Romaniv—a Vancouver-based architectural renderer whose incredibly realistic designs have attracted several local firms—will chat with KPMG ’s Aya Ladki to take a deep dive into the subject.

Adventures in Wood

The Wood Innovation Group ( TWIG ) has created its own accelerator-type initiative for artists—a cohortstyle program that supports participants as they develop an idea that embodies their approach to design, material considerations and regional influences. The final results o f the program will be highlighted this year on the IDS show floor: look for work from artist Matt Hanns as he translates his vibrant, playful textile art into wood for the show.

The District Design Market

The vendors in this year’s District have a focus on socially and environmentally sustainable practices in production and materials sourcing—and it’ll be tough to resist leaving without pretty and playful (and oh-so colourful) earrings from Scandinazn , gorgeously scented candles from Homecoming (think pistachio and almond cream) and high-design homewares from artisans around the world, courtesy of former WL Designer of the Year Obakki

A Revolution in the Garden

Boulevard gardens—those flower-filled interventions that citizens of cities all over are installing on the public strip of land between the sidewalk and the street—are a bigger deal than you might think, and landscape architect Saba Farmand has spent the last couple of years digging into the how and why. Pop by his seminar on Friday to learn more about why the boulevard garden is just the kind of revolution we need right now.

Ligne Roset

Matt Hanns

Chad Falkenberg and Kelly Reynolds of Falken Reynolds

Obakki

Ryan Donohoe of Donohoe Living Landscapes

Falken Reynolds: The Collective You; Ryan Donohoe: Tanya Goehring

Vancouver Convention Centre

Sponsors

Opening Night Party Sept 21

Trade Day & Conference Sept 22

Trade & Public Days Sept 23-24

Pause Company

LAND OF ORANGES & OLIVES

The founder of Pure Design shares her favourite spots in Puglia, Italy.

By Ami McKay

My husband Don and I have travelled all over Italy (we dream of owning a place there someday), but Puglia remains my very favourite destination. It feels like home now when we’re driving through the countryside. It’s such a contrast from my hometown of Vancouver—there’s something magical about the brilliantly blue skies, the orange trees in January, the bright white architecture. There’s a sense of peace I have around the colour palette here, and the slower pace of life.

This is possibly my favourite little town in Puglia. It’s built on top of a hill, and it’s known as the white city (La Città Bianca)—all the buildings are a mix of earthy stone and a brilliant white that reflects the intense summer sun. It feels a little like Greece, but in its own particularly Italian way. It’s made for wandering, poking into jewellery stores and 3 antique shops , walking up little narrow staircases where tiny restaurants are tucked into alleyways, with flowers and colourful tablecloths on their tables. When you see photographs of this place, it almost looks make-believe—like someone drew it. When Italians take off July and August, they come here.

Masserias are fortified farmhouses that were built all over Puglia in the 16th century, and this agriturismo destination is still a working farm run by multiple generations. The dad is in his 80s, Nona works the kitchen and son Daniele runs the day-to-day—it’s truly a family affair. I’ve visited for three different birthday dinners, and we’ve stayed here in the off-season as well, when the weather is cooler—they light an olive-wood fire for you in your room. It’s a flawless, full-service masseria that caters to all your needs (even the ones you haven’t yet thought of). masseriasalinola.it

Ami McKay and husband Don Thomas

Ami McKay

2 Ostuni

1 Masseria Salinola

Maintaining a connection to the landscape, Norwegian fluted siding in IPE colour was used throughout the home both exterior and interior. Newtechwood is designed to blend flawlessly into nature, is maintenance-free, sustainable, fade resistant and made from 95% recycled materials.

The natural brushed wood finish, backed by a 25-year warrantee, grounds the design and delivers timeless character. While wood siding and brick are common in the neighbourhood, this home goes a step further with natural clay brick that references the vivid maple foliage in the fall and IPE fluted wood that draws reference to traditional wood shutters.

On the interior, Newtechwood cladding was used to accentuate a living room wall near a statement fireplace, creating a privacy buffer to the street while also establishing an aesthetic counterpart to the brick on the interior.

NewTechWood’s Original Wood looking fluted siding is the best natural wood looking product for the coastal environment and modern-classic aesthetic and brings unparalleled beauty to any project. Its castellation profile—popular in high-end contemporary residential architecture— resembles the top of a castle wall with a series of alternating rectangular parapets and indentations. The result is reminiscent of parallel castellated timber battens, differentiated by a narrow shadowline between each one.

H-HOUSE: A NATURAL CONNECTION

H-House is nestled into a serene neighbourhood known for its maple forests, tranquil setting and traditional home character. The H-House, designed by Everyday Studio, was intended to fit within the neighbourhood scale while inspiring a connection to the beautiful, ambient natural backdrop.

The home is organized into two main volumes with a third stacked above and perpendicular to the base form, creating the H shape for which the project is named. This configuration results in a doubleheight central area that opens to an exterior courtyard on either side. The home sits comfortably within the neighbourhood while each volume establishes its relationship with the site via a sheltered lanai at grade and an upper-level cantilevered, south-facing terrace.

A stunning custom home exterior pays tribute to the forest beyond with wood finished fluted siding from Newtechwood

4 Trulli Namastè, Alberobello

Trullo houses (trulli is the plural) are unique to Puglia: mortarless white homes with conical roofs you’ll see dotted over the countryside. I spend so much time looking for places to stay—months, really, to find the perfect spot—and this one is really spectacular. It’s just been renovated, and it’s pretty magical: they sandblasted all of the stone inside and grouted it with light mortar, and the floors are all micro-cement. airbnb.ca/rooms/5431866

5 Trattoria Bère Vecchie, Cisternino

We were wandering to find lunch when we discovered this spot: I’m always looking for restaurants where Nona is in the kitchen. I had what was likely the best pasta of my life here— 6 their dishes are truly beautiful: think fresh pasta filled with burrata and datterino tomato coulis plus a drizzle of basil emulsion The town itself, Cisternino, is a smaller version of Ostuni, and it’s a white city as well. It’s absolutely worth a stroll through its tiny walkways and winding staircases. @trattoriaberevecchie

10 Sunday Antique Markets

I can’t wait for Sundays when I’m in Puglia—the treasures you find! You have to do a bit of research to figure out what town is holding their antique market on a given Sunday, but there’s one nearly every week, and it’s worth it. I always have a few pieces in my luggage to carry home, from framed art and vintage linens to brass sculptures and candle holders. I’ve really become a designer who loves a mix of contemporary and pre-loved pieces. I love the stories behind those vintage finds.

7 Ancient Olive Groves, Masseria Brancati

Puglia is home to ancient olive trees. Some are up to 3,000 years old, and were planted before the Romans. The trees don’t grow very large, and they’re still producing olives. When I toured one of these groves, 8 I asked the guide if I could hug one of the trees , and he said, “Of course! You give the tree energy, and the tree gives you energy.” I love going to wineries, 9 but to taste the olive oils here and understand their subtleties—it’s an intimate and very sweet experience. masseriabrancati.it

IF

of the DESIGNERS

Hundreds of entries, dozens of all-star judges and a few healthy debates later, the results are in: these nine talented firms are our celebrated 2023 WL Designers of the Year.

By Kerri Donaldson, Alyssa Hirose, Stacey McLachlan, Neal McLennan and Anicka Quin

WILD RESTRAINT

The WL Architectural Designer of the Year, SMStudio, creates work that strikes that ever-elusive balance of modern and minimalist with moments of true delight.

By Neal McLennan / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro

Creative Control Simon Montgomery of SMStudio is open to using non-traditional methods to solve traditional problems. In this East Vancouver house, he moved the main living area to the top floor to take advantage of the views, and then used industrial grade, fireretardant HardiePanel cladding to deal with setback issues.

Don’t worry if you don’t immediately recognize the name Simon Montgomery. The eponymous design studio of this year’s newly crowned Architectural Designer of the Year is barely five years old, and only one of Montgomery’s projects has featured previously in our pages. Yet, as it turns out, there’s quite a lot of work that goes into becoming an overnight sensation.

For Montgomery, it all began while he was still studying for his master’s in architecture at UBC. He managed to parlay a background in construction into a summer job at the studio of the legendary Peter Cardew, where his hands-on experience endeared him to the meticulous architect (a man who was known to do up to 100 sketches of a particular detail before he was happy with the result). Upon graduation, Montgomery joined Cardew’s office with a challenging apprenticeship in the exacting pursuit of, well, design perfection. “Peter was the first to show me

Djust how much complexity goes into minimalist design,” recalls Montgomery.

But sometimes working for a legend means there’s limited opportunity to claw out some creative control, so, after four years, it was time to move on: to the office of Vancouver’s Evoke International Design, the multidisciplinary practice (and two-time DOTY winner, in 2008 and 2019). Here, under the tutelage of principal David Nicolay, Montgomery was exposed to a whole new slew of opportunities: restaurant design, single-family dwellings and serving as local liaison for a famous international architect who was designing a masterpiece in Whistler. “My time there was very much a collaborative, best-ideawins environment,” says Montgomery, who recalls finding himself as design lead on numerous vibrant projects. It was the type of rewarding, supportive environment that most young designers can only dream of. Eventually,

What’s your go-to material of choice?

Douglas fir, for its inherent natural beauty, strength and durability. Further, it is a local and sustainable material.

What books are on your nightstand?

Architecture, Culture and Spirituality by Thomas Barrie and Julio Bermudez. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by Phil Knight.

Any podcasts you follow?

Smartless is fun.

Was there a childhood moment that hinted design was in your future?

I recently re-discovered childhood sketches of a primitive floor plan of a house, complete with secret cave and moat. Maybe that was the beginning?

Design Brief

A love of clean lines and a spare palette have Montgomery firmly in the minimalism camp, but he’s always open to being playful in his work—like taking the opportunity to feature a subterranean viewing window in the backyard pool (below).

WITH SIMON MONTGOMERY

Ground Rules

Much of Montgomery’s work can be found around Howe Sound and his designs—like this Bowen Island cabin—seamlessly integrate nature and building.

however, he left to start his own firm and to finally “chase the allure of pure creative freedom,” a sentiment he now chuckles at with the perspective of someone with a halfdecade of experience in the grinding realities of running your own firm.

The two valuable but disparate apprenticeships helped hone the vision of a residential designer who is deeply committed to the rigours of minimalism while simultaneously embracing his clients’ visions. The result of these two seeming solitudes is a body of work that absolutely wowed our judges. There’s a “gorgeous use of materials, fearless statements, but restrained realization... a hard combination to do well,” lavished judge Balazs Bogner, partner at Kengo Kuma and Associates. “Warmth of materials, dark colours deferential to surrounding forest, subtle manipulation of traditional techniques in fresh ways.”

Take the design for Forest House, a thoughtful treatise on minimalism on Bowen Island. Montgomery spent much of his youth on the island, so when he took the dirt road to the site, he already knew there would be great potential. Both he and the clients shared a great reverence for the natural beauty of the siting, so, where some designers might have blasted the lot to carve out a flat site suitable for a textbook “modern” house, Montgomery chose to meticulously study the lot—elevations, light, wind—in order to work with the existing topography. The result is a house, literally perched atop the rocky lot, that comprises two buildings— one a carport and studio, one for living— floating above the natural bedrock. Inside, a warm palette of Douglas fir brings softness to the rigour of clean lines, while substantial

Luis Valdizon

“Peter [Cardew] was the first to show me just how much complexity goes into minimalist design.”

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2023

glazing allows in abundant light and frames the superlative views.

But for a young designer, not everything is tabula rasa Not far from Forest House is Island Cabin, a careful stewardship of a family cabin that had been Frankensteined by three previous renos and that was sporting an interior bridge as a design feature. This was design surgery aimed at harmonizing the disjointed result into a common ethos. What was cluttered and confusing is now airy and bright, but with its 1950s DNA still very much intact. The space is vibrant and contemporary, and it was all accomplished without the advantage of unlimited funds.

And when faced with the 33-by-125 strictures of an urban city lot, the firm achieves results that are just as spectacular, as the unconventional East Van Residence illustrates. An inverted floor

Cabin Fever

Not all projects starts with a blank page: here, Montgomery had to create some modern unity in a beloved family cabin that had been relentlessly renoed in the preceding decades.

plan sees the bedrooms on the entry level with a second storey maximized to take in the light and views thanks to the creative use of LVL beams that span the space. Montgomery further harnesses technology by using non-traditional (and non-combustible) HardiePanel cladding to meet strict building codes. But ask any 10-year-old architectural critic in the neighbourhood what their fave feature of the house is and you’ll no doubt hear about the ultra-cool subterranean viewing window into the family’s backyard pool—a not-insignificant challenge for Montgomery to add to the project. It’s a small moment that underscores work that judge Clinton Cuddington of Measured Architecture called “stunningly playful” and “a perfect balance of levity and gravity.”

It all adds up to a wide-ranging practice that seems wise beyond its modest years—a stunning debut decades in the making.

Luis Valdizon

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DESIGN FOR REAL LIFE

The duo behind Falken Reynolds create quietly confident designs that celebrate that sweet spot: where function and beauty are one and the same.

By Anicka Quin / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro

Additional photos by Ema Peter

Winning Pair

WL Interior Designers of the Year Kelly Reynolds (left) and Chad Falkenberg of Falken Reynolds, photographed on site at one of their under-construction projects.

In the Sunset Flat project, the client wanted elements of the space to feel sculptural. In the kitchen, the team at Falken Reynolds commissioned Vancouver design house New Format to custom make the range hood in a patinated brass.

Bold in Blues

INTERIOR DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 2023

Solid Work

Sunset Flat embraces a nearly all-grey palette, with 11 different types of natural stone throughout. The home features three different Bocci light installations, including in the ensuite (this photo). In the living area (above left), the coffee tables are from Piero Lissoni’s 9 series for Cassina. The chair is designed by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso, and the multifaceted side table is from Classicon. The lamp is from Established and Sons, and the rug is from Jan Kath.

Do you have a favourite home from a TV show or movie?

KR: Colin Firth’s home in A Single Man

What do people often get wrong about design?

CF: Forgetting to ask “What is it supposed to do?” until after they decide how it should look.

KR: That good design happens fast.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

CF: Arne Jacobsen, John Pawson.

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

KR: Probably researching animals in a jungle somewhere.

What are your design pet peeves?

KR: Building things that don’t last.

CF: Plastic objects or parts that break and can’t be fixed.

What are you listening to?

CF: Justice Der, Pandora’s Jukebox, Goldfrapp and The Presets.

What’s changed for you, personally or business-wise, after the last few years?

KR: I’m happier with less.

CF: We’re spending more time in homes – our own and our friends’.

IIf you follow Falken Reynolds on Instagram—and you’d be among the 22,000+ people who do—you’d know that the designing duo behind the moniker, Chad Falkenberg and Kelly Reynolds, are regular attendees of Milan’s Salone del Mobile, the largest furniture fair in the world. You’ll have seen them touring flagship design stores, highlighting design trends, popping behind the scenes at manufacturing facilities, exploring the city—and sit-testing a whole lot of sofas.

Because this year’s WL Interior Designers of the Year understand that for design to be truly great, it must be intimately connected with livability. And a beautiful, on-trend sofa isn’t going to make anyone happy if it won’t stand up to a Netflix binge or three.

Partners in business and in life, Falkenberg and Reynolds created their firm just over 10 years ago after Falkenberg had studied design in Barcelona and then worked with legendary Vancouver interior designer Robert Bailey. Reynolds’s career path, meanwhile, took him from sailor in the Navy to officer at the Vancouver Police Department jail to his own interior design studies in Vancouver—with the push to take up the field inspired in no small part by working at (and deeply admiring) a Bailey-designed hotel. A decade into their practice, they now lead a team of seven, with over 30 projects on the go. Most are based the Lower Mainland and Whistler, but clients in Alberta, Nova Scotia, the U.S. and Mexico have sought them out to bring their firm’s brand of quietly confident design out from the West Coast.

At its heart, a Falken Reynolds project is thoughtful. Beautiful, always, but also carefully considered, and work that judge and interior designer Abraham Chan, principal at ACDO, celebrated as “handsome, effortless, tailored work.” The firm bases its design principles on the Vitruvian triad, translated from Latin as strength, utility and beauty. Every space sees visual beauty balanced with utility and usefulness—and an overarching holistic endurance that considers every last detail, from colour palette to the sustainability of the materials. “It’s a little like colour circles when they overlap in RGB,” says Falkenberg. “We’re trying to find that perfect white section in the middle. Part of it is functional, part of it is durability and usefulness, and the other part is that it inspires, and that it’s beautiful and we enjoy it.

WITH CHAD FALKENBERG AND KELLY REYNOLDS

That happy place in the middle—that’s where the design is really successful, and has endurance for the client.”

Those details, of course, include focusing in on the minutiae of everyday life—from where to stash the kids’ sports equipment to creating functional spaces for pets. And that starts from the very beginning of the process. “We’ll reflect back to the client and say, okay, you have dogs. Well, let’s design for the dogs—let’s not just put the dog bed in at the end,” says Falkenberg. “Let’s figure out how you feed them, and how often they go out, and where you are going to put the leash. And then we can plan everything so that a big part of their life is taken care of.”

Every Falken Reynolds project begins with this type of conversation, resulting in client-centred projects that simultaneously feel like just about anyone would love to live there. For a project on Cadboro Bay near Victoria, the home needed to be both durable for a busy family with sports-oriented kids (plenty of storage room to dump the rugby gear on the way in the door) and to feature quiet retreat spaces within the home. A bench seat in the primary bedroom, for example, was literally made to measure for the homeowner, who happened to be the same height as another FR team member—just big enough for her to sit and read a book, creating that intimate moment she craved.

For their Sunset Flat project, the homeowner wanted each piece of furniture to feel inspiring—sculptural, like a work of art in and of itself. “Every individual piece had to be something very special,” says Reynolds. “It was really fun to go through the process and understand what clicked for her.” Part of that process included bringing her to Vancouver’s Bocci workshop to watch glass blowers creating lighting fixtures right on site. (There are three separate Bocci installations in the final project, including one over a space in the kitchen that she calls her tea room— where the team customized a Lek sofa by Christophe Delcourt to a higher seat height for a comfy spot to enjoy the view over Vancouver’s Sunset Beach with a cup of tea.)

Another project for retired hockey player Dan Hamhuis and his family took the crew up to Smithers, B.C., where Hamhuis and his wife, Sarah, grew up. But the couple hadn’t spent winters there in over 20 years, and Falkenberg, who grew up in Edmonton, jokes that he was

Curve Appeal

For the West 9th House project, the handrail leading to the second floor was a tricky design challenge—solved by giving the railing a natural wave as it travelled up from the floor.

“Part of it is functional, part of it is durability and usefulness, and the other part is that it inspires, and that it’s beautiful and we enjoy it. That happy place in the middle—that’s where the design is really successful, and has endurance for the client.”

Warm Welcome

able to bring a special bit of knowledge to the design. “I know really hard winters,” he laughs. “It was helpful to get them to think through that they’d want their mud room and entry to be a bit larger, because everybody’s going to come in with their puffy jackets and winter gear, and they’re going to need somewhere to dry it out.”

The home itself is designed in warm layers, creating a family space that’s meant for gathering. The design team really shines when they’re bringing together seemingly disparate styles, and there’s perhaps no better example than in this home. Collected vintage pieces from Scott Landon Antiques intermix with custom, modern designs from Vancouver’s Brent Comber; a natural stone fireplace is in contrast with light wood millwork; and there’s both richness and restraint throughout. It’s a home that’s made to be lived in, and that will only develop a natural patina with time. Judge and designer Marie Soliman of Bergman Interiors commended the team’s “excellent framing of the views and using the spaces as white canvases, blending the boundaries between outside and in.”

Each project brings its own set of design puzzles, and for the West 9th House in Vancouver, it was a handrail—a set of black spindles that for the average observer might seem fairly straightforward. But the complexity lies in the materials that the feature brought together: solid, wood-block stairs and a handrail that needed to start right from the bottom. “I always try to teach the designers we work with to figure out: what does it have to do? And then start sketching and connecting the dots,” says Falkenberg. “And that’s literally what we did with this.” The solution was for the rail to take a little swoop inward, creating a sculptural element in the room that’s both modern and surprising.

It’s a smart solution to a design problem, but, more than that, it also resulted in accolades from one of their design heroes. “One of my proudest moments was when we were having lunch with [Spanish architect] Patricia Urquiola,” says Falkenberg. “She asked everyone to show an image of what we were working on, and I showed her this. And she said, ‘Oh! That’s quite nice.’”

A perfect example of those Vitruvian triad principles of strength, utility and beauty in perfectly elegant execution—just the kind of a dream space that’s worthy of celebrating alongside our Interior Designers of the Year.

Designed for retired hockey player Dan Hamhuis and his family (top right), the Tyhee Lake house is designed in warm layers. Vintage pieces from Scott Landon Antiques— like the dining table, shown here—pair with modern crafts pieces, such as a custom design from artist Brent Comber, which wraps behind the sofa (bottom left).

HONEST WORK

The duo behind Calgary’s Bioi focus on materiality and longevity in each one of their projects.

By Alyssa Hirose / Portraits by Eymeric Widling

When it comes to design , Jordan Allen and Raya Trefz don’t keep a strict division of responsibilities. “It’s a little bit nebulous in the sense that it’s a true collaborative effort,” says Allen. Trefz, however, suggests a dynamic metaphor: “I think Jordan is more of an admiral—and I tend to be more of a pirate.”

The team met in the master’s of architecture program at the University of Calgary, Allen with a background in industrial design and Trefz in astrophysics. You could say that the stars aligned: Allen’s expertise in the design of everyday objects and Trefz’s knack for making sense of

the big beyond made them an efficient pair. They came together to found Bioi (pronounced bi-oh-eye) in 2011.

The winner of our 2023 WL Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for an emerging residential designer is a designbuild firm: Allen and Trefz oversee the residential and commercial projects they take on from start to finish. “We take clients from concept to key,” says Allen. “We’re committed to a project for a very long time.” That commitment is in line with Bioi’s dedication to creating structures made to last, and to changing the landscape of Calgary’s design scene. “Gone are the days when there

Calgary Collab

Jordan Allen and Raya Trefz (opposite, from left) are founding partners at Bioi and winners of our 2023 Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for emerging residential designers. Their North Glenmore home (this page) features a light well running through the centre of the home, so natural light shines from the inside out.

was an oil-field mentality of come and go—now, there’s an urban mentality of stay and play,” explains Allen.

Case in point: the Scarboro House, a home that was designed to endure in both function and material. The clients, a couple and their three young children, needed a space that would grow with them, and this stunning house is just that. The modest yard is sheltered by a rehabilitated hedgerow, so the children can safely play outdoors, and an integrated elevator within the home provides a breezy lift to any of the four floors, which will come in handy as the access needs of the clients change with time.

This home shines with one of Bioi’s core values: material honesty. The exterior is made up of concrete and timber, which will each develop their own patina over time. Inside, natural materials give the home a serene vibe, without feeling cold. (According to Trefz, the smaller scale of the details—“more human and not so

Building Blocks

Material honesty fuels the North Glenmore home (above), with natural colours and textures bringing warmth to the clean-lined, modern architecture.

monolithic”—is why the home feels so friendly.) The family of Arthur Erickson, the iconic architect this award was named to honour, praise the firm’s mindful use of materials: “The warmer tones and finishes of the Scarboro House hold appeal in the cold Canadian light,” they wrote in their judge’s comments.

It’s true, Canada is not known for our sunshine—but the Bioi team makes the most of what they’ve got to work with. Their North Glenmore house, for example, features a rebellious light well: light flows from the inside out on every floor, including the basement. Conceived in the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, this home is an updated response to open-concept living (a trend that many found frustrating in lockdown conditions). Rooms are divided, but not completely closed off from one another. “The idea is that you can be anywhere within the main floor, and even if you’ve got the door closed, you still have a visual connection back to the activity in the Chris Amat

What’s in the Box

The sleek feature staircase, the upstairs yoga space and the serene light well are just a few of the qualities that make Bioi’s Light House (above, middle and below) one of a kind.

What was your first design project?

As a studio, the Warburg House, c.2011.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

JA: Without just repeating my “following” list on Instagram: Edition Office, Chamberlain Architects, Ritz & Ghougassian, Adam Haddow of SJB and the greats of Peter Zumthor, Will Alsop, FLW and Mies van der Rohe.

RT: It’s impossible to go with one, so a few: Edition Office, Sanaa, Peter Zumthor, Tadao Ando.

Who’s a Western Canadian designer whose work you admire?

RT: Some may no longer consider him a “Western Canadian designer,” but still, Douglas Cardinal is who immediately pops to mind. A visit to St. Mary’s Church when I was younger was revelatory to my understanding of a fuller potential of what holistically intentioned architecture could convey and so was a direct catalyst toward pursuing this path.

JA: I echo Raya’s answer in Douglas Cardinal. A few others on my vintage list would be Arthur Erickson and Peter Hemingway (from my Edmonton days). For currently practicing: Michael Leckie, D’arcy Jones and Scott Posno are all doing strong work.

What’s your go-to material of choice?

JA: Exterior? Brick. It’s the only true zero-maintenance facade material (short of a re-pointing every hundred years or so) that responds well to the strenuous demands of the Western Canadian prairie climate swings of 100 degrees. Interior? I’d go with timber. It can be sustainably sourced, it’s easy to work with and it can condition space very well within any palette or atmospheric intent.

“A lot of things about this home feel typical or familiar—but then there are these large moves that undercut that .”

WITH JORDAN ALLEN AND RAYA TREFZ

Britta Kokemor

Time After Time

The firm’s Scarboro home (this page) rejects a shiny, new aesthetic: it’s meant to age, and age gracefully.

“The house will continue a life for decades, where it will continually morph in appearance—which is not dissimilar to the inhabitants,” notes Allen. house,” explains Allen. While the light well technically reduces the livable square footage of the home, the feeling it creates is the opposite. “It makes spaces that are broken up actually feel larger,” says Trefz.

This same strategy is employed in the Light House, an inner-city home that also features a large void and excavated light well through the middle. The property is located on a lively street, and the designers wanted to connect the inside with the outside—but not necessarily with the street traffic. Solid brick buffers the noise from outside, and, of course, light floods in from the centre. “Every project we seem to do now has some version of an oversized light well,” notes Allen. Hey, with results this spectacular, why resist?

The exterior of Light House is rather restrained, but there are moments of whimsy within. “A lot of things about this home feel typical or familiar—but then there are these large moves that undercut that,” says Trefz. The powder room, for example, was incorporated into the millwork and features a daring mural by digital art group eBoy. Meanwhile, a cedar cedar ofuro tub in the primary ensuite nods to the client’s love of Japanese design.

Judge Clinton Cuddington (who, along with Piers Cunnington, won our Designers of the Year in Architecture award in 2022) says the firm is “on the road of design interrogation seeking that critical balance between coarse and fine.” This balance—between aspirational and realistic, restrained and playful, admiral and pirate—is what earns Bioi the Arthur Erickson Memorial Award.

ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD 2023

Britta Kokemor

JUST THE TWO OF US

The winning team behind this year’s Robert Ledingham Memorial Award is small but mighty.

By Stacey McLachlan / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro / Additional

photos by Janis Nicolay

Power House

Knight Varga’s Trish Knight (left) and Nicole Varga, photographed on site in their Forever Home project, built by Trillium Homes.

Like with the end of Lost in Translation, we may never know what specific words were exchanged between Nicole Varga and Trish Knight that made them realize just what they meant to each other. But over dinner in New York five years ago, something clicked into place for the interior design colleagues.

“I remember Trish looking across the table at me and saying, ‘I can see us being friends for a really long time,’” says Varga. “It melted my heart.”

They’d been working together at Varga’s previous firm, their friendship and mutual respect deepening with every project. “There are certain people you can spend every single day with. Nicole is one of them. She’s family,” says Knight. And so, in 2019, the two took the plunge, opening a Vancouver-based studio of their very own:

Knight Varga Interiors.

Running a business is the ultimate relationship test, but these two have passed with flying colours—and the work they’ve produced for a roster of clients across the globe has now earned them our 2023 Robert Ledingham Memorial Award for an emerging interior designer.

Despite the fact that the duo tackles international projects of all sizes (hello, Singapore and London), Knight Varga remains a two-woman operation. “We’re intentionally small. And we want to stay that way,” says Knight. “We want to work daily with our clients, we want to be handson on every project... even when revisions in CAD aren’t that exciting.”

Dark and Light

In Knight Varga’s Forever Home project, high contrast was the name of the game. “These black steel arches [left] are one of my favourite elements,” explains Varga. The team needed to figure out how to make a support post look more decorative. “We were wracking our brains: how do we make this purposeful and look good?” The slim stair railing (below) was fabricated out of steel and brought in by crane.

ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD

2023

It Takes Two Knight and Varga run their studio as a team of two, and that means being hands-on... except when they have to be hands-off. The Forever Home project, for instance, was designed during the pandemic; the designers recall having socially distanced materials meetings on the front lawn. But it all paid off, with special rooms like the home office (right top and bottom). Through the window, the homeowner can see her dogs playing in the grass outside.

What was your first design project?

As Knight Varga Interiors, it was a full renovation on a South Granville condo for a great couple that was downsizing from their west-side home. They love to cook, so we doubled the size of the kitchen by eliminating a small den. They also collect wine and have tons of albums and audio equipment, so a dedicated zone in the dining room was created for these as well. We won an NKBA award for this kitchen!

What do you think is the most perfectly designed object?

Tulips. They are so simple and unpretentious, and they remind us that spring is coming!

What do people often get wrong about design?

People can underestimate the amount of time required to create t he quality of homes they see published in magazines and often present as inspiration for their own projects.

What’s your dream project?

We have been very fortunate to have worked on some amazing projects, and some of our favourites have been turnkey vacation homes for our clients. We would love to have the opportunity to design/build a weekend getaway property that we could share with our families, friends and clients who become friends, and then to rent out when not in use.

WITH KNIGHT VARGA

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Together, Knight and Varga work every angle of every home they take on, bouncing ideas back and forth and playing to each of their complementary strengths. “We push each other out of our comfort zones,” says Varga. She loves the details—the puzzle of rearranging and problem-solving—while Knight is more of a big-picture person, drawn into client stories and dreams.

“I want to know how they picked the home they’re going to live in, who lives with them, where are the pets going to go,” says Knight. “I love the idea that everyone wakes up at home. This is where your day starts. It doesn’t matter how big it is; you need to be happy.”

While they may each have their distinct passions in the design process, ultimately they’re walking in lock-step toward a singular aesthetic vision: a West Coast modern base that celebrates natural materials and casual warmth, with details that reflect the client’s unique personality layered on top. With each

project, the two aim to blend sophistication with livability—and to nod to their personal design sensibilities, too. Varga brings a lighter, brighter, feminine approach, while Knight self-identifies her style as “a little darker, a little moodier.” The result is a mix that’s expertly balanced and richly detailed.

A recently completed new build home in West Vancouver (dubbed Forever Home) exemplifies that combination beautifully. A couple with ready-for-college kids approached Knight Varga for help with designing a hillside “forever home” to take them into their empty-nest years in comfort. The dining room is defined by arches instead of walls, while an intimate office offers sightlines across the main floor through glass doors. The kitchen is flooded with natural light in the morning, acting as the hub of the

home whether the kids are crashing in one of the cozy bedrooms or just stopping in for a break from campus.

First Home, a renovation in Point Grey for a young couple, also completed in 2022, is similarly textured and welcoming—while also accommodating life’s practical needs. The 1990s steel-and-glass house was gutted and reimagined as a warm, contemporary space.

The core of the bright, airy home is a wall of black-stained oak that conceals ample storage and a powder room while grounding the space. A palette of white oak, marble, quartz, glass, linen and wool brings balance and warmth.

Judge Abe Chan, founder of ACDO, praised Knight Varga for “a cohesive body of work with thoughtful plans that have been executed well.” His fellow judge, interior designer Alda Pereira, agreed: “They encompass everything needed to execute a well-designed space. Very talented.”

More importantly, within the walls of these expertly crafted homes you can wholeheartedly feel the love Varga and Knight have for both interior design and for their partnership. Says Varga: “Really, we just inspire each other.”

Opening Up

In the design firm’s First Home project, built by Barrett Group Custom Builders, Knight Varga opened up the main floor to connect the kitchen and living space (this photo and top right) and to maximize the city views. Upstairs, the designers reconfigured the layout to allow for a home gym, a walk-in closet and a dramatic ensuite (bottom right).

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 expertise 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. frits.ca

Alloy Homes

A custom design + build experience like no other.

Alloy Homes’ turnkey approach to homebuilding integrates real estate, design, construction, cost control and concierge maintenance services into one seamless process. Because we’re a design-focused boutique firm, you’ll enjoy unparalleled involvement from start to finish, ensuring your passion shows just as clearly as ours. There’s a good reason our clients Love Staying Home. alloyhomes.com

Your Space By Design

Transforming Your Outdoor Spaces into Beautiful Places

Established in 2006 by Katherine Kinch as the principal designer and owner, Your Space By Design, is based in Calgary, serving clients in Alberta and British Columbia. Katherine specializes in creating landscapes that capture the essence of her clients' distinct aesthetics while harmonizing with functional requirements, architecture, and site characteristics. Her designs focus on maximizing outdoor living and curating every detail for each unique client. yourspacebydesign.com

WESTERN CANADA’S TOP DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS

Noble Architecture and Interior Design

Bringing Joyful Designs to Life.

Noble Architecture and Interior Design is an award-winning studio delivering architecture that sparks joy. We embrace delightful surprises and the unexpected to create timeless and elegant spaces. Fearlessly taking on challenges, we create intelligently designed environments that inspire engaging conversations. noblearch.ca

Bioi Design + Build

Bioi is an award winning design + build studio that operates at the intersection of refined design and specialized construction. They maintain a diverse portfolio of projects and have built their reputation as an astute collection of experts who respond with beauty and sensitivity to both their client's needs and the built urban fabric.

They believe in challenging convention to transform the built environment and change the way people work and live. bioi.co

LAI

PURE Design Inc.

PURE Design Inc. offers personalized and elevated Interior Design and Construction Management from our studio nestled in the Shipyards District of North Vancouver. Our retail shoppe stocks artisan treasures from around the globe. Throughout our simplified yet concise design process we create beautifully layered, and unique living spaces. Within our Construction Management service we take care of every detail to ensure your home is completed with a high level of quality and detail. Allow us to transform your personal space into a home that reflects who you are.

purebyamimckay.com

ffabb

ffabb makes furniture you’ll love tomorrow, the next day, and the next. Furniture you’ll pass down to your kids—furniture they’ll actually want.

In our North Vancouver studio, with a scrappy team of designers, fabric wizards, carpentry experts and skilled upholsters, ffabb designs, builds, and delivers the very best Canadian furniture we can. The results, furniture that designers and families love: furniture that withstands the wear and tear of life and all its beautiful messes.

ffabb.com

Lamoureux Architect Incorporated

Lamoureux Architect Incorporated is a West Vancouver-based firm specializing in residential design since 1993. With a passion for architect-client collaboration, we shape each project uniquely. Led by Brad and his experienced team, we have undertaken diverse projects across Canada and beyond, embodying the spirit of the West Coast. Our approach prioritizes clients' needs, resulting in meticulously crafted designs that reflect their visions and the site's essence. lamoureuxarchitect.ca

BIOPHILIA design collective

We are a team of talented landscape architects and designers with diverse backgrounds and experiences led by Bianca Bodley who founded the company 12 years ago. We engage in an ever-evolving variety of projects including multifamily, commercial, and public space design and specialize in unique single-family residential projects.

The ethos that guides our work is to design landscapes that restore and heal the land and create balance and sanctuary for those who inhabit it.

biophiliacollective.ca

A Family Affair

Keith Lau and Josephine Liu in their Vancouver studio, where each piece of their jewellery line is made to order by hand, preserving the traditional techniques passed down by Lau’s father.

TRADITION REIMAGINED

Josephine Liu and Keith Lau, the talented couple behind Noren Studio, are reshaping the world of contemporary jewellery by blending tradition with a fresh narrative.

By Kerri Donaldson / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro

Functional Elegance

The Staple ring exemplifies Noren’s approach to design by transforming a functional element into an expressive feature. “We start with the inner and the outer, then we put it together using actual staples we make using gold wire,” Liu shares.

Once upon a time, in a little goldsmith shop, two distinct paths were fated to converge.

For Keith Lau, jewellery design was a family tradition. He’d moved from Hong Kong to Canada with his master goldsmith father when he was just an infant, but by 2002, he and his brother had taken over the family business of crafting gorgeous, traditional pieces for other retail jewellers.

Meanwhile, fashion designer Josephine Liu had been working in Hong Kong as a visual merchandiser for Esprit—but was falling for the art of jewellery design, thanks to a few artfully crafted window displays in town—and she longed to get back to her hometown of Vancouver. As it turns out, Vancouver Community College offered one of the only degree programs in the art. A few years and a degree later, her new job—customer relations for a company that sourced diamonds— brought her to Lau’s shop.

Serendipity? Quite possibly. The encounter resulted in both a romantic relationship and a new design collaboration: Noren Studio,

What’s your go-to material of choice?

Gold, for its density, workability and beautiful hue and lustre. And white oak, for its combination of hardness, timelessness and options for different grain patterns.

Was there a childhood moment that hinted design was in your future?

JL: Using old socks to make clothes for my Barbies.

KL: When my grade 10 art teacher told me that designing G-Shocks could be a career. I had never enjoyed art class before then.

What do you think is the most perfectly designed object?

JL: Any of the classic Minis other than the Woody.

KL: Chopsticks. They become the most versatile kitchen utensil once you get good at using them.

a brand with an industrial, minimalist aesthetic that celebrates superior craftsmanship and traditional handmade techniques—and that is also our 2023 WL Fashion and Jewellery Designer of the Year.

Lau’s family history in the business provides that grounding, traditional anchor for their designs, but a trip to Copenhagen in 2017 was also a (pardon the pun) goldmine for inspiration. The couple was invigorated by the thoughtful detail, artistry and signature Nordic minimalism they saw in Danish architecture, furniture, fashion and jewellery design. Stores like the famed Illums Bolighus and Carl Hansen and Søn were standouts for their locally made fashion and homewares. “The craftsmanship on display is simply on another level,” Liu says.

Drawing inspiration from everyday objects, Lau and Liu’s Noren Studio collections are a testament to the beauty of functionality. The

WITH KEITH LAU AND JOSEPHINE LIU

Staple collection is born from “a perfectly engineered staple,” says Lau, each piece hand-fabricated to heirloom quality. The Monogram bracelet, part of the Monogram collection, is their interpretation of a medical bracelet, featuring a tiny gold hexagon for personal inscriptions. The Stacked collection, taking its cue from a well-made watch case, elevates familiar objects to art. “It’s about preserving the integrity of traditional craftsmanship,” says Lau, “while adapting to the realities of the modern world.”

While jewellery making is largely moving away from traditional hand fabrication in favour of casting, Lau and Liu are committed to those older methods, which give each piece a unique character (for example, the Staple ring’s stunning colour contrast comes from hand rolling two layers instead of casting from one) and higher-quality standards and craftsmanship. Judge Lyndon Cormack of Herschel Supply Co. praised Noren’s work: “The industrial aesthetic that pervades the collection adds a distinctive edge,” he commented, “demonstrating an intriguing fusion of design elements.” Judge Desiree Thomas, founder and CEO at ba&sh, also applauded the brand, saying, “Noren is an illustration of true art with its minimal approach to design but impeccable attention to detail. The collection articulates an elevated body of work that can be appreciated and loved by its owner.”

Personalized Perfection

The Monogram collection incorporates discreet personalization, offering owners the opportunity to engrave their initials onto the pieces. The medical bracelet’s weight and clean design exudes quality and purpose, demonstrating Noren’s attention to detail and material consistency.

The couple’s daughter, Noren, who shares the same name as the studio, is also a significant part of their journey. “We try to involve her in everything. So even a lot of the work that we’ve done at home, we ask her to go out to the wood workshop to help out, and she loves it,” says Liu.

ONE TO WATCH: FASHION

In an era dominated by fast fashion, Noren Studio stands out as a beacon of slow, meticulous craftsmanship. It’s not just about creating jewellery—it’s about creating tangible narratives, stories that echo the designers’ belief in the value of tradition and the transformative power of creativity. And it’s a tale of one family’s captivating journey: a narrative as intricate and heartfelt as the extraordinary pieces they create.

Fyoocher

For Jamie Dawes, the designer behind Vancouver-based Fyoocher, sustainability comes first: when she first launched her brand in 2020, her mission was to combat fast fashion with mindful, low-waste apparel. Material is key—her style-forward collections use everything from massive rolls of deadstock denim to one-off finds from thrift stores, meaning that many of her creations are one of a kind. Her best-selling item, for example, is her U-top (far left)—it’s made from (in her words) “every material under the sun.” The line is an ongoing project, with Dawes saving fabrics from landfills and transforming them into statement-making sleeveless tops. Judge Lyndon Cormack, managing director of Herschel Supply Co., said that Dawes’s work “demonstrates a forward-thinking perspective that’s essential in our current world.” Experts agree: the Fyoocher is now.—A.H.

ART TAKES ROOT

An ascendant firm snags their second award in three years.

By Neal McLennan / Portrait

by

by

Kyoko Fierro / Additional photos

Luke Potter

WITH RYAN DONOHOE AND JESSICA OAKES

What do you think is the most perfectly designed object?

RD & JO: We recently purchased a 1991 Westfalia camper. It’s astounding how every square inch was impeccably planned to be functional as a van and as a camper. There’s a reason why these vans are in such high demand even today.

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

RD & JO: Our collective dream would be to own and run a vineyard in the Mediterranean.

What are you listening to?

RD & JO: We’ve always been obsessed with The National and their offshoot projects, but recently seeing them in concert has put them back at the top of the playlist.

What do people often get wrong abo ut design?

RD: They don’t let their pen do the thinking and they get stuck in their functional mindset. To be creative you must have the courage to let your mind and your thoughts be free to form ideas without restrictions and without worry of failure.

You’d be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu when reading that Donohoe Living Landscapes is the winner of this year’s Landscape Designers of the Year award. It was only two years ago that the firm received the same accolade, but the fact that they’re back on top in such a short period of time—winning with an entirely new slate of judgewowing projects—speaks not only to how hard they’ve been working over the past 24 months, but also to the commitment that principals Ryan Donohoe and Jessica Oakes have invested into expanding the reach of their artistic vision.

Until 2016, Donohoe crafted many of his winning designs from his East Vancouver home. Fast forward to 2023, and a team of nine are now ensconced in a historic Gastown loft, working on designs for clients from across the Lower Mainland, Whistler and the Okanagan, along with projects in Maui and California. Ultimately, as the team continues its growth, they envision having offices not just in Vancouver but also in the United States and Europe.

And while the size of the team has changed, the overall commitment to holistic, client-driven design has only grown stronger.

YTake, for example, the Crescent Beach project, a multi-year undertaking situated on a prime piece of oceanfront property south of Vancouver. The obvious angle would be to orient everything toward the (multi) million-dollar view—and while the design does celebrate the fantastic vista (there’s a jaw-dropper of a cantilevered platform to take in the seascape), there are also moments of quiet contemplation anchored in the lush plantings, along with spots to reflect back on the garden itself.

A little further north sits their Steveston project. And while the scale here may be smaller, there are still hallmarks of the team’s ingenuity when it comes to meeting their clients’ wishes. Hedging creates a sense of privacy within a standard lot size, and the property includes a beautiful contemporary swimming pool—complete with a cover that retracts seamlessly (and ingeniously) under the purpose-built angular deck, à la James Bond.

In their Shaughnessy project, the team made sure that their approach to the house’s front facade was classical, with clipped box hedging (both Donohoe and Oakes did their schooling in the U.K.—a possible influence

Rising Tide Ryan Donohoe and Jessica Oakes (opposite page) of Donohoe Living Landscapes are photographed at their Crescent Beach project, shown here—a design that intersperses spectacular views with moments of calm reverie.

LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 2023

here) in keeping with the visual character of the traditional neighbourhood. But when it came to the private backyard, those rigours were relaxed: the design embraces an inside-outside ethos with a perfectly inviting space that includes an outdoor kitchen, pool and cabana to suit the family’s entertaining needs.

And to round out their entry, a design curveball: not only did the Donohoe team design the central bar/lounge for IDS Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre, they did it on just a few months’ notice, knowing that the entire creative community would be there to take note. The result is a triumph of bringing the outdoors in, with 1,000 pots strung from overhead cables and 1,500 plants temporarily planted in the surrounding beds. “It was incredibly stressful, incredibly expensive and incredibly fun,” laughs Donohoe of the high-profile gig. But it also perfectly highlights the central ideology that drives the team: landscape as art—a sentiment that our judges wholeheartedly endorsed.

ONE TO WATCH: LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Alexander Suvajac Landscape

Variable Conditions

There’s a quiet serenity to Alexander Suvajac’s landscape designs: his gardens and outdoor rooms invite you to stop, sit, stay awhile, with well-planned spaces throughout in which you can do just that. A studio garden for a ceramicist provides both inspiration for artist owner with its peaceful Japanese-influenced design, and thoughtfully placed linear benches that double as showcases for the artist’s ceramics during seasonal shows. Another space, named Curio, inspires the same delight you’d expect to feel in a shop of the same name, but outdoors: the stroll garden is layered with mature trees and oversized sculptural boulders, while a water feature provides the full-sensory acoustical accompaniment for the moment. It’s careful, crafted design that supports mindfulness for the visitor in a truly Pacific Northwest landscape: the kind of outdoor space you didn’t know you needed until you are within it.—A.Q.

The firm’s diverse portfolio ranges from transforming a standard Steveston backyard into a lush escape (above) to literally bringing the outdoors inside the Vancouver Convention Centre at last year’s IDS Vancouver show (below).

THE RULE OF THREE

From architectural lighting to 30-foot sculptural installations, the work of Propellor takes industrial design into the realm of the artistic.

By Neal McLennan / Portraits by Kyoko Fierro

Three’s Company

WL Industrial Designers of the Year (from left) Toby Barratt, Pamela Goddard and Nik Rust of Propellor in their Granville Island studio.

TThe pure desire to create often defies easy categorization. People are more comfortable with a classification that can fit on a business card: you are a Lighting Designer, a Sculptor, a Museum Curator. But Pamela Goddard, Nik Rust and Toby Barratt—collectively Propellor, our 2023 Industrial Designer of the Year—count themselves lucky that they artistically came of age in a mid-1990s Emily Carr (then Emily Carr Institute, now Emily Carr University of Art and Design) that encouraged them to dive deep and explore a variety of mediums. “Our training was always interdisciplinary in nature, with us crossing back between design and art rather seamlessly,” recalls Barratt.

And while the approach nurtured their inner artists, it made work after graduation a little less linear. Barratt and Goddard did art direction for various festivals, while Rust was, of all things, a smokejumper. But the three of them knew they shared a design sensibility that was rare, so they reunited to work in a small space at Granville Island Woodworks, committed to the idea of a multidisciplinary approach to design.

Growth was steady, but the trio received a major boost when a local restaurateur approached them about doing some custom lighting. They said yes... and then quickly had to immerse themselves in the intricacies of the medium, right down to CSA safety standards. The experience proved pivotal, bringing their designs to a much larger audience that embraced their sculptural approach to a traditionally utilitarian exercise.

It’s an approach that continues to this day in their work: the Orée collection, for example—a series of repeating ovoid wood chandeliers that evoke peeking through a stand of trees at the forest’s edge—straddles the line between fixture and sculpture. That sculptural leaning likewise shines through in Stria, a series of linear turned-wood light fixtures that manage that most highwire-y of modern tasks: combining clean, contemporary lines with the warmth of wood grain and the touch of an artisan’s hand.

And while these projects underscore how lighting is still very much key to their practice, increasingly this design team is being sought out for ventures that lean more to the artistic side. Their Rift project came about when a developer needed a sculptural focal point that would have the effect of dividing the stairs from the lobby (without looking like they were trying to compartmentalize the space). The resulting pair of 30-foottall architectural screens brings all of their talents to the forefront: there’s the sensitive use of wood in the white

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

TB: Beau Dick’s masks are some of the most impactful objects I’ve ever seen—there are so many masterpieces to choose from. I don’t wish that I had designed these pieces myself... that’s an impossibility. Rather, I wish that I could cultivate in myself the deep reserves that it would take to create such resonant work.

What do people often get wrong about design?

PG: I think as designers we often forget that we are making things for others to put in their homes and spaces to live with on a daily basis. Sometimes it can be difficult to let go of our own design egos and listen to what a client needs. The best projects are the ones where our vision and the clients’ desires come together and we create something that surprises and delights both of us!

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

NR: My interests are so wide ranging, I feel like as long as it involved collaborative, creative problem solving it could be in any number of realms, from wildlife research and parks development to urban planning and architecture. I also think it would be good fun to be a foley artist.

WITH TOBY BARRATT , PAMELA GODDARD AND NIK RUST

Great Divide

The design team’s Rift at Burrard Place (below) incorporates 4,200 bronze louvres into a 30-foot-tall architectural screen.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 2023

oak rails and the fabrication of the 4,200 bronze louvres attached to said rails, and then there is the overarching understanding of the interplay of light in our lives that shows in the way natural light is channelled into a never-ending series of daily combinations.

A further step toward “capital F, capital A, Fine Art” is Propellor’s Pastille, a three-storey Calderesque hanging artwork that could just as easily anchor the foyer of the new Vancouver Art Gallery as it does the residential project it’s currently in. And while there’s no denying the broad exposure these projects bring, the trio juxtaposes it again with their Hewn line, a collection of studied imperfection that is a meditation on the nature of ceramics and wood (the latter carved with a chainsaw, naturally) and that channels the group’s desire to create handmade objects.

The breadth and focus of this diverse body of work was perfectly encapsulated by judge Simone Vingerhoets-Ziesmann of Ligne Roset: “Years of experience are visible in the execution,” she commented. “The projects and products are stunning and mesmerizing. They attract and become the centre of attention in the room.”

We couldn’t agree more.

ONE TO WATCH: INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Daly Co

There’s storytelling in each of Daly Co’s designs—and at the heart of those stories is founder Patrick Christie’s material of choice: B.C. wood. There’s the welcome desk (left) that’s constructed from six-inch cubes of Western hemlock—representing the collectiveness of the co-working space it’s in, and what happens when people come together to build something new “one brick at a time.” Another project, with artist Rebecca Belmore, was intended to connect Canada’s East Coast with its West through a story of wood—the final “tree” being constructed out of a combination of eastern pine and sitka spruce from Haida Gwaii. Or take the store design for a Victoria-based clothing company that features vertical posts for the clothing racks: each red cedar post was turned into octagons, and made to look as though it is a tree within a forest. Christie is so passionate about bringing designs in B.C. wood to life, in fact, that he is creating a new generation of storytellers through his The Wood Innovation Group (TWIG), which provides aspiring and innovative craftspeople with resources, mentorship and access to tools and technology.—A.Q.

Orée: Ema Peter; Stria and Hewn wood bowls: Nik Rust

Wood as Muse Propellor’s Orée (left), and Stria (this photo) straddle the line between function and fine art. Hewn wood bowls (below) are a gorgeous study in imperfection— and are carved with a chainsaw.

DESIGN EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

Alan Hung challenges the ordinary with inspired, innovative takes on everyday objects.

By Alyssa Hirose / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro

The year is 2023 , and we’re talking about work-life balance more than ever before: the downside of hustle culture, the value of unplugging, the importance of separating career from “reality.” But when your reality is your career—when, by simply existing in the physical world, you can’t help but consider its limitations and potential fixes—it’s almost impossible to fully clock out. In other words: designers never stop thinking about design, because design is everywhere.

That’s certainly the case for Alan Hung of Alan Hung Studio, Western Living ’s 2023 Furniture Designer of the Year. “When I see something that I feel could be improved, I want to work on it,” explains Hung. His unfaltering interest in the relationship between form and function has prompted an interdisciplinary career: he’s both a furniture designer and a registered architect, and the eponymous studio he founded in 2018 has worked on everything from hair salon designs to pendant lights to prototypes for beer bottles, chess sets and licence plates.

Seeing Red

Hung has won a Red Dot Award three years in a row, from 2021 to 2023, including the prestigious Best of the Best award in 2022.

Every object is another challenge, and anything can be built upon. “For me, design is providing a better solution,” says Hung. Of course, that doesn’t mean his projects are without whimsy or a creative wow-factor: in 2022, Hung tasked himself with redesigning one new thing every week (52 designs in a year, if you’re counting). He ended up with 32 completed designs, including a spiral plate holder, a trippy cantilevered chair and a cutlery set inspired by fish. As an exercise, his “Weekly Design Vitamin” prototype project was a success—but Hung is quick to point out that great design takes time.

His Ging chair, for example, took him three years to develop. “Chairs are particularly difficult to design well,” pointed out

Great Shot

Hung’s Ging table (left) and Ging chair (above and right) are both inspired by a slingshot. “There’s a similar, coherent language for the chair and the table— they both have a very sleek profile and are very minimal,” says the designer.

judge Ross Bonetti, founder and CEO of Livingspace. “The design is refined, and shows awareness of international currents.” Hung’s international flair owes in part to his architectural background (he worked for Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna) and in part to his upbringing. The Ging collection in particular is heavily inspired by the designer’s roots.

“I was born in Taiwan, and when I was a child there weren’t too many toys to play with,” recalls Hung. A slingshot resourcefully crafted from sticks was one of his go-to toys, and that’s the silhouette that influenced the Ging chair. The arm meets the back of the chair in a Y-shape, but there are no sharp angles: the curvilinear piece looks almost soft, despite being structurally rigid. “The

ALAN HUNG

What books are on your nightstand?

Currently, I have Chair: 500 Designs That Matter on my nightstand. I hope that one day my own design will make it to that list.

What’s your dream project?

My dream project is to design my own house, considering every detail, from the optimal sunlight exposure on my living wall to the comfortable oak steps where I can rest my legs.

Is there a famous project or object you wish you had designed?

form is very expressive—people want to touch it and feel it,” says Hung. Judge Thom Fougere (our 2020 Furniture Designer of the Year) agreed: “Through Alan Hung’s skilful use of technology, he brings to life creations that are physically inviting.”

The Ging table speaks the same design language: it’s minimal but precise, with the slingshot shape coming through where the legs meet the tabletop. Thanks to expert manufacturing, the table achieves a clean,

I would have loved to design the SAS Hotel by Arne Jacobsen, where he not only created the architecture but also designed interior details such as furniture, lighting, carpets and cutlery.

WITH

FURNITURE DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2023

smooth silhouette and the joints are practically invisible. “My designs are always very organic,” says Hung, adding that he prefers joinery techniques that are subtle, and that give nothing away through changes in colour or grain.

Then there’s the Minus One chair—an experimental marvel. In tackling this design, Hung questioned what is, for most, a basic rule of chairs: that they need four legs. Minus One, as the name suggests, has only three. “I didn’t know whether it was going to work or not,” admits Hung, who worked with a local woodworker to bring the piece to life. The result is a particularly sleek, light, double-take-worthy chair that adds a quiet element of interest to space.

Despite a portfolio that ranges from rebel dining chairs to landscape-inspired dinner plates, Hung keeps a design throughline that is at once visually delicate and physically strong. “His intricate, organic designs embody a distinct and instantly recognizable softness,” said Fougere. “It is clear that Alan Hung possesses a promising talent, and I look forward to his future work.”

It’s likely we won’t have to wait long: in Hung’s perpetual pursuit of creative solutions, there is an infinite number of problems to tackle, and an infinite number of designs with which to solve them.

Ko Júbilo

Triple Threat

Who says chairs need four legs? “I just wanted to try something different,” says WL Furniture Designer of the Year Alan Hung of his statement-making Minus One chair (left).

thing is clear: Ko Júbilo knows that truly great design, at its heart, solves a problem. There’s his Nest and Span coffee table, which allows a user ultimate flexibility in meeting space requirements: interchangeable legs can be re-positioned as needed; horizontal surfaces can be nested when space is at a premium, and then expanded when an after-dinner cocktail hour requires it. Or his Align design (left), which simplifies the construction and deconstruction of a typical bedframe. Made of FSC-certified wood, Align is the antithesis of disposable furniture: it can be easily moved when it’s time to shift to a new apartment, for example, without causing extra wear and tear on the connectors (as certain other flat-pack designs are wont to do). Of course, his ingenious designs aren’t only about function, and Júbilo—who won WL’s Industrial Designer of the Year in 2018— is an artist in wood, glass and even recycled plant-based food packaging, with a portfolio that’s all elegant curves, classic joinery and thoughtful design.—A.Q.

ONE TO WATCH: FURNITURE DESIGN

OF THE EARTH

Ceramicist and Maker of the Year

Tanvi Arora nurtures her love of nature with every artfully crafted piece.

By Stacey McLachlan / Portrait by Kyoko Fierro

Dubai is, undeniably, impressive. It’s a city that glistens and gleams, one that proudly showcases the possibilities of human ingenuity, of audacious engineering, of physics-bending technology.

But it wasn’t until Dubai local Tanvi Arora arrived on Canada’s West Coast that she truly felt her own design inspiration blossom. “I fell in love with clay here,” says the ceramicist and winner of our 2023 WL Maker of the Year. “In Dubai, everything is new and shiny. It’s a city built on superlatives: the tallest, the biggest, the longest. But it’s artificial. In Vancouver, I started to feel a connection to nature for the first time.”

Arora had been working as an interior designer in Dubai (where she grew up in an arts-minded family: her mom is a talented painter; her brother studied engineering drawing) when she started to feel burned out from all the desk work the role required. “It’s a creative job, but I was looking for something to do with my hands,” she recalls. She found that something at Dubai’s lone pottery studio, and fell head over heels in love with the art form. (“I never wanted to leave,” she says with a laugh.)

Arora bought a wheel and set up her own kiln at home, and happily puttered away, occasionally selling pieces to local shops. But then, when she and her husband decamped to Canada five years ago, she made the leap into full-time ceramics. And in her 400-square-foot Tav Ceramics studio in East Vancouver, the influence of her new home started to creep into her work.

“It’s changed immensely,” Arora says. “With my work in Dubai, it was hard for me to place value in the handmade. Here, I glaze my work

Bright Idea

The Beacon lamp (right) is Arora’s first lighting design.

“It’s a culmination of everything I’ve learned about ceramics at this point,” she says. At two feet tall, the Beacon is available in either a lime-wash-like finish, reminiscent of the walls of Italy, or a lava-rock-inspired gritty black clay.

300 and Counting

Architecture firm M Moser commissioned Arora to help with an installation at financial-software company Tipalti’s downtown office. She crafted 300 beads for a partition intended to look like an abacus (left, top to bottom).

“There were technical challenges, but I have so much fun problem solving,” she says.

Judge and IDS Vancouver director Bronwyn Gourley was “delighted by the innovation and fresh approach to [Arora’s] body of work.”

Who do you admire most as a designer?

I’m quite taken with Brooklyn-based ceramicist Danny Kaplan’s work at the moment. His balance of forms and symmetry is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Any podcasts you follow?

I love Domino’s Design Time Host Julie Vadnal is such a good interviewer and the guests are all truly the masters of their field. Some others I follow are The Maker’s Playbook by Rebecca Ickes Carra and Business Babes Collective by Danielle Wiebe.

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

I’ve always been fascinated with neurology and almost went down that road in high school, although I quickly realized I loved art and architecture much m ore and switched majors. But I still wonder sometimes what it would’ve been like to be in the medical field.

WITH TANVI ARORA

far, far less so you can actually feel the clay when you’re using it.”

Her Stone and Anthracite collection might be the most reflective of her time in Vancouver. “I wanted the touch and feel of the clay to be clear,” she says. “I wanted to find clays so beautiful that they become the hero of the product.” The timeless dinnerware pieces are each unique—a little lighter or darker, depending on where they sat in the kiln.

Arora’s experience as an interior designer comes into play with everything she does. “I see things from the perspective of how they’re used in actual spaces—from where they would be placed to ergonomics,” she says. “I think about how heavy a piece is, how comfortable it is to hold, how it feels as it comes to your mouth.” Designer of the Year judge and industrial designer Diego Olivero appreciated this attention to detail: “Art meets function [in Arora’s work], with proportions playing a vital role,” he said.

Even as Arora takes on more design-y, less functional projects—slip-casting ceramic beads for an installation at a software company, or crafting sculptural lamps out of clay—she’s constantly thinking about the end user.

“I want to create pieces that can stand the test of time in your home; pieces that aren’t

trendy, that don’t follow any design rules,” she says. It’s a philosophy that, intentionally or not, honours the timeless impact and inspiration of the West Coast forest, seascapes and backlit mountain ranges. And in each of Arora’s designs, where earth and mud and dirt are celebrated and treasured, you can feel it all with your own two hands—it’s no billion-dollar skyscraper, but it’s undeniably impressive all the same. “Living in this place,” says Arora, “I’ve seen my work come into its true potential.”

Quake Studio

Some creatives find it tricky to pinpoint exactly when a given moment of inspiration struck—but that’s not the case for Quake Studio creative director Lisa Turner. The designs that come out of Vancouver-based Quake are deeply rooted in specific locations and experiences: the bold and jagged Juan de Fuca table, for example (left), is inspired by the fault line of the same name. The Locarno table, with a top made from Vancouver Island marble, is a nod to the seaside stones that make up a PNW shoreline. Turner’s Nested Vessels, meanwhile, were created during COVID, and each is named for a phrase from the diaries and poems she wrote in those uncertain times. “From concept to material selection, these designs highlight such a thoughtful approach to design,” said judge Bronwyn Gourley, director of conference at IDS Vancouver. Fellow judge and maker Dan Lam agreed: “Everything presented is cohesively executed with skill and precision... they could be fine art objects that happen to be functional.”—A.H.

ONE TO WATCH: MAKER

Home Front “I want to create something that could be an heirloom,” she says of her timeless Stone and Anthracite dinnerware collection.

Kris Atendido LeBoeuf

AWAITS IN TOFINO, B.C.

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 2023 FINALISTS

FURNITURE

Alan Hung Studio

Autonomous Furniture

Buckshee Woodshop

Caliper Studio

Chapel Arts

Ffabb Home

Ko Júblio

J&S Custom Furniture

Maughan Made

New Format Studio

Shipway Living Design

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Daly Co

Propellor

Tantalus Design

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Alloy Homes

Ankenman Marchand Architects

Bioi

Frits de Vries Architects and Associates

James Tuer

Lamoureux Architect

One Seed Architecture and Interiors

SMStudio

ARTHUR ERICKSON

MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING RESIDENTIAL DESIGNER

Bioi

Nick Bray Architecture

Noble Architecture

One Seed Architecture and Interiors

SMStudio

Sumer Singh Studio

FASHION AND JEWELLERY

E.V. Stenroos

Fyoocher

Misheo

Noren Studio

Poppy Barley

Scandinavia Wolf Designs

Stittgen Fine Jewelry

Zadel Jewellery Studio

One Seed Architecture and Interiors

Frits de Vries Architects and Associates

Poppy Barley E.V. Stenroos

Tantalus Design

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 2023

INTERIOR DESIGN

AK Design

Alykhan Velji Designs

DWK Interiors

Falken Reynolds Interiors

Frits de Vries Architects and Associates

Gillian Segal Design

Kelly Deck Design

Peter Wilds Design

Project 22 Design

Pure Design

Shaun Ford and Co.

Sophie Burke Design

Stephanie Brown Inc.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Alexander Suvajac Landscape

Biophilia Design Collective

Donohoe Living Landscapes

Your Space By Design

MAKER

Michelle Grimm

Quake Studio

Scandinavia Wolf Designs

Tav Ceramics

Trish McEvoy Studio

ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING INTERIOR DESIGNER

Bidgood

Brianna Hughes Interiors

Form Collective

Knight Varga Interiors

Linger Design Studio

Nako Design

Smiddy Stegman

Gillian Segal Design

Brianna Hughes Interiors

Kelly Deck Design

Scandinavia Wolf Designs

Biophilia Design Collective

Trish McEvoy Studio

Biophilia Design Collective: Matthew Shannon

RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE BC & YUKON IS CELEBRATING 40 YEARS AND IS CALLING ON ITS COMMUNITY TO UNITE UNDER ONE BADGE!

How do you drive donations when money is tight, and in a country with over 86,000 charities to choose from? You take inspiration from sports, where brands fight to sponsor you and the community rallies together in support.

So for our 40th Anniversary this year, we are calling on our supporters, volunteers and community to unite as one team, just like a Football Club: WE BECOME RMH UNITED!

Since 1983, our House has been giving sick children the healing power of being together with family but still, we’re forced to turn away over 500+ families each year.

For us to help these families, it takes each one of you! Support RMH BC & Yukon (aka RMH United) and ensure no family has to stand alone.

OUR 2023 JUDGING PANEL

Shirley Blumberg is a founding partner of KPMB Architects and a member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to architecture and community. Her current projects include the Montreal Holocaust Museum and prototypical housing for the northern Indigenous community of Fort Severn in Ontario.

Balázs Bognár is partner at Kengo Kuma and Associates. His notable completed work includes Amanpuri’s Retail Pavilion in Phuket, the Rolex Tower in Dallas, the Cultural Village at the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon and the Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo.

Ross Bonetti is the founder and CEO of Livingspace, a destination that has evolved into an internationally recognized design hub since its launch in 1988. Bonetti helped to establish the Livingspace Industrial Design Scholarship, and he continues to support work placement opportunities for interior design students in B.C.

Abraham Chan , founder of ACDO, is a Canadian designer whose life and work finds its roots across the world. Holding a master of architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, Chan began his own firm after a ten-year tenure at internationally acclaimed design firm Yabu Pushelberg.

Becki Chan is a spatial and jewellery designer living and working in Vancouver. For more than 10 years, Chan has planned, strategized, designed and produced across spatial and brand environment projects while working at award-winning design studios Cause and Affect, Evoke ID and Bruce Mau Design.

Lyndon Cormack, along with his brother Jamie, founded Herschel Supply in 2009 after identifying a gap in the market for stylish, functional and design-driven bags. Cormack’s commitment to consistency and

ability to establish long-term brand direction has led to Herschel Supply being recognized as a leader in the global accessories market.

Clinton Cuddington , principal of Measured Architecture, has amassed an impressive public architecture pedigree, including nine years with Bing Thom Architects in Vancouver. In Measured, Cuddington has actualized his vision to create a firm where architects can fully engage and collaborate with clients, builders and other artisans to create outcomes that surpass the sum of the individuals involved.

Thom Fougere, principal of Thom Fougere Studio and former creative director of Canadian design house EQ3, works within the fields of furniture design, product design and architecture in Montreal. His studio creates home furniture and industrial products for such brands as Mjölk and Division Twelve as well as spatial designs and installations.

Bronwyn Gourley, director of conference for IDS Vancouver and IDS Toronto, is a devoted member of the interior design community in Vancouver. Prior to joining the IDS team, she worked as a residential interior design consultant, architectural technologist and installation floral designer in Vancouver and has been entrenched in the design and events industry for over 17 years.

Michael Green is an award-winning architect, speaker and author known for using design to create meaningful, sustainably built environments. A leader in wood construction and innovation, he has completed some of the most significant timber buildings in the world, and has been recognized with over 40 international awards for design excellence.

Sam Khouvongsavanh , partner at ACDO, has been a design director for two successful firms, and has played a hands-on role in the conceptualization, documentation and execution

of celebrated site-specific design projects within Asia, Europe and North America. He brings to ACDO a distinct vision for authentic cultural immersion within the field of hospitality.

Kengo Kuma is the founder of Kengo Kuma and Associates. He is currently a university professor and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo; KKAA projects are now underway in more than 30 countries— including in Canada, with the upcoming Alberni by Kengo Kuma in Vancouver.

Dan Lam is an internationally acclaimed contemporary artist and social media influencer based out of Texas. Lam’s sculptural work expresses and plays with sensational dichotomies by combining unconventional materials, organic forms and bright colours. Her pieces have been featured in Architectural Digest, Travel and Leisure and Forbes, among many other international media outlets.

Geof Lilge is an Alberta-based furniture designer, maker and entrepreneur. Lilge co-founded Pure Design, an award-winning furniture manufacturer, and founded both OnOurTable, a contemporary kitchenware brand, and Division Twelve, a manufacturer of contract and hospitality furniture (acquired by Keilhauer in 2019).

Matthew McCormick, principal of Matthew McCormick Studio, is inspired by shape and form and is always considering the impact of his designs. Each of his creations is an expression of well-informed vision and a finely tuned technical understanding of engineering and manufacturing.

Giulia Molteni is chief marketing officer of Molteni Group. After graduating in economics and business from Bocconi University in 2003 and spending four years in New York working at Loro Piana, Molteni joined the family business in 2007 as retail manager, dealing with the concept,

management and development of the Molteni&C flagship stores worldwide.

Diego Olivero, founder of Diego Olivero Studio, has worked on a vast array of architectural, interior design and installation projects in Guatemala, Venezuela, Miami, Brazil, Honduras, Panama and the U.K. His design collaborations are available at West Elm, Anthropology, CB2, Madewell and ABC Carpet and Home, among others.

Alda Pereira is principal of Alda Pereira Design, a Vancouver-based interior design firm specializing in private residential projects and multi-unit developments including towers, townhouses, low-rise developments and marketing centres.

Marie Soliman , founder and creative director of Bergman Design House and Njord by Bergman, is an award-winning designer with 16 years of design experience in the hospitality, commercial and residential sectors. An avid visual artist as well as a designer, Soliman has been guided on her journeys around the world by her keen eye for the timeless and the well-crafted.

Desiree Thomas is CEO of North America for ba&sh. She has established herself as a cultivator of emerging designer brands, having spent the majority of her 20-plus-year career working with some of the most innovative names in fashion, including 3.1 Phillip Lim.

Simone VingerhoetsZiesmann joined Roset USA in 2017 as executive vice-president for the Americas. Vingerhoets-Ziesmann is also a committed founding member of Be Original Americas, a non-profit organization dedicated to investing in the future of design.

FOOD+TRAVEL >

Fresh recipes, great destinations and inspiring people to transport you.

CHEFS’ TIPS

One-Pot Wonder

How pro chefs level up their boxed mac ’n’ cheese.

“The addition of some brie , gruyere or Boursin cheese and some freshly cracked pepper could completely change a basic Kraft dinner into something wonderful.”

– Tommy Shorthouse, chef, Fanny Bay Oyster Co., Vancouver

“Sprinkle on blitzed wasabi peas and blistered shishito peppers .”

– Patrick Do, owner, Do Chay, Vancouver

FEELING OK

Making the pilgrimage to the Okanagan to eat and drink and eat some more is a summer tradition for a good chunk of Western Canadians—but thanks to the new Okanagan Eats cookbook, which spotlights iconic local dishes from the region’s best chefs, we can dig into OK flavours year-round.

Recipes from Okanagan Eats by Dawn Postnikoff and Joanne Sasvari / Photos by Jon Adrian

Pickle Fried Chicken , see page 96 for recipe.

Excerpted from Okanagan Eats: Signature Chefs’ Recipes from British Columbia’s Wine Valleys by Dawn Postnikoff and Joanne Sasvari. Photography by Jon Adrian. Copyright © 2023 by Dawn Postnikoff and Joanne Sasvari. Recipes copyright the chefs. Excerpted with permission from Figure 1 Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Things on Toast , see page 98 for recipe.

Hot honey

1 bay leaf

pickle fried Chicken

The Noble Pig Brewhouse, Kamloops

At the Noble Pig, chef Jared Summers is always looking for ways to reduce waste and make produce go further. Here, he found a use for the pickle brine that would otherwise just go down the drain. “We’ve tried all sorts of fried chicken dishes over the years,” he says. “This one has had an amazing response.”

Serves: 4 to 8

Quick-pickled cucumbers

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp dried dill

1 tsp pickling spice

1 tsp caraway seeds

¼ tsp celery seeds

¼ tsp crushed red pepper

Pinch of ground turmeric

1⅓ cups water

⅔ cup white vinegar

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced diagonally

Combine all ingredients except the cucumbers in a saucepan. Gently simmer over medium heat, until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.

Place cucumbers in a clean 1-litre Mason jar (or two 500-mL jars). Immediately pour pickling liquid over the cucumbers. Cover jars with lids and tighten loosely. (The heat creates a vacuum that helps preserve the pickles and keeps them crisp.) Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. Makes about 4 cups, including 2 cups pickle juice.

As the pickles are not fully processed, they are not shelf stable. They can be refrigerated for 2 weeks.

Brined chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1½ cups pickle juice

Combine chicken and pickle juice. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Marinade

2 tbsp coarse salt or 1½ tbsp fine salt

2 tbsp dried dill

2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp poultry spice

1 tbsp black pepper

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dry mustard

1 cup buttermilk

Brined chicken (see recipe on this page)

Combine all herbs and spices in a large bowl and mix well. Reserve 2 tbsp for seasoning the finished chicken. Add buttermilk and stir to mix. Set aside.

Drain chicken thighs, then add to the marinade and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Spicy garlic mayonnaise

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp sriracha, sambal oelek or your favourite chili sauce

Grated zest and juice of 1 lime

1 clove garlic, grated

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Makes 1 cup.

Spicy garlic mayonnaise can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.

1 small cinnamon stick or ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp crushed red pepper

½ tsp sriracha, sambal oelek or your favourite chili sauce

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 cup honey

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Turn off heat and let steep for 1 hour. Strain through a finemesh sieve, then transfer to a clean container. Set aside to cool. Makes 1 cup.

Hot honey can be stored at room temperature for 1 month.

Pickle fried chicken assembly

4 to 6 cups canola oil, for deep-frying

1 cup cornstarch

1 cup potato starch

1 cup rice flour

2 tbsp reserved spice blend from marinade

Spicy garlic mayonnaise (see recipe on this page)

16 slices quick-pickled cucumbers (see recipe on this page)

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Pour oil into a deep fryer or deep saucepan and heat to 265°F. Set a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet.

Combine cornstarch, potato starch and rice flour in a large bowl and mix well. Coat individual pieces of the marinated chicken in the dredging mixture. Working in small batches, gently fry chicken for 7 to 9 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F. Transfer chicken to the rack to drain.

Increase oil heat to 350°F. Carefully lower chicken into pan, in batches, taking care not to splash hot oil. Deep-fry for 2 minutes, until slightly brown. Remove from oil, then add chicken to hot honey and toss well. Repeat with remaining batches. Sprinkle with the reserved spice blend.

Serve with spicy garlic mayonnaise, quickpickled cucumbers and lemon wedges.

Lavender Lemonade Cocktail

Legend Distilling, Naramata

At Legend Distilling, the Doctor’s Orders Gin is good for what ails you. This contemporary-style gin flavoured with local apple, elderberry and lavender notes is designed to work in a G&T, martini or negroni, but it might be at its best in this refreshing summery cocktail. The base ingredients—the lavender tea, lemonade and simple syrup—can all be made ahead of time and kept on hand to serve whenever the thirst takes you.

Lavender tea

4 cups water

½ cup culinary lavender, cleaned and sifted

Bring water to boil in a saucepan. Stir in lavender. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain, then allow to cool to room temperature.

Transfer to a glass jar or pitcher and chill until needed. Tea can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Lavender lemonade base

4 cups lavender tea (see recipe on this page)

½ cup simple syrup

½ cup lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar or pitcher and mix well. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Lavender lemonade

1 oz Doctor’s Orders Gin

3 to 4 oz lavender lemonade base (see recipe on this page)

Lemon peel, for garnish

Sprig of lavender, for garnish

Fill a rocks or Collins glass with ice. Add gin and top with lavender lemonade base. Garnish with lemon peel and lavender.

If you’re serving a crowd, fill a pitcher with ice, add 8 ounces gin and top with lavender lemonade mix. Serve in punch cups or rocks glasses.

Things on Toast

The Modest Butcher, West Kelowna

At the Modest Butcher, one of the most popular dishes is Things on Toast, an open-faced sandwich that changes as the seasons do, topped with whatever is fresh and delicious right now. This incarnation is prepared with quick-pickled Okanagan peaches, grilled leeks, toasted hazelnuts, whipped goat feta and a thyme-scented white wine gastrique.

Serves: 4

Quick-pickled Okanagan peaches

3 to 4 cloves garlic, crushed

4 cups white vinegar

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp pickling spice

¼ cup chopped dill

4 to 6 near-ripe Okanagan peaches, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

Combine garlic, vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pickling spice in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove pan from the heat. Stir in dill.

Place peaches in a non-reactive bowl, and set inside a larger bowl or sink filled with ice.

Pour enough pickling liquid over the peaches to cover. (The ice under the bowl will cool things quickly so the peaches don’t get mushy.) Set aside to cool to room temperature. Store the pickled peaches in an airtight container or in Mason jars, ensuring they are completely submerged in the pickling liquid, for up to 3 weeks.

Note: This quick-pickling method here works well for most garden veggies: radishes, cucumbers, onions, carrots or a combination.

Thyme-scented gastrique

1 small onion, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, lightly smashed

¼ cup sliced, peeled ginger

Pinch of salt

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

10 to 12 sprigs thyme

1 cup Mt. Boucherie Pinot Gris

2 cups sugar

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

Combine onions, garlic, ginger and a pinch of salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until well caramelized. Add star anise, cinnamon and thyme. Sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, until aromatic. Pour in wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the saucepan.

Add sugar, vinegar and the orange juice and zest and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until sauce is thick and syrupy. If it isn’t thick enough, cook a little longer; if it is too thick, thin out with a little water. (You are aiming for a maple syrup consistency.)

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing out the goodness to make sure you get it all.

Whipped goat feta

2 cups Okanagan goat feta (preferably Carmelis)

Pinch of black pepper, plus extra to taste 1/2 cup heavy (36%) cream

Grated lemon zest or chopped herbs (optional)

Salt, to taste

Place feta into a food processor and pulse until crumbled. Season with pepper. With the motor still running, quickly add

in heavy cream. Blend until spreadable, occasionally scraping down the sides. Add lemon zest or herbs (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Whipped feta can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Things on Toast assembly

1 cup hazelnuts

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and rinsed well

Olive oil, for drizzling

Salt and black pepper, to taste

4 slices rustic sourdough

¼ cup whipped goat feta (see recipe on this page)

16 slices quick-pickled Okanagan peaches (see recipe on this page)

¼ cup thyme-scented gastrique (see recipe on this page)

Microgreens, edible flowers or baby lettuces, for garnish (optional)

Preheat a grill over high heat.

Toast hazelnuts in a dry frying pan for 8 to 10 minutes, until light brown and fragrant. Remove the skins and coarsely crumble under a heavy pan.

Pat leeks dry, then season with oil, salt and pepper. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until lightly coloured. Transfer to a chopping board and set aside to cool. Chop and keep warm.

Drizzle oil over each slice of bread and season with salt and pepper. Carefully toast on the grill, taking care not to burn. Remove bread from the grill and spread with whipped goat feta. Place on individual plates or a serving platter and top with grilled leeks, pickled peaches and toasted hazelnuts. Drizzle with gastrique. Garnish with microgreens, edible flowers or baby lettuces (if using).

THE GRAPE ESCAPE FOR WINE ENTHUSIASTS

Let Asti Spumante and Moscato d'Asti transport you on a captivating wine voyage this Thanksgiving

With the holiday season just around the corner, it’s time to immerse yourself in winemaking excellence and be captivated by the allure of Asti, nestled in the northwestern region of Italy.

This picturesque haven sees the convergence of a unique climate, soil composition and time-honored winemaking techniques that has forged wines of exceptional character and unparalleled quality. Bathed in abundant sunlight and refreshed by gentle breezes, the vineyards exert their influential touch upon the grapes, resulting in wines that truly embody their origin.

Each bottle is a testament to a labor of love, a legacy passed down through generations where tradition and craftsmanship unite in perfect harmony—an extraordinary heritage, protected and celebrated by the Consorzio Asti DOCG, a voluntary association that unites every member, from grape growers and vintners' co-ops to winemakers, Spumante makers, and bottlers.

Prepare to embark on a remarkable journey through a land steeped in heritage and uncover the irresistible allure that has wine connoisseurs raving this Thanksgiving it’s time to enjoy the Asti vibe

BY NATALIE BRUCKNER

Asti Spumante DOCG

‘Asti’, as it is fondly known among friends, is the pinnacle of Italian winemaking—a perfect fusion of vineyard craftsmanship, agribusiness finesse, and industrial prowess. Its straw-yellow colour whispers of grace, while lively bubbles waltz upon your tongue. Aromas of acacia, wisteria, orange, and bergamot harmonize, crafting a symphony of scents. The unique essence of Moscato Bianco, influenced by vineyard placement, soil composition, and microclimates, adds a touch of delightful variation.

PERFECT PAIRING: Asti Spumante's vibrant acidity and floral undertones make it an ideal complement to roasted turkey or honeyglazed ham, enhancing the savory notes and creating a delightful culinary experience.

Moscato d'Asti DOCG

Indulge in the allure of Italy's famed Moscato, a jewel in Piedmontese winemaking. Its enchanting bouquet, with hints of acacia, wisteria, and citrus, intertwines with the delicate sweetness and gentle alcohol content, creating a truly unique experience. A symphony of flavors, including notes of spice, elderberry, yarrow and bergamot

flowers, dances on the palate. Moscato d'Asti narrates a story of sophistication and grace, encapsulating the very essence of its origins within each precious sip.

PERFECT PAIRING: Moscato d'Asti’s gentle sweetness and captivating aromas make it a superb accompaniment to traditional Thanksgiving treats such as pumpkin pie or apple crisp.

Drink the Asti Vibe and let its magic transport you to a world where tradition and craftsmanship unite, where wine becomes a testament to the enduring beauty of the human spirit. Cheers to the timeless allure of Asti!

L

A.

THE AGENDA

Theory: maybe it’s called the city of angels because the food and design scene here is just so heavenly. Here’s where to eat, stay and play in otherworldly

Saturday 9:00 A.M.

Prepare your body for a day of exploring with breakfast at the Parisian-chic Bottega Louie

On weekends, the souffle-style “Le Pancake” ($25) offers a sophisticated sugar rush, while the more vegetable-inclusive farmers market breakfast ($22) provides delicious nutrition via poached eggs, Tuscan kale, peppers and fennel. And sure, macarons may feel like a circa2012 kind of treat, but these delicate meringue

L.A.

By Stacey McLachlan

cookies are the real deal: grab a sleeve to snack on in the hotel later. bottegalouie.com

10:00 A.M.

Row DTLA in downtown Los Angeles may technically be only six square blocks, but it feels like a whole mini city. The creative compound brings independent boutiques and foodie destinations together into one super-walkable hub—take your time exploring here. Hightide is chocka-block with giftable stationery and tsotchkes

Row by Row

The new Row DTLA shopping and culture district is so dense you could spend a whole day here. You’ll find chic boutiques filled with fashion and design-y home goods, indie restaurants and coffee shops, plus events like outdoor movies and food festivals.

from Japan; Pretty Good Boy sells beautifully designed pet gear. But in between artisanal coffee shops (snag an espresso “cocktail” from Go Get Em Tiger) and high-end vintage co-ops (find sequin everything at Arcade), you might discover a few only-in-L.A. hidden fashion destinations... like Bodega, a sneaker-andstreetwear speakeasy disguised as a loading dock, or Apt. 4B, which displays wares in an environment designed to look like an apartment from 1997. rowdtla.com

1:00 P.M.

If you didn’t fill up on snacks at Row, make a pit stop at Grand Central Market to refuel. The bustling food court has been open since 1917, and continues to offer something for every palate. Moon Rabbit slings katsu sandwiches; vegans flock to the plant-based soups at Ramen Hood; Lucky Bird is “dedicated to the art of fried chicken.” Overstuffed strawberry treats from the Donut Man are worth the lines. grandcentralmarket.com

2:00 P.M.

What L.A. lacks in walkability it makes up for in free gallery admission. In the downtown core, the Broad and the Museum of Contemporary Art are across the street from each other and provide an excellent way to hide from the heat. The Broad’s current Keith Haring exhibit pulls the iconic street artist’s work out from the extensive archives and into the high-ceilinged gallery. At L.A.’s MOCA, Long Story Short is the

focus this fall—it’s a presentation of MOCA’s collection from the 1940s to present day. thebroad.org; moca.org

6:00 P.M.

Chase your afternoon of contemporary art with a next-level meal at Angry Egret Dinette Hidden in a Chinatown courtyard, Egret is an oasis—one that thankfully features battered rock fish tacos wrapped in a perfect flour tortilla ($16) and topped with housemade tomato molcajete salsa. (Dinner service on Friday and Saturdays only.) aedinette.com

8:30 P.M.

Toast a successful day in the most L.A. of fashions: by catching the sunset from a poolside, rooftop perch at Bar Clara, ideally with spicy-sweet Bees cocktail (Ford’s gin, honey, habanero tincture, mint, lemon; $16) in hand. hotelperla.com

Around Town

Clockwise from top left: Bodega is an immersive streetwear-shopping experience—worth a visit for hypebeasts and homebodies alike; The Broad brings out its extensive Keith Haring collection this month; tacos at Angry Egret come with three amazing housemade salsas; MOCA offers a walk through an incredible collection of contemporary art; Bar Clara brings pool vibes and top-notch cocktails; Lucky Bird’s fried chicken sandwiches are worth braving the crowds at Grand Central Market; Ramen Hood offers more destination dining in the downtown core; Pretty Good Boy is the spot to source your designer dog gear.

Where to Stay

For the Hollywood Hipster

Mama Shelter is an upscale, rock-and-roll concept hostel that came to L.A. from France: the Hollywood locale is designed by Thierry Gaugain. Crisp, modern private rooms feature kingsized beds, but get out and into the eclectically decorated communal spaces; here, a sprawling, paint-splattered word-art mural covers the ceiling to crisscross the colourful bar, lounge and diner. mamashelter.com

For the Downtown Dilettante

Located in a former Bank of Italy, the neoclassicalcool Hotel Per La contrasts with the, uh, gritty vibe of downtown L.A. An ornate gold ceiling and dramatic columns are punctuated with colourful PoMo furniture pieces—an oldworld-meets-new vibe that makes for a perfectly welcoming home base. hotelperla.com

For the Luxury Lover

Hotel Per La: The Ingalls

The Beverly Hills Hotel is both famed and acclaimed for a reason: the iconic striped entryway and red carpet lead to world of pure luxury. Marilyn Munroe and Frank Sinatra were regulars here; bungalows take design cues from their famous former inhabitants. The turquoise pool, surrounded by candystriped umbrellas and lounge chairs, makes for an ideal perch from which to spot more modern stars. dorchestercollection.com

Deep in La La Land

Culinary Backstreets delivers on its promises, taking guests into delightful under-the-radar local spots and insiders-only neighbourhood haunts (top left). Agua Viva (top right) serves up rooftop vibes alongside upscale Spanish(-ish) dishes crafted by celebrity chef José Andrés. For a true Hollywood experience, hit the Beverly Hills Hotel spa (above)— the treatment rooms are just as sumptuous as its legendary suites.

Sunday

8:00 A.M.

Pace yourself with breakfast today—you’ll be embarking on a food tour later this morning. But a coffee certainly won’t hurt. Grab an oat milk latte (and, okay, a flaky, pistachio-stuffed mezzaluna pastry) at Cafe Ora hotelperla.com/dine

10:00 A.M.

You packed walking shoes, right? Culinary Backstreets is about to take you on a five-anda-half-hour stroll from Chinatown to Little Tokyo to Downtown L.A. and the historic Mexican district, so you’ll need stamina of both the appetite and cardio kind. Insightful guides will share history alongside irresistible local treats: cream puffs from cult-fave Chinese bakeries, modern egg-salad sandos from cool-kid lunch spots, fruit mochi from historic Japanese confectionary shops and more. culinarybackstreets.com

4:00 P.M.

In a land of glitz and glamour, the Museum of Jurassic Technology is an unassuming oddball—but that’s just what makes this strange art experience, designed by MacArthur fellow David Hildebrand Wilson, so enticing. Walking through the dingy, narrow hallways of this curious exhibition, it takes a beat to notice that everything is just... off. The inventions on display aren’t real; the reverently framed documents and charts are works of fiction. It’s an intriguing experience— impressively dense and detailed—that bends reality and quietly pushes visitors to contemplate their own relationships with museums and history. mjt.org

5:30 P.M.

Sluff off the delightfully toasty afternoon with a treatment at the sumptuous Beverly Hills Hotel Spa. Of course a Hollywood-adjacent spa offers plenty of youth-preservation facials and hightech skin techniques, but you’re here to relax: go with the UMA oil aromatherapy massage (from $290) for a treatment that simultaneously awakens and unwinds. dorchestercollection.com

7:00

P.M.

When you’re in California, it actually is a crime to not consume at least one meal a day on a rooftop. Agua Viva is chef José Andrés’s newest L.A. restaurant, and it provides both an upscale, Spanish-inspired menu and beach-club vibes alongside sunshine and 10th-floor views of the city sprawl. Share platters of croquetas de cangrejo—decadent crab fritters ($24)—and fried sea bream ($94) with mojo verde and citrus. aguavivabyjose.com

Comfortable Corners

I love a space that could have easily been overlooked—that, with some sensitivity and thought, has been turned into a place to feel something. My favourite “corner” in my own home is the hallway on the main floor: it could have simply been a space used to get from one end of the house to the other, but by giving it personality—the arches and barrel-vaulted ceiling; painting it deep navy and adding a star-shaped pendant light—it’s a place that makes you smile.

Italy

I’ve been experiencing Italy almost every year of my life and I have many happy places there—strolling through Orvieto’s main street, visiting open-air antique markets and picking figs from wild trees. There’s one particular spot that stands out for me, however: when I was younger, my aunt and uncle regularly took us to explore the grounds of a deconsecrated church up on a hill in Tuscany outside of Pisa. When I went back with my husband years later, I felt so at peace near the old church stone, surrounded by fields of wild poppies and fresh air fluttering through the now-wild olive grove. That moment and that place serves me in my work to create peaceful places for clients.

The Glades Woodland Garden

Located less than an hour’s drive outside of Vancouver, this place is an absolute wonderland of colour when the rhododendrons—which make up 90 percent of the garden—are in bloom. Murray Stephen created the woodland garden with his wife back in 1956 to remind himself of his native Scotland, and some of his rhododendrons tower tens of feet in the air. It’s also great place to practice saying “indumentum” (a favourite word of mine meaning the hairy surfacing of a plant—many rhododendrons have a velvety underside to their leaves).

Cooking

I grew up surrounded by wonderful home cooks: mamma, nonna, Italian aunts (and the occasional uncle—Zio Antonino’s spaghetti alle vongole is sheer poetry). And, like them, I cook to feed but I also cook to create. While I’m quietly creating a dish for lunch, whether it’s my father’s eggs in tomato sauce or a salad aped from Nigel Slater’s cookbooks, I derive great satisfaction from the process of conceptualizing a meal, the implementing of it and the immediate enjoying of it! My family and I give Italian cooking workshops: we teach one of our family recipes and enjoy a wonderful meal either at the harvest table in our kitchen or in our back garden surrounded by flowers.

Designer Francesca Albertazzi on the 5 Things That Keep Her Inspired

Nicola Harding

I first heard the U.K.-based Harding speak during the online sessions of the Calico Club during COVID (silver linings!) and I felt she was speaking my language: creating places, not spaces, listening to clients and designing from the inside out to create unique work. She uses colour and pattern fantastically and I look to her work often for inspiration.

Portrait: Nick Molson