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WESTERN LIVING SEPTEMBER 2019 B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 48 L NUMBER 7

2019 Editors’ Choice

BEST MAGAZINE, SMALL CIRCULATION

WESTERNLIVING .CA // DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

Architectural Designer of the Year, Javier Campos of Campos Studio

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Pininfarina has created several luxury auto bodies for Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Ferrari. Now the Italian design firm journeys into the home design world with the Segno collection for Reflex. Only through Luxuries of Europe.

221 10th Ave SW Calgary, AB 403.262.6813 luxuriesofeurope.ca Instagram: @loeyyc

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Working It Credenza king Jeff Martin won our judges over with his clever craftsmanship and timeless designs. Read more about our 2019 Furniture Designer of the Year starting on page 80.

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR 41

Cover and this page: Carlo Ricci

The Winners

Drumroll, please. We’re thrilled to introduce the Western Canadian designers who are defining our design culture—from thoughtful architecture to playful textiles to lush landscaping.

98

The Judges

Meet this year’s panel of Designers of the Year judges: a who’s who of the design world, packed with international all-stars and local icons alike.

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The Finalists

The entries for our 2019 Designers of the Year competition came rolling in from across the West, and these finalists led the pack—and wowed the judges.

CONTENTS westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

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DESIGN

26

21

Ones to Watch

Shopping + Openings

Punchy vases, painterly pillows and prettyin-pink rugs top our wish list this month.

26

Great Spaces

Calgary’s historic Palliser hotel gets an elegant update.

28

Sofas We Love

This season’s hottest seating options embrace plush perfection.

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Making It

123

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Sneak a peek into our 2019 IDS Vancouver exhibit, spotlighting the best of Western Canada’s maker culture.

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Mystery Box

Sophie Burke and Shelter Design team up on a stunning modern reno on this year’s Modern Home Tour.

FOOD

105

Bites

Food and restaurant news to chew on.

109

Brunch à la Marché

Author and Beaucoup Bakery founder Jackie Kai Ellis invites us for a market-inspired Paris brunch.

TRAVEL

121

The Local

Finding our happy place by the water on Quadra Island.

123

Get Up, Stand Up

On a stand-up paddle board, you take the trip from Washington to Tofino one wave at a time.

PLUS

130

CONTENTS

Trade Secrets

How to create a bright and airy entryway for the perfect “welcome home” moment.

Hawthorn: Bonjwing Lee; Tand-up paddleboarding: Liv von Oelreich; Jackie Kai Ellis: Joann Pai

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Vancouver’s Unbuilders turn demolition into opportunity.

1 4 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Western

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WESTERN LIVING editorial publisher Samantha Legge, MBA editorial director Anicka Quin executive editor Stacey McLachlan art director Jenny Reed travel editor Neal McLennan style editor Lucy Lau contributing editors Amanda Ross, Nicole Sjöstedt,

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EDITOR’S NOTE

THE FANTASTIC FOUR WESTERN LIVING SEPTEMBER 2019

WESTERN LIVING SEPTEMBER 2019

B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 48 L NUMBER 7

B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 48 L NUMBER 7

2019 Editors’ Choice

2019 Editors’ Choice

BEST MAGAZINE,

BEST MAGAZINE,

SMALL CIRCULATION

SMALL CIRCULATION

WESTERNLIVING .CA // DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

WESTERNLIVING .CA // DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

Architectural Designer of the Year, Javier Campos of Campos Studio

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The Very Best of Western Canadian Architecture and Design

Designers Year 2019 of the

The Very Best of Western Canadian Architecture and Design

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Designers Year 2019

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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Industrial Designer of the Year, Zoë Pawlak

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WESTERN LIVING SEPTEMBER 2019

WESTERN LIVING SEPTEMBER 2019

B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 48 L NUMBER 7

B.C. & ALBERTA L VOLUME 48 L NUMBER 7

2019 Editors’ Choice

2019 Editors’ Choice

BEST MAGAZINE,

BEST MAGAZINE,

SMALL CIRCULATION

SMALL CIRCULATION

Interior Designer of the Year, David Nicolay of Evoke International Design

WESTERNLIVING .CA // DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

WESTERNLIVING .CA // DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR

Emerging Interior Designer of the Year, Gaile Guevara

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SEPTEMBER 2019

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This month we asked our contributors, what do you think of as a perfectly designed object?

Joann Pai, Brunch à la Marché page 109 I think ceramics are my idea of perfectly designed objects, as I love the artistry behind them. But mostly because they’re used to hold food.

Dan Rubinstein, Get Up, Stand Up page 123 Stand-up paddleboards are not only an easy way to get onto the water, they’re also aesthetically perfect watercraft. They’re optimized for balancing on, cutting through or riding atop waves. Their design facilitates an intimate connection with water, and once you’re hooked, you’ll never sit in a canoe again.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Photographer Carlo Ricci and his producer Adele Thomas photograph our emerging interior designer of the year, Gaile Guevara, in her office in Vancouver’s Gastown. Her faithful companion, Teddy, leans in for his own five minutes of fame.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

Designers Year 2019

Q& A

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The Very Best of Western Canadian Architecture and Design

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VISIT

anick a quin, editorial director anick a.quin@westernliving.ca

FOLLOW US ON

Anicka Quin portrait: Evaan Kheraj; styling by Luisa Rino, makeup by Melanie Neufeld; outfit courtesy Holt Renfrew, holtrenfrew.com.

Follow Anicka on Instagram @aniqua

Sometimes you can’t just pick one. As the arresting portraits of this year’s Designers of the Year winners started to roll in, our art director, Jenny Reed, lobbied for one to be our cover star. It’s not our typical style—as you well know, we favour showcasing the gorgeous interiors from a home somewhere in the West—but our DotY issue is a special one.

It’s our 12th annual celebration of the best and brightest of Western Canada’s design community, a cross-disciplinary awards program that was the first of its kind when we launched it back in 2008. A few things have changed over the years—as of 2016, for example, we now include a Maker category to better reflect that booming corner of the design industry—but much has been consistent since day one. We bring in top-tier judges from around the world to be part of nine design panels (this year’s allstars include Umbra’s VP of design, Matt Carr and Italian designer Piero Lissoni—you’ll see all of them on page 98). Our call for entries goes out in early February, and by May our judging panels are already poring over the entries. The tallies come in a couple of months later, and the team here is thrilled as if it were Christmas morning when we discover who’s going be named Western Living’s Designers of the Year.

But back to this month’s cover—or covers, as you’ll see. Photographer Carlo Ricci is a longtime contributor to WL, and deserves awards himself for his mastery of the art of portraiture. (And, indeed, he has won many a National Magazine Award.) While we were sure we wanted to use one of his photos on the cover, deciding on one was near impossible.

So we didn’t. This month, for the first time, we’re issuing four distinct covers, in celebration of both the extraordinary talent of the designers lauded within this issue, and of the work of Ricci himself. May you discover your next favourite designer in this special issue of Western Living magazine. Or, even better, join us when we celebrate these winners on September 19 in Vancouver. You’ll find tickets at wldoty2019.eventbrite.ca—I hope to see you there!

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DESIGN

N E W & N O TA B L E L S H O P TA L K L G R E AT S P A C E S L S O F A S W E L O V E

O N E TO WATC H

Knock on Wood

Andrew Querner

Adam Corneil, Founder and CEO, Unbuilders Vancouver’s red-hot housing market means development is inevitable. But the construction of shiny, brandspanking-new buildings comes with a lot of waste: wood, drywall, steel and other demolition debris that’s sent to the incinerator or landfills. “It was really bothering me as a builder, a woodworker and an environmentalist,” says local contractor Adam Corneil.

The solution? Unbuilders, a team of “salvage experts” founded by Corneil that works not to demolish decades-old homes in Vancouver but, like its name suggests, unbuild them. Unlike the traditional, machine-aided demo process, the team takes spaces apart by hand, recovering everything from roofing and siding to cabinetry, appliances and moulding.

The materials are then donated to and sold at charitable outlets like Habitat for Humanity, for which the building owner receives a tax receipt.

Perhaps most significantly, Unbuilders rescues an extensive amount of oldgrowth wood, which comes from ancient trees that were clear-cut from B.C. forests in the past century. Some of this prized lumber, which is stronger and more stable than that used in construction projects today, will be repurposed at two designforward installations at this year’s IDS Vancouver. “We don’t only feel like we’re salvaging used building materials,” notes Corneil, “we feel like we’re salvaging our local history.”—Lucy Lau

On the House

Adam Corneil and his Unbuilders crew work to sustainably dismantle homes, rescuing oldgrowth wood and other materials in the process.

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

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DESIGN // SHOPPING

BY LU C Y L AU

Heavy Metal

The snazzy, tinted-metal True Colours vases (from $163) by Dutch designer Lex Pott for &Tradition will be the real star of the show no matter how pretty the bouquets they hold. Choose from colour combos like green-copper and blue-brass. informinteriors.com

Anicka’s Pick

Parker1000 Lounger

by Icon Mfg, $895, instagram.com/icon_mfg I recently had my teak dining chairs reupholstered by furniture designer Mark Cocar—he’s the best in the biz—who has a line of mid-century-inspired furniture under his design firm, Icon Mfg. For his Parker1000 Lounger (which received an honourable mention from Vancouver magazine’s Made in Vancouver Awards), eco-friendly Baltic birch stands in for the less sustainable exotic hardwoods typical of vintage pieces. It has a cleverly cut streamlined frame, too, which is designed for minimal joinery, and there are colourful upholstery options that make use of a playful palette—like a little sunshine yellow to combat a grey Vancouver morning.

For more of Anicka’s picks, visit westernliving.ca

Pillow Fight

Add a punch of fun to your living area with Vancouver artist Dana Mooney’s hand-painted pillows (from $189), many of which double as pet beds. Pick from an array of one-off patterns, including the striking Graphic U, pictured here. danamooney.com

In the Dark

With its sliding door and streamlined solid-oak construction, the Blackbird console ($2,660)

by Ethnicraft puts function first. But the bold, black-brushed frame ensures that it’s easy on the eyes, too. fullhousemodern.com

NOTEWORTHY New in stores across the West.

Space Jam Branch Out

Dutch design company Moooi’s signature whimsy is on full show in the Liberty table (price on request), which features an American chestnut base that brings to mind both tree branches and the Arts and Crafts movement. livingspace.com

2 2 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Modelled after the shape of the Seattle Space Needle, Kartell’s Space lamp ($391) offers desktops a hit of futuristic (or galaxy-farfar-away) cool. robertsweep.com

DESIGN // SHOPPING

OPENINGS Hot new rooms we love.

Peek-a-Bamboo

Make summer last with EQ3’s Sticks oval pendant ($140), which is crafted from bamboo in Vietnam, where this delicate style of shade is typically found. eq3.com

BY J U S N E E L M A H A L

Step by Step

The Tiptoe sofa ($4,185) by Spanish label Sancal is aptly named: the piece’s slim, dainty legs—available in a pretty copper or anthracite finish—make it seem as though it’s quietly tiptoeing through the room. pompandcircumstance.ca

Calgary Dwell Modern by LightForm The walls have come down between neighbours Dwell Modern and LightForm, creating a mega showroom that will house the best of the two Canadian brands. Expect an expanded assortment of modern furnishings like low-profile sofas and marble-topped dining tables, plus equally contemporary (and playful) lighting objects that run the gamut from banana-shaped table lamps to glittering Zaha Hadid-designed chandeliers. dwellmodern.ca; lightform.ca Victoria Victoria Corner Store This funky Douglas Street thrift stop prides itself on its diverse range of recycled treasures, such as vintage records, retro pocket radios and tools.

There’s a curated selection of handcrafted jewellery, embroidery and other works from local artists like Going Steady and Angela Faber, too.

Before you visit, check the shop’s Instagram page for the most up-to-date look at its evolving stock. instagram.com/cornerstorevic

Take a Seat

The classic J46 chair ($379)— dreamed up by prolific Danish designer Poul M. Volther for FDB Møbler—embodies the spirit of Scandi living: elegant, fuss-free and undeniably playful. shop.vanspecial.com

Cut the Rug

Italian designer Matteo Cibic’s collection for Jaipur Rugs (from $1,100) takes inspo from the architecture and colours of Jaipur—it ain’t called the Pink City for nothin’—while maintaining Cibic’s frisky, eclectic edge. eastindiacarpets.com 2 4 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

vancouver Melanie Auld Jewelry Vancouver-based jewellery designer Melanie Auld has opened her first brick-and-mortar shop.

Designed by local interiors maven Kelly Deck, the airy, pretty-in-pink-and-green flagship carries Auld’s full range of demi-fine and fine jewellery— picture delicate studs, 14-karat solid-gold chains and medallion pendants—as well as an in-house collection of handmade-in-Italy ceramics and Murano-glass vessels that pay tribute to Auld’s heritage. melanieauld.ca

MINOTTI

DESIGN // GREAT SPACES

ALL ABOARD

A Calgary hotel with a rich history gets a classy update.

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Old Meets New

New elements, like the sage-coloured leather swivel chairs at the bar (above) and custom-cut, black-and-white flooring from Stone Tile (below), complement features preserved from Palliser’s past, such as a vibrant ’60s-era mural by Banff-based artist Charles Beil (right).

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MORE INSPIRING SPACES Find more great rooms to inspire at westernliving.ca

Bonjwing Lee

Calgary’s Fairmont Palliser has seen a lot in its 100-plus years. (The Edwardian Commercial-style hotel opened in 1914 to accommodate tourists travelling from eastern Canada to Banff on the Canadian Pacific Railway.) So it only makes sense that Frank Architecture tapped into its storied past when dreaming up the glam, vintage-inspired interiors of Hawthorn Dining Room and Bar, the first new food-and-beverage outlet to join the Palliser in more than 60 years.

“The Canadian Pacific Railway used to run through the land beside the hotel. There used to be flower stalls… and it used to be this really lively space,” says Kate Allen, co-founder and director at Frank. “So we were brought on board to return the lobby—and this new restaurant—to the bustling area it once was.”

With that ask in mind, the team developed a design narrative for Hawthorn that centred on the history of both the Palliser and the national railroad. Banquettes feature subtle metalwork that references the stained-glass windows of old railway cars, while a custom floral wallpaper in the restrooms gives a nod to the flower stands that formerly populated Palliser’s lobby. In addition, the ceiling was raised to an airy 15 feet and coffered with contrasting black strapping. The resulting look is reminiscent of railroad tracks, says Caitlin Flynn, senior interior designer at Frank, and echoes the striking black moulding.

Clustered seating was added in front of the original fireplace, while a vibrant mural (another preserved feature, this one from 1962) by the late Banff-based artist Charles Beil features galloping horses and cowboys.

“The goal was to make this into a destination in the city, so that locals—not just visitors and people staying at the hotel—are coming by,” says Allen.—Candice Lipski

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DESIGN // SOFAS WE LOVE

BY B A R B S L I G L

ROUNDING UP

There’s a plush factor to these sofas, with sinuous lines, soft textures and more than a little give. Ride the wave.

Street Style

The switchbacks of San Francisco’s most famous street inspired the samenamed Lombard sofa (from $22,770), designed by Yabu Pushelberg for Avenue Road. Its structured curves come in various modules and configurations to match whatever speed you prefer. avenue-road.com

Full Suspension

The Arlon sofa ($17,790) by design duo Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez for Gruppo Euromobil is unstructured yet streamlined, its ample padding perched atop a slender frame for an airy—and dreamy—vibe. bloomfs.com

Blushing Bombshell

With its tufted velvet and its brass-capped wooden legs, the Milchbar ($2,999) by Kare looks decidedly retro. But the three-seat sofa also adds some rouge to the mix for extra va-va-voom. inspirationfurniture.ca

Open Arms

As its name suggests, Bensen’s Aura sofa (from $10,985) surrounds you. The sectional seat has a slight splay to its armrests and soft give in its down-filled seat cushions for an embrace that’s open-armed yet still tailored. informinteriors.com 2 8 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Holding Pattern

The Clam sofa bed ($7,621), a collaboration between Léo Dubreil and Baptiste Pilato that won last year’s Concours Cinna prize and is now made by Ligne Roset, seems to clasp you within its shell whether you’re horizontal or not. ligne-roset.com

designer’s pick

Kristina Eustace

Sven Charme sofa in tan ($2,199), article.com

sweet caramel “I love this sofa in caramel leather, mainly for its classic design. The lines are mid-century, the tufted bench seat is lovely and you can’t beat the vintage patina that develops on the material over time. I own this sofa and I source it for clients all the time!”

W E S T C O A S T N AT U R E I N S P I R E D J E W E L R Y

Kristina Eustace of Kresswell Interiors, Edmonton, kresswellinteriors.com

W W W. L O V E M O R N I N G M O O N . C O M

DESIGN // IDS VANCOUVER

MAKING IT

WL’s showcase at this year’s IDS Vancouver celebrates the talented maker culture that’s booming in the West.

by Anicka quin

When I started chatting with designer Kevin Mitchell and executive editor Stacey McLachlan about what we wanted to do this year at Interior Design Show Vancouver, we looked to the magazine itself for inspiration. Each month in its pages we spotlight the best designers in the West, yes, but in doing so we also place our readers inside these gorgeously designed rooms. So, how could we translate Western Living into a real-life experience—and potentially allow readers to become a part of the photos themselves?

The answer was to create an immersive experience.

For this year’s exhibit at IDS Vancouver, we’ll be showcasing the best of the local design community—including several of the winners from this year’s Designers of the Year Awards—by creating beautifully designed rooms that you can walk right into and explore in the real world (and maybe take a selfie or two while you’re there). We’ve aptly titled the exhibit Making It: each of the makers, textile artists, ceramicists and industrial designers featured in these rooms are living, working, creating and basically killing it in the West today.

David Adair of Blackfish Homes has come on board as our construction partner. (You’ll no doubt recognize the name—his company builds many of the modern homes 3 0 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

we feature each month, including our April cover story.)

And it’s our second year partnering with Kevin Mitchell of Mitchell Design House (last year’s Alberta REdeFINED project—one faceted wall represented the B.C.-Alberta border—was so much fun that we couldn’t wait to see what else he could do with us). This year at IDS Vancouver, says Mitchell, “It’s essentially four distinct photo booths.

Instead of people putting on strange costumes, you’re posing in front of cool and pretty things.” The space is divided into four quadrants, with a unique vignette in each, from a mid-century inspired library room to a neon-bedazzled bar. It’ll be colourful and creative—and with more than a few surprises. We hope it will help you discover your next favourite Western Canadian designer.

Here are some of Kevin’s favourites from this year’s Making It exhibit.

Making It Work

Designer Kevin Mitchell of Calgary’s Mitchell Design House will once again be designing Western Living’s display at IDS Vancouver.

1 6 1. Tomnuk Edmonton “I love the simplicity of form in Tomnuk’s designs. Jordan Tomnuk’s wall sconces are so tailored and so refined, but still use that raw form of steel.

He plays with the form and the scale really well.”

7 5

2. BloksYYC

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Calgary “BloksYYC is my own company. My business partner Josh Lewis and I create pedestals designed on the basis of zero waste: we’re using full sheets of material, and we’re trying to minimize any type of scrap. We know that every designer is always looking for that little black dress—how many people have sculptures or objets they want to display, and can’t find anything?”

3. New Format Studio Vancouver “The work of Henry Norris of New Format Studio was a case of ‘Which pieces do I limit it to?’ There’s so much great stuff! You can see that nod to Brutalist architecture, you can see the nod to the ’60s Danish modern and you can see the inspiration from the furniture masters. Those pieces are so versatile you could put them into almost any decor.”

3

5. Calen Knauf Design Studio 5

Vancouver “I adore Calen Knauf Design Studio’s Tack benches: that bent wood, it’s really on trend.

Though it’s a basic form, he’s added a level of refinement to it. He often uses unconventional materials to create conventional pieces of furniture and accessories.”

6. Endeavour Neon 6

4. Anewall Langley, BC “Anewall is amazing. The patterns are sophisticated, and they’re really playful and whimsical, too. The use of colour, the pattern repeats— they look handmade. And so original—they’re really not repeating what’s already been done.”

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Vancouver “With Andrew Hibbs’s Endeavour Neon, what can I say? How can you not love neon? The Say Cheese sign he’s going to create for us is a playful way to let people see that neon is still very much a thing. I know that at one time Vancouver had the highest density of neon signs in North America, and it’s cool to see him embracing that.

His designs are a little cheeky and edgier.”

7. Div. 12 4

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Edmonton “The nice thing about the chairs from Geoffrey Lilge’s Div. 12 is that they straddle different styles. They’ve taken those glam classic chairs and put their own spin on it. It’s not specific to somebody who loves mid-century—just someone who appreciates cool design and who wants something unique. I love them.”

8 8. Jeff Martin Joinery Vancouver “Jeff Martin Joinery is very refined with the materials he uses. The Suede Excavated console has this playful edge through the unconventional use of finishes—it’s one of those showpieces you could put into any environment and it would have a lot of great impact. It’s unexpected!”

9. Oliver Apt. Edmonton “I’ve been a fan of Oliver Apt. for years. They’re really doing next-level mid-century design, using more current colouration on their woods, and they’ve changed the proportions to suit today’s markets. I love their use of painted wood versus raw material. The bent wood pieces, the combination of colour and sizing: it’s really well thought out.”

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DESIGN // IDS VANCOUVER

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10. Natalie Gerber Calgary “It’s really cool that Natalie Gerber is doing textile formats for her screenprints rather than art. You can see the influence from different eras in her patterning, but it’s a nice level of sophistication on the textile front. I’m excited to see where she lands in her career— she’s done amazing for herself in the short time she’s been around.”

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11. Andlight Vancouver “What I love most about Andlight from Lukas Peet is how his designs coordinate. You can pair wall sconces with a matching table and floor lamp from the same series or use different pieces from the brand—it’s really great how he’s developed that. ”

12. Union Wood Co.

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Vancouver “With Union Wood Co., the designs are super tailored but have that natural quality that make them a bit more random.

With their Birch Bark series, they’re taking that context of Danish modern teak and playing with the form simply by putting birch bark doors on it. They’re adding elements that make it less formal, but still sophisticated.”

13. Ben Barber Vancouver “Ben Barber does really unique things that are one-offs. His Sanora coffee table is from a series of furniture with sophisticated lines and elevated forms.

The furniture he’s going to be exhibiting with us, he can tailor them to whatever colour the client wants, so you have a lot of involvement in that process.”

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14. CVK

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3 2 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Calgary “Chris Kuzmanovich of CVK is an interior designer and artist represented by the Christine Klassen Gallery in Calgary. He will be presenting his installation, Daily Reflection of Time, which is composed of a series of boards that analyze how present we are. I’m very excited to see his latest creation!”

Visit Making It at this year’s IDS Vancouver, September 26 to 29, vancouver.interiordesignshow.com

DESIGN // MODERN HOME TOUR

Going Green

Outside, the humble black house fades into the background and lets the natural environment shine; indoors, ample oversized windows let in views of the rolling greenery.

MYSTERY BOX A striking, ultra-modern black-on-black exterior hides a mid-century-inspired dream home inside.

by Stacey M c Lachlan // photographs by ema peter

For more homes on the Vancouver Modern Home Tour, visit westernliving.ca

Completely clad in black metal, this Edgemont family home looks like a stunning modernist fortress, all clean lines and sleek finishes showcased against the lush West Coast wilderness. But a blush-pink door hints at something homier inside. And once you step over the threshold of the three-storey, 4,200-square-foot house—featured as part of this year’s Vancouver Modern Home Tour—you’ll find a fresh, airy space that belies those first impressions, and an environment that’s just right for a family of four.

There’s a practical side to that black-on-black metal exterior: the site is located in a wildfire hazard zone, so the majority of the cladding had to be non-combustible. But on the inside, the design team leaned in to a bold, beautiful contrast. “On the inside we wanted it to feel bright, open, cheerful, and to exude quality,” explains architectural designer Mark Simone of Shelter Residential.

“We were very careful about window placement to capture views while maintaining privacy, and we looked for creative ways to bring natural lighting to the main level.” westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

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DESIGN // MODERN HOME TOUR

Centre of it All

The open-concept living area faces the forested ravine. The kitchen is the central hub of the house, also connected to a kids’ play area and the backyard, while the dining area has the ability to expand to accommodate large extended family gatherings.

Interior designer Sophie Burke brought in a West Coast mid-century sensibility to keep the space “minimal yet welcoming,” she says—perfect for the busy needs of a young family. That meant a palette of warm woods and whites that’s fresh enough to feel modern, but neutral enough to suit the family’s changing tastes over time.

White oak flooring and white-painted millwork play off walnut features and black metal accents, though the home isn’t entirely monochromatic. Beyond that pink door, the muted teal tiles in the powder room add a pop of colour in an unobtrusive space.

Burke layered in texture via intricate tile work—from penny rounds in the shower to white hex tiles in the bathroom—and with thin, vertical wooden slats and brickwork surrounding the living room fireplace. Here, the long horizontal hearth contrasts against the 12-foot-high ceiling to make the space feel expansive, and custom walnut wood shelving holds books and treasures on either side of the fireplace. Above, a custom cluster of George Nelson Bubbles hangs dreamily in the air.

An understated, minimalist kitchen throws the focus to the greenbelt outside, while in the bathroom, a freestanding tub in front of a large picture window offers private views to the trees beyond. “Creating a strong indoor-outdoor connection was very important,” explains Simone. On the west side of the home, large sliding doors allow the living room to open right up to a simple covered outdoor living space.

It’s a design intended to outlast trends and to accommodate the family as it grows and changes over the years to come—but Simone hopes there may also be a secondary benefit for the little ones: “I would love for the kids to develop an intrinsic appreciation of good design.”

Catch the MA+DS Modern Home Tour in Vancouver on Saturday, September 14; vancouvermodernhometour.com

3 6 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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2019-07-17 1:44 PM

“Whenever I perform on a Fazioli, my heart’s song and expression flow freely as the piano sings magically and effortlessly under my fingers.”

– Libby Yu –

Acclaimed Concert Pianist

Designers Year 2019 of the

How the West was designed: thoughtfully, beautifully, passionately, as the nine winners in our 12th annual awards program so aptly demonstrate. Introducing our 2019 Western Living Designers of the Year: the designers who are at the forefront of shaping the way we live today.

Check out videos of our winners at westernliving.ca

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

THE GREAT TRANSLATOR Javier Campos turns clients’ visions into sustainably minded, stunning works of architecture.

Ema Peter

by Neal M c Lennan // portrait by carlo ricci

4 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Play House

For environmental reasons, the Brick House was clad in recycled brick. The bricks were left as found, including traces of paint and other defects brought on by time. In contrast to the brick the voids were lined with glass, black metal and wood (right). The interior was designed as a tactile structure with elements that provide the kids of the house with spontaneous opportunities to play (left).

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designer’s first job out of school is a rite of passage.

It’s often mundane, boring, meh. So, what to make of a young Javier Campos? Freshly minted by the UBC School of Architecture, he was given a five-acre plot of unspoiled land in Los Zacatitos, Mexico, with views to the Sea of Cortez and a brief from the client that was four words long: Make me something beautiful. Oh, and don’t worry about budget. Or zoning. Was he the luckiest architectural designer ever?

But, like with Campos’s work, a closer inspection of this story reveals unseen details. The project didn’t come about from good fortune but from hard work, with Campos taking odd jobs to help pay the bills in university. A small interior reno for someone, then that someone’s boyfriend joining Microsoft at an fortunate time, then, years later, said boyfriend—impressed with Campos’s vision and work

ethic on even the smallest reno—calls him up with the aforementioned opportunity of a lifetime.

“Complicated looking, very simple” is something of a leitmotif for Campos. The Zacatitos 3 house pictured on page 44—it’s the third of five that have been completed—was built for an owner who saw Zacatitos 1 and fell in love. Here, Campos revisits many of the same themes, like off-the-grid living that typifies his “don’t make a big deal” approach to sustainability. His team started with 3D structural panels (needed to protect the waterfront house from hurricanes) and crafted a design that minimized cutting and hence waste. “In some way we approach sustainability like Schindler and Neutra did with the 1930s healthy living movement,” says Campos. “It’s not something you go out of your way to celebrate, it should just be part of the architecture.” westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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Sun Destination

Zacatitos 3 was designed to protect itself from tropical storms and hurricanes as well as the desert climate. Three volumes were created by inserting two interior courtyards that faced both the mountains and the ocean.

4 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

The Zacatitos projects led the way for Azul House, also in Baja but here with the constraints of a more urban setting. The presence of electricity (and neighbours) didn’t particularly change the idea that sustainability should be always present: in this case, a feature stairwell is oriented to an outside west wall to keep the heat at bay. But, for an architectural designer lauded for his bold designs, the key element in his process is surprising: the clients. This client was adamant that she should be spared the harsh rays of the sun when sitting by the pool. So, it was done: “I don’t have any belief about whether a pool should be in the shade or the sun,” he says, sounding every bit the opposite of the “great man” theory of architecture.

It’s not that Campos is without an ethos—just an ego.

His team approaches design guided by a variation on critical regionalism, the idea that modernism should be firmly rooted in both a geographical and cultural context. For Campos Studio, there’s always a sense of place, but place might be informed by rivers, mountains, trees, even where in a city you’re building. The result is not only a rejection of cookie-cutter modernism, but also homes that speak to the marriage of the owners’ wishes and Campos’s design.

Take the Brick House, for example. No one in the studio was keen on working with brick. Several attempts were made to talk the client out of using the material. But ultimately the back and forth produced what is shown on page 43: one of the more unique homes on Vancouver’s west side. The team started by sourcing recycled brick and, falling in love with the idea of each brick having a unique history, kept them in their original state, with defects and bits of leftover paint. It’s a residence that somehow expresses the breezy casualness of West Coast living… in the most East Coast of material. And ultimately it was the designers, who, having worked so hard to make the brick contemporary, convinced the homeowner to skip the white paint and leave it raw in all its recycled, solid glory.

With his victory this year Campos becomes the most decorated architectural designer in the history of these awards (having previously won architectural designer of the year in 2017 and been named a One to Watch in 2014 with his previous firm, Campos Leckie Studio). Our esteemed judging panel was unanimous in its praise. “Pure beauty,” said Jim Olson of Seattle’s Olson Kudig, summing up the judges’ love for Campos. But for all the accolades, Campos and his team remain rooted in the idea of partnership, of moving ideas and principles forward in conjunction with their clients. The beautiful homes on these pages flow from this mutual respect. “I feel like if I can get at what their desires really are, they’ll come along with me on the journey,” says Campos.

John Sinal

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Lofted Ambition

Ema Peter

The Ocean Park House in South Surrey, B.C., is a rancher with a hidden second floor for when guests come to stay.

westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

Q&A

With javier campos

What was your first design project?

Like most people fascinated by design, I am sure I have left a string of insignificant and likely terrible projects before I began to understand what I was doing… like a collaboration with a classmate after my first year of architecture. We designed a small commercial interior that got some notice for its ambition.

As one architect quipped, “You must have not known what you were doing, because if you had you would have never attempted this.”

Metric or imperial?

Metric for the simplicity, the enlightenment and the dream of universality. Imperial for the fact that it divides by three and four.

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1 Living Room 3 Master Bedroom 5 Bedroom 2 Storage 4 Kitchen 6 Laundry/Bike Room

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The Yew House is an interior reimagination that, given the serious 10’ limitations of the house’s 1980 bones, was going to be full of challenges. Ultimately, it became a flexible space that could morph for the family’s needs.

One day it may be visionaries like Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier and Rem Koolhaas; another it may be idiosyncratic individuals like Glenn Murcutt, Peter Zumthor and Sverre Fehn. And another I might feel like being close to home with Ron Thom, Arthur Erickson, John and Patricia Patkau and Peter Cardew.

What books are on your nightstand right now?

I usually have one book of fiction along with a couple of non-fiction ones. Right now, my fiction is The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, a book that is so delicious that rather than speed as one gets to the end, one slows down so as to savour every passage before it is gone. Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari, to help satiate my curiosity of where we are heading in light of the AI revolution that we have unleashed upon ourselves. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals by Hal Herzog, to help me think about our relationship to the other sentient beings on our planet.

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

Lawyer. I find the underlying logic of law compelling and its construction as a mirror of our social constructions endlessly fascinating. If I was to be unemployed, I would be happy taking care of animals on a rural plot of land.

4 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Conrad Brown; portrait: Carlo Ricci

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You’re organizing a designer dinner party: which three designers, dead or alive, would you want there?

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD

All Together Now

Studio North principals Matthew Kennedy (left) and Mark Erickson on site at one of their latest projects, the New Blank, a collaborative studio space in Calgary.

Room with a View

The Bowling Lane house sits behind an existing 1920s heritage home, and includes double-storey windows that look out on to the owner’s prized mountain ash.

KARMA-TECHTURE

This duo from Calgary’s Studio North was destined to be a design firm—and the city is the better for it.

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by Anicka Quin // portraits by jager & kokemor

t’s basically a meet-cute, the story of how Mark Erickson and Matthew Kennedy of Studio North became a design firm. The winners of this year’s Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for emerging architects find themselves in an art class together at the University of Calgary, and discover they’re both heading to Dalhousie for their masters of architecture. Sure, fine. But karma had more in store than just that. “It turned out that we both moved to Halifax across the street from each other,” says Erickson (who, incidentally, has no relation to the late architect Arthur Erickson).

“We became friends out of convenience more than anything,” jokes Kennedy.

“No one else would hire us,” Erickson laughs back.

Joking aside, the pair did become fast friends, and started tackling student projects together. “In a way, we were starting some sort of practice while we were

students,” says Erickson. “In that it was actual practice— we were just practicing.” The pair took on parade floats, a kids’ camp, murals—anything that was creative with a side of fun. The design of a dining hall in the kids’ camp was published in a book called 20 and Change that spotlighted young designers’ work, and the book earned enough attention that the two had interns applying for a firm that didn’t exist yet. That made it official. The friendship would become something more: a business. “That’s when we started to realize we could make it into a real practice after school,” says Erickson.

The pair moved back to Calgary in 2012, and their first projects were for friends and family, including Kennedy’s mom, who runs the Friends Cappuccino Bar and Bakery. Thanks to Kennedy’s thesis project on the need for laneway housing, Studio North also quickly became the laneway house experts in a city where the subject was still westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD

Green Getaway

For a mid-century bungalow renovation, the firm designed a common greenhouse space, seen here. It’s centred around a fireplace built into the entryway of the solarium, creating a small entry “hut” of charred cedar using the Japanese technique of shou sugi ban.

polarizing. “It led to us actually building laneway houses, and living in them,” says Kennedy. “Our practice has had a great evolution since the beginning.”

First up was their Withrow House project: a heritage home they purchased with the ambition of both restoring it and building a laneway house in behind. They worked closely with the city to do a historic renovation and restoration, a process that took a year longer than their projected six-month turnaround. “That was a really big project for us in a lot of different ways,” says Erickson.

“When you first start out, opportunities don’t come easy, so we wanted to make an opportunity for ourselves—to show how laneway housing can help preserve and maintain heritage houses in Calgary, to breathe life into the existing property.”

While the heritage home was restored true to its era, the laneway house is modern—though designed to reflect its sister home. “Our design ethos with heritage houses is to keep the old old and the new new; that way there’s more authenticity to the old bits,” says Kennedy. “You’re not questioning, is this a 100-year-old door or just a new door that’s supposed to look like one?” For the laneway, exposed rough-sawn fir rafters on the exterior reflect the exposed eaves on the original home; dash stucco also mirrors the historic design. In the interiors, simple materials are treated to be what they are. “If it’s plywood, you can celebrate the fact that it’s plywood, and let it be that,” says Erickson, a fact appreciated by judge Jim Olson, architect with Seattle’s Kundig Olson. “The simplicity of materials is refreshing,” notes Olson. Here, Baltic plywood cabinets are built right into the walls as a space-saving measure, taking advantage of the space between the beams.

For another laneway design, the homeowner wanted to ensure that her century-old mountain ash survived any construction efforts. Not only did Studio North protect the roots during the build—with screw pile foundations 5 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD

Modern and Heritage The Withrow house was one of the team’s first projects. First they renovated the heritage home (left and below), and then built the laneway house (bottom right photos), which incorporated repurposed building materials such as windows rescued from the 2013 Calgary flood.

Q&A

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Baltic birch plywood. It is well made, durable and affordable, and the end grain can be left exposed. It has a lot of versatility in how it can be used, since it’s a sheet material.

What’s your dream project?

A cathedral.

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

5 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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and an engineered slab on grade—the new home also has glazing right up to the roof that lets the historic tree be a centrepiece view. Though the home itself is just 750 square feet, the vaulted ceilings create the sense that it’s much larger. “Our thinking is that you should think of space as volume instead of planes,� says Erickson, “which is how people actually experience space.�

Environmentally sensitive design is a driving factor in most of their projects, including this one—their founding principle is that sensitively designed and wellcrafted buildings can stimulate big changes in the way we live our lives. The team worked with Simple Solar to embed a solar thermal collection system into the surrounding fencing to provide passive heat for the house. The impact is felt by the homes’ residents, who see reduced heating bills in the winter, but it also has the potential to educate passersby, who are often intrigued by what they see on the fence. “It’s a curiosity in the neighbourhood,� says Erickson.

That kind of big-picture, big-influence thinking feels worthy of Studio North’s Hollywood-esque beginnings—the karmic result of finding each other at the right time, right place, and creating a firm with an impact bigger than the two of them.

Get these guys an agent, already.

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Bruder Klaus Field Chapel... it gives me goosebumps.

Studio North team, from left to right: Andrea Collins, Brighton Parks, Fraser MacIver, Damon Hayes Couture, Mark Erickson, Matt Kennedy, Nicolas Hamel, Erica Burgsma, Ryan Peters, Matt Peters, Dan Vanderhorst, Jeremy Adam

What’s your go-to material of choice (and why)?

Studio North team, from left to right: Andrea Collins, Brighton Parks, Fraser MacIver, Damon Hayes Couture, Mark Erickson, Matt Kennedy, Nicolas Hamel, Erica Burgsma, Ryan Peters, Matt Peters, Dan Vanderhorst, Jeremy Adam

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INTERIORS

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HOME RUN

You’ll find his imprint on restaurants, retail shops and even beer labels, but modern home design remains the driving passion for Evoke International’s David Nicolay. by anicka quin // portrait by carlo ricci additional photos by janis nicolayk

Designed for Living

Designer David Nicolay is photographed in an Evoke design on the waterfront in Vancouver.

The homeowner wanted the formerly dark and carved-up home shot through with light, and so a pair of 16-foot-long skylights were installed, and the main floor entirely opened up. It’s now possible to see views of English Bay from the moment you walk into the home.

5 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INTERIORS

Modern Cabin

This Whistler home recalls a classic classic cabin aesthetic—knotty oak on the cabinetry, wood-fired stove in the living room—with a decidedly modern aesthetic. Even the perfectly framed birch trees outside the office window contribute to the straight-line design (bottom).

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ur Interior Designers of the Year aren’t what you might think of as a typical interior design firm—a thought that comes into focus when stepping into their petite office on Vancouver’s Alberta Street. The back wall is lined in boldly coloured concert posters (I do remember that Blue Rodeo gig at Malkin Bowl, and how I wish I had caught Concrete Blonde back in the day); beer bottles cover bookshelves. But it’s not dorm-room decor: Evoke International Design’s branding business is one taken as seriously as its modernist interior design work. (Those concert posters and beer label designs were, of course, both produced right out of this office.)

“The original intent was to be a branding company who happened to do some interior design, more for restaurants and retail groups,” says founding partner and architectural designer David Nicolay, who created the business with graphic designer Rob Edmonds in 2000. “But it didn’t take us many years to figure out that it wasn’t a fit for everybody.” Some partners had one aspect covered, some the other, and so the business grew in two distinct directions: one for the interior design of businesses like Kit and Ace and Pixar Studios, or restaurants like Heirloom, and another for graphic design (Live Nation, Temper Chocolates). And by 2005, Nicolay and Edmonds would get into another business, too: hospitality. (They own a stake in the Cascade Company, which includes the Union, Cascade and El Camino restaurants in Vancouver, along with the Main Street Brewing Company.)

Evoke is a team of 16 now, and though restaurant and retail design continue to be a core business, about a decade ago the calls started coming in for more residential designs. Nicolay had worked under lauded architect Josh Schweitzer in California before he started Evoke, and houses had always been a passion

Family Affair

Evoke partners David Nicolay and Rob Edmonds have managed to disprove the claim that you shouldn’t get into business with family.

They’re brothers-in-law (Edmonds is married to Nicolay’s sister Janis, who photographs many of the homes in Western Living). Meanwhile, Nicolay’s sister Wendy runs the Cascade Company with their brother-in-law Nigel Pike, who’s married to another Nicolay sister, Karen.

Draw that family tree.

5 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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Bradlee Distributors.indd 1

2019-06-18 11:10 AM

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INTERIORS

(he has a master of architecture from Dalhousie), and so he found himself drawn back to that business. “I’d always really liked doing houses, and it’s become my focus over the last 10 years,” he says.

Evoke’s practice in this area is holistic: each project tackles both the architecture of the building and the interior design as a whole. (Their work also captured our judges’ attention in our inaugural Designers of the Year Awards, in 2008, when the team was named our first Interior Designers of the Year.)

And so, for a project like their Point Grey house, a three-metrewide void in the middle of the home, equipped with a glass roof to allow light to penetrate deep into the space, is paired with highly contrasting interior finishes that can easily handle the bright light: rich walnut, white marble and dark grey basalt. The entire backside of the home opens out to the backyard, with that basalt flooring inside transitioning out to a hammered finish on the same stone around the pool deck.

The space is designed to feel intimate and family-friendly, despite its 12,000-square-foot size. Upstairs, a two-person shower feels both grand and accessible: a low marble wall provides visual interest on the shower side, and supports the soaker tub on the opposite. “Evoke has a wonderful talent of really distilling a floor plan and making the entire home look so easy to live in,” says judge and interior designer Kelly Deck. “They take their clients’ lifestyles to heart, and somehow they bridge a nice gap between minimalism and the expression of the personalities of the homeowners.”

On another project in Whistler, a family that had relocated to live in the resort town year-round was looking for a design that recalled the cabin aesthetic while maintaining a modernist spirit. Whitewashed oak lines both the floors and the ceiling, along with some wall surfaces; a millworker matched its warm, knotty design on all of the cabinetry. The home layout is flipped from a traditional design: the living room and kitchen are on the top floor, better suited to capture views of the mountains. “It’s about changing people’s perceptions of what a house is supposed to be,” says Nicolay, “and how it’s supposed to be laid out. The first question is always, if you put the living room on the top, is that too far away? But you can’t not have it up there—all of the views are up there.” The open kitchen, living and dining spaces take in mountain views to the east, while sliding glass doors provide access to a roof garden.

Even upslope views are carefully framed with floor-to-ceiling glazing in the home office, the white birch trees just outside providing almost too-perfect modern lines. It’s intentionally so—the interiors here are at once quiet and striking, and ultimately livable, and the business that designs them is anything but average. “It’s a pure aesthetic,” says interior designer and judge Paul Lavoie, commending Evoke’s entry. “The perfect combination of design and fashion.”

5 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Light Wells

To get light into the basement of their Marine Crescent home (above and right), the team created a big cut-out in the house‚ essentially a central courtyard planted with Japanese maples (visible at the bottom of the stairs in the picture above).

For their home in Point Grey, they designed a three-metre-wide, glasstopped void in the middle of the home to let in light; the entire home opens out to the backyard (below and bottom).

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2019-07-31 5:17 PM

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INTERIORS

Q&A

With david nicolay

What was your first design project?

Spectus Eyewear in Kitsilano, in 1994.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

John Pawson, Fran Silvestre and Marcio Kogan.

What’s your go-to material of choice?

Basic natural materials: wood and stone and concrete (which is sort of natural!).

Metric or imperial?

I prefer metric, but the construction industry still seems to tie us to imperial.

What books are on your nightstand right now?

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.

What do you think is the most perfectly designed object?

The Eames lounge and ottoman (1956).

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

Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier.

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

I wasn’t good enough to be a pro hockey player, so this will have to do.

6 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Vancouver Calgary N & S

Surrey Edmonton N & S

Coquitlam Saskatoon

Abbotsford Regina

Victoria Winnipeg

Nanaimo Vaughan

Kelowna Burlington

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD

SOUL PROVIDER

Designer Gaile Guevara’s abodes are crafted with longevity—and a fresh, timeless aesthetic—in mind. by lucy lau // portrait by carlo ricci additional photos by ema peter

6 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Clean Slate

Designer Gaile Guevara is photographed in her Gastown loft in Vancouver.

Maximizing natural light and introducing sleek furnishings and a soft colour palette were key in modernizing a dated kitchen in Burnaby, B.C. (opposite).

westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD

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gig in customer service is a necessary part of life for many young adults. (It helps pay the bills while building character and plenty of patience, after all.) But Gaile Guevara could never have guessed that a part-time managerial stint at a local lingerie boutique would lead her to her calling—one that involves not retail or the production of frilly underthings, but instead the design of beautiful spaces. “I found that I was quite good at merchandising,” she says, “so I really thrived in that environment.”

Guevara’s knack for staging retail goods in a way that optimizes a store’s look and increases sales led her to transfer from fine arts to an interior design program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C. She began her career working on multi-family developments,

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though she was soon drawn to single-family projects— renovations in particular—because of the more meaningful relationships she could establish with clients during these jobs. “It’s almost like a marriage when we work with a homeowner,” explains the winner of our Robert Ledingham Memorial Award for an emerging designer. “They’re meeting us and seeing if they like us. And we’re building something with them.”

Such intimacy is developed during what Guevara calls the “discovery phase,” when the designer asks her clients a litany of surprisingly profound questions—from “what does home mean to you?” to “what are your most precious space-related memories?”—to determine not what they want, but what they need in a home. For almost 20 years now, this inquisitive process has allowed Guevara

Q&A

With gaile guevara

What was your first design project?

I began my career working in development and had to do a French Country display suite in White Rock. Although this was one of the furthest projects from what I aspired to be doing, what I positively gained from it was being exposed to the opportunity to impact so many people at once, working in an environment where so many homes were being built. This repetitive work in development both challenged and inspired me to constantly try to make the work interesting and meaningful. It was then that I took something mundane and not so interesting and suggested a different perspective, through thinking more deeply about the people who inhabited these spaces rather than the traditional development model of putting people in boxes.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

John Pawson. His attention to detail, cohesiveness and ability to be distilled and pared-back while equally impactful.

Which Western Canadian designer is one to watch?

Lock and Mortice. They embody the values of generational legacy family businesses—a lineage of woodworkers. Most importantly, we share the belief in what they are building and the amount of care in all that they do.

Au Naturel

The original cedar in a post-and-beam construction was preserved in some areas, like the main-floor ceiling (visible here and left and top right), and is complemented by natural-wood accents in others, like a children’s play area (right).

to transform dark, dated and dysfunctional spaces into “approachable, thoughtful and modern” abodes that better facilitate everyday life for folks who hope to stay put for years to come. In other words, longevity and sustainability—creating spaces that homeowners can grow with, not out of—are guiding principles in Guevara’s work.

These values are present in the designer’s makeover of a 1960s post-and-beam construction in Burnaby Heights, which was stripped down to its studs and ushered into the 21st century with an airy, open-concept plan that ensures that extended familial gatherings for a brood of three will be a breeze even 10, 20 years down the line.

Meanwhile, the home’s expanded wall-to-wall views of the North Shore mountains—made possible by the installation of motorized sliding glass doors—and the careful westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD

Wide Open

The addition of large sliding glass doors in the living area and the removal of a second bedroom create better flow—and lightness—in a previously cramped home in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour.

preservation of its cedar character, which is complemented by a pared-down greyand-white palette, form a timeless aesthetic that’s meant to outlast fleeting trends.

As with many of Guevara’s renos, the resulting look is contemporary but grounded, understated but never uninviting and, above all, decidedly West Coast. “Gaile has a unique talent for creating minimalistic interiors that have soul,” says Kelly Deck, director of Vancouver-based interior design studio Kelly Deck Design and one of three DOTY judges in our Interior Design category. “Her small spaces make for large living with her restrained approach to materials and forms.”

After running her interior-design biz solo for more than a decade, in 2015 Guevara launched her firm, Gaile Guevara Studio, where she employs a 10-person team. She says she realized she needed the helping hands after taking on more projects—including the design of a recently unveiled 10,000-square-foot co-working office in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood—and stepping into a caregiving role for her mother, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2012. That latter development has sparked two other passions for Guevara: designing multigenerational housing that supports aging in place, and fostering a workplace that prioritizes a work-life balance. “That’s kind of been the embodiment of our studio: creating a place where women in design and architecture can be successful in both caring for their families and doing great work,” she says.

6 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // LANDSCAPE

GROW ON

A lifetime in the garden has helped María del Sol Galdón blossom into one of the West’s great landscape architects.

by Stacey M c Lachlan // portrait by jager & kokemor

6 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Q&A

With María del Sol Galdón

What was your first design project?

Redesigning and arranging furniture in my Barbie doll’s playhouse.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

Ian McHarg, author of Design With Nature.

What’s your go-to material of choice?

For landscape… local materials. Natural rock, wood and metal: natural materials in the landscape are a must.

What books are on your nightstand right now?

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.

What do you think is the most perfectly designed object?

The paper clip.

What do people often get wrong about design?

Jorge Luis Borges says, “For me beauty is a physical sensation, something we feel with our whole body.

It is not the result of judgement. We do not arrive at it by way of rules. We either feel beauty or we don’t.”

I completely agree with Borges on this—beauty being the same as design. I think most people think of design as a pure aesthetic, but I believe that design is really about a sensation. How do we feel in that space, whether it’s an interior or a landscape or sitting on a piece of furniture or wearing a particular dress? What emotions are brought out of us from the experience of place? Design is about that.

What’s your dream project?

My next project. I try to make every project, large or small, a great one.

Elham Kiani

Back to Basics

In Calgary’s Meadowland Park neighbourhood, del Sol Galdón created an urban oasis that contrasted a sleek outdoor room with a wilder garden area that features a natural stone patio surrounded by loose vegetation.

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // LANDSCAPE

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respected design firms like McKinley Dang Burkart and Matrix Landscape. And while she was winning awards for her streetscape research and specializing in green infrastructure design, friends started asking for advice on their gardens; soon, her entrepreneurial drive was in full bloom.

In 2015 del Sol Galdón and a brother took over their parents’ landscaping business; in 2015, with the operation having grown from five employees to 25, she left her day job at O2 to run it full time. Her work with Planta this time around is a culmination of the high-concept and the hands-on, and del Sol Galdón has developed a collaborative approach with architects and builders that offers her the chance to be involved from the early stages—sometimes before a pre-existing house has even been torn down. “It’s nice to be involved at a point where people realize it’s more than just ‘put in a tree, throw in some grass,’” she says.

It’s easy to see why the designer’s work has been so embraced. One Meadowlark Park project merges interior and exterior spaces with a privacy-screened, pergolatopped “outdoor room,” while an Auburn Bay landscape utilizes a curvilinear configuration to create a series of

Rock On

Each rundle rock step in this Wildwood yard was hand-selected from a local quarry, and then puzzled together to create what del Sol Galdón calls a “curvilinear and sensual approach to the entry as one transitions through the space.”

Paulina Ramis

S

he’s run her own landscape design studio since 2015, put in a decade with O2 Planning and Design, Calgary’s most prolific landscaping firm, and has both interior design and landscape architecture degrees under her belt… but María del Sol Galdón’s career in the garden began long before all that.

“My very first job at age 12 was to go up and down the rows at Eagle Lake nursery and weed all the plants,” she says. “Those were my Saturdays. I got paid $3 an hour and was just thrilled.” Her boss was her own father, who worked at the nursery after the family immigrated to Alberta from their Argentinian ranch in the early ’90s.

The family of eight actually lived in a house right on site— a formative environment for a budding gardener.

When her parents went on to start a landscaping business called Planta in Calgary a few years later, she and her siblings found themselves spending summers pruning, planting and softscaping, and ultimately building a rich understanding of plant life along the way. “I became very knowledgeable just by working,” she says. But there were also more formal studies at Mount Royal, UBC and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, then stints at

1706 WEST 1ST AVE VANCOUVER 604 683 1116 LIVINGSPACE.COM

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // LANDSCAPE

For this lakeside project, del Sol Galdón gave each curved terrace its own use: there’s the putting green, an open area for trampolines and soccer practices, an informal firepit by the water and a synthetic green space for watersports gear.

lakefront terraces. For one dramatically sloped site in the Britannia neighbourhood, del Sol Galdón used layers of underlit concrete slabs to climb a rolling lawn, alongside lush, organic textures. As judge Susan Herrington, professor at UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, puts it, “del Sol Galdón is a poet of textures, juxtaposing slick concrete surfaces with crushed stone, and coarse-leafed plant material with fine-leafed plant material.”

Though she started, quite literally, in the weeds, today del Sol Galdón is all about the big picture. “When I’m at a consultation and the homeowner tells me, ‘This shrub isn’t doing well,’ or ‘I hate this plant,’ I say, who cares? I make them come to the sidewalk and show them: this is what somebody perceives when they come to visit you;

what do you want them to feel, how do you want them to react, what kind of essence do you put forward?” she says.

“This is a first impression; this transition area is so important. It’s not about the one shrub; it’s about the composition and perspective.”

And while her work is responsive to context (the garden of a modern house might reference the lines of the architecture through protruding planter boxes), there’s a through-line here. “I’m aiming toward order, peacefulness, calm,” says del Sol Galdón, “a space that feels comfortable.” That might mean a linear, repetitive mass planting for some, a lush English garden for others. “In landscape we say, it’s not the space, it’s a place… and the reaction you have. It’s not about what it looks like, it’s about how it feels.”

one to watch: Landscape design

Biophilia Design Collective “The natural world is where I fill my cup,” says Bianca Bodley, owner and principal designer of Biophilia Design Collective. Appropriate enough, then, that she’s settled into a career as a landscape designer.

“The ocean, the forest, an open field, a desert—I love the serenity and peace that comes from being surrounded by nature and how it perfectly layers and combines foliage, land, water and the sky.”

It’s from the great outdoors that the Victoria-based Bodley is “constantly absorbing design,” and you’ll see the influence of organic forms and loose, natural structure in her work. Take her Tofino Resort and Marina project; the property showcases a pallet of lush and inviting West Coast greenery (Polystichum munitum, sword fern, and Betula pendula, silver birch) that complements the colour scheme of the resort and blurs the line between the surrounding wilderness and the hotel grounds. “I want people to ultimately feel drawn to and at peace in their outdoor space,” says Bodley.— Jusneel Mahal 7 2 s E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Planta garden: María del Sol Galdón; Bianca Bodley garden: Joshua Lawrence

Having it All

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INDUSTRIAL

The Hustler

Not every creative person has the hustle and organizational skills to pull off a multifaceted creative operation, but Zoë Pawlak (pictured here in her East Van studio) has the rare ability to thrive with business and brush. “I’m good at bringing people together. I run a small staff and my little family, so I can figure out who needs to be where, when, and where the pieces go,” she says. “A lot of this job is just the organization of humans.” And, yes, it is a job… but not one without its joys. “It’s fun to make a thing together, and fun to be the person who brings everyone together.

It’s a real ‘kumbaya’ feeling.”

7 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

STATE OF THE ART

Painter Zoë Pawlak bridges art and design through thoughtful product collaborations with the best in the West.

by Stacey M c Lachlan // portrait by carlo ricci

F

or Vancouver painter Zoë Pawlak, the foray into the world of rug design was a change of medium... but familiar, all the same. “I’ve dealt with the rectangle every day for 12 years,” she laughs. What is a rug but a canvas of another kind, after all?

Our Industrial Designer of the Year is a classically trained painter (“I studied the nude as a nerdy hobby for 10 years,” Pawlak admits) who’s long been known to the design community for her dreamy abstract landscape paintings and dynamic representations of form and movement—flip back through the Western Living archives and you’ll see her work pop up regularly on the walls of our featured homes. (Former Canuck Trevor Linden and actor Cobie Smulders are among her clientele.)

But when the opportunity arose in 2013 to branch out beyond the canvas with a Burritt Bros collaboration, she

jumped at the chance and, three collections later, she’s gone on to team up with some of the West Coast’s top makers (including our Furniture Maker of the Year, Jeff Martin) to find a new mode of artistic expression through painterly credenzas, spray-brushed mirrors and sculptural bronze wall hangings.

It’s not too surprising that she’s found herself thriving in the world of product design, though: she’s always been savvy about finding new ways to reach an audience. In 2007 (a year when “we just learned the word blog,” laughs Pawlak), she emailed 125 design websites to introduce herself and her work. DesignSponge posted about her landscape paintings, and the sales started rolling in.

For some, the demand might have been daunting, but as a painter, she’s known for both her gift and her prolificity: Pawlak produces about 120 original works a year on average. “I’ve always liked making stuff and moving it into

The Goods

Pawlak’s mirror designs (top) feature figures laserengraved right onto the smoked glass; the handknotted “Passage” rug is just one of the striking, abstract pieces that make up her Over Oceans collection from Burritt Bros.

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INDUSTRIAL Crafty Cool

Pawlak’s bronze wall hangings (middle, left) are a direct reaction to the hard angles and heavy materials she spotted at shows in New York and L.A. These pieces are metallic, but also light, organic and sensual. Rugs from her Eden (top), Red Dust (middle, right) and Over Oceans collections (bottom) all maintain a painterly feel. “The medium feels like the thing I intend,” Pawlak explains.

“Poor Ainsley from Burritt Bros is sitting on the computer designing the rugs with me, and I just kept saying, ‘It has to feel like a painting,’ and she was like, ‘...Okay, should we make it more rough or knotted?’”

the world,” says Pawlak. “If I made a friendship bracelet, I’d sell it or give it away. I was always doing craft fairs. I was into not just the private practice, but also the activity where it would be shared and brought into someone’s life.”

For that first flooring collection, Pawlak didn’t look at any other rugs as she worked on her design. “I wanted that freshness, curiosity, sincerity and naiveté that helps you ask good questions,” she says. In fact, she didn’t look at her own final product until it was hanging on display at the collection launch party. “I saw it for the first time in the most trippy way, hanging on the wall. I’ve never made a painting that size—eight by 10 feet—and the scale was just overwhelming. I honestly couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”

Her inexperience with product design allows her to look at the process with a fresh perspective. “I think unfamiliarity with a new medium is helpful. You ask different kinds of questions,” says Pawlak. This curiosity pushes her collaborators to new discoveries: ceramicist Stephanie Flowers, along with the brassworker at La Fonderie d’Art d’Inverness, had to figure out the physics of representing curving, figurative line drawing for a bronze wall sculpture; the team at Burritt Bros followed her urging to make the hand-knotted silk-and-wool rugs “feel” like a painting.

And the results are beautiful: pieces that are still works of art, yes, but ones with function.

“One of the things I love about her work is that there is a diversity to it in how it can be used in a room, in how it can be displayed, and how it can ‘support’ a room,” says DOTY judge Tim Antoniuk, professor at the University of Alberta’s Industrial Design program. Fellow judge Shawn Sowers, industrial designer for Ikea of Sweden, agrees: “There is an incredible sense of depth and space in her work. She’s blurred and transcended the art/design boundaries.”

And in that blurring of boundaries, Pawlak finds a deep respect for the physical work that goes into these products. “I really have a reverence for the process. There are 100 knots in one square inch of these rugs and it’s just incredible,” says Pawlak. Craftsmanship is a key value in all of her collaborations. “I don’t want to make posters for Target. Not participating in planned obsolescence is really important to me,” she says. “The goal is for things to last as long as possible, made by humans, doing the least environmental damage possible. I want to work with the best people, people who make things with excellence.”

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // INDUSTRIAL

Q&A What classic object is most in need of a redesign?

The toaster always has all those burnt crumbs at the bottom. What can we do about that?

Who do you admire most as a designer?

Which Western Canadian designer is one to watch?

Wronko Woods.

Metric or imperial?

Metric’s a band, right? I love them!

I’m a big Brâncuși fan. Alive? I’m a huge Egg Collective and Omer Arbel fan.

With Zoë Pawlak

What books are on your nightstand right now?

Atul Gawande, Being Mortal; Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel; and The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.

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

Goldfish crackers. They are so gross and every kid has them in their lunch! They must be billionaires.

Dream Team

Pawlak’s collaborations with another Designer of the Year winner, Jeff Martin, have resulted in dreamy furniture pieces that blend craftsmanship with artistry.

one to watch: Industrial Design

Tantalus Design Starting a North Vancouver-based industrial design studio felt like an “instinctive progression” for brothers Shawn and James Kay: it was a hard destiny to avoid, really, growing up surrounded by West Coast forests and a family full of carpenters. So, after earning degrees in environmental design (Shawn) and materials engineering (a PhD for James) from UBC, the Kay brothers decided to combine their complementary skills and launch Tantalus Design.

Experimentation and curiosity are two core pillars of Tantalus’s design process, resulting in furniture and lighting pieces that inspire delight. “A lot of our products combine wood and metal in some pretty unorthodox ways. It’s fun trying to push beyond the constraints of solid wood,” says Shawn. Take the Etched collection hardware project (right), which eliminates the over-plate typically seen on door hardware with clever lever components while showcasing an intricate, craftsman-like texture via laserengraved wood handles: it reimagines the status quo, and looks good doing it. “We strive to make things that will last,” says Shawn. “We want to surprise people and spark curiosity.”—Jusneel Mahal 7 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Credenza: Jeff Martin

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FURNITURE

Into the Woods

Jeff Martin in the shop at his Parker Street studio.

Who doesn’t like a journey that begins with a surfboard? by neal m c lennan // portrait by carlo ricci // additional photos by ben barber 8 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Gutter Credit

MAN WITH A PLAN(E)

T

echnically, the journey began a few years earlier, when North Vancouver native and recent university grad Jeff Martin emerged with his diploma and a big gaping “What now?” planted right before him. He knew he liked working with his hands and he knew he liked working outdoors, so landscaping seemed a possibility. That gave way to framing and more specialized carpentry, and his focus and work ethic soon saw him running crews and managing projects.

But, an itch. An itch that doesn’t love the rampant waste in the construction industry. An itch that maybe wants to channel a bit of creativity into the grinding business of earning a living. An itch that gets scratched ever so slightly by a small shared workspace in Vancouver’s 1000 Parker Street studios, where he gets to interact with the

wood he handles all day on his own terms. First up comes a full wooden surfboard, then some canoe paddles and, finally, something akin to an aha moment. This comes in the form of a request from his then girlfriend/now wife.

While you’re down at the studio messing about with your water implements, do you think you could see about making some furniture for our place?

And so, he does. He’s actually pretty good at it. But, more than that, he loves it. All the things that drove him crazy about his old job—the wasting of materials, the planned obsolescence in so many of the projects—have no place in this new passion. He realizes he’s something of a wood nerd, relishing every difference in the native Pacific Northwest species he’s working with and spending an inordinate amount of time (and money) sustainably

Base Appeal

Martin’s Bronze Shaker table (top right) honours the clean lines of the Pennsylvania original while updating both the materials and functionality. The Neolithic series (left and bottom right) explore the use of the classical columnar shape in a variety of contemporary expressions.

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FURNITURE

Grain Spirit

Martin’s first love is working with wood. He still makes classic pieces like the Excavated table and credenza (right and bottom) and the Goby bed (below), but he lately started experimenting with the finishes on these pieces. Both the Painted credenza (above left) and the Suede credenza (above right) use paint, bleaches and oxalic acids to alter the appearance of the wood.

sourcing trees. Ones that have fallen or are sick, and that, with the application of his time and vision, can emerge from his studio as objects that are built to last—both in form and function—for a good, long time.

That reverence for trees is evident in all of Martin’s work, but it doesn’t manifest itself in a slavish devotion to natural forms. Judge Zoe Garred of Article noted her “joy in seeing Martin use innovative materials to great effect,” and this hands-on work is on full display in his search for visual rhythm in his pieces. In the Neolithic series, that means taking “an ancient form of architecture—the column—and scaling it into furniture scale.”

Or his Painted series, which sees the woodworker approaching his own credenzas with a fine art eye: “I don’t use traditional paints, but slow-acting chemicals that sometimes take three days to take effect.”

That was 10 years ago. Eight years ago he moved to a bigger space, and five years ago he hired Daithi O’Beag—now studio director— and they moved into the even bigger space he currently occupies. But, notwithstanding that 95 percent of his work is shipped to either Europe or the U.S., he’s never left the creative confines of 1000 Parker Street. It works for him in a way best illustrated by his wildly successful Excavated Vessels line. His popular wooden credenzas need steel bases cast for them, and large sheets of cork are a necessary element of that process. Looking at these sheets headed for the landfill, Martin thought there had to be another use for them. So he ambled down a few doors to Brad Turner, a neighbour at the studios. “I had no idea that Brad was a huge star in the glass world; I was just looking for some guidance,” he laughs.

And with Turner’s advice, Martin has himself become something of a small sensation in the glass world by creating one-of-a-kind pieces using the cork moulds.

And the surfboards? “There are still a few of them kicking around out there,” Martin confides. “They really weren’t that good.”

8 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

OceanPa

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Originally founded in 1986 as a small lighting showroom in White Rock, Ocean Pacific Lighting has since expanded into a generous warehouse sized space in South Surrey, which houses thousands of on-trend chandeliers, sconces, fixtures, furniture and accessories.

Their thoughtfully-curated collection, which features brands from all over the world, is heavily influenced by clean mid-century modern aesthetics with a nod to classic art-deco lines, punctuated by bold, modern twists. From opulent hotel lobbies to inviting family rooms, Ocean Pacific Lighting can

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While browsing a selection of thousands of pieces might overwhelm even the most enthusiastic buyers, Ocean Pacific Lighting’s friendly and knowledgeable sales associates work hard to provide outstanding service throughout all stages of the building process.

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Pacific Lighting acts as more than a store; it’s a resource intended to help you design the ideal lighting package for your one-ofa-kind project. Whether it’s a visit to their showroom to browse the latest trends, a design consultation specific to new home construction or renovation, or a detailed quotation from their specialists, Ocean Pacific Lighting remains Metro Vancouver’s proven destination for all your lighting needs.

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Created by the Western Living advertising department in partnership with Ocean Pacific Lighting

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FURNITURE

Who do you admire most as a designer?

Thaddeus Wolfe in glass, Takuro Kuwata in ceramics, GT2P for their work with lava, Steven Haulenbeek and Max Lamb for their experiment-based practices.

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

Aiding in the recovery of our oceanic health somehow.

What classic object is most in need of a redesign?

The drill. Most drills these days look like fancy toothbrushes or razors, with angular rubber and bright colours. Just a good drill with metal casing, a good motor and a rightangle shell so you can use the drill body as a guide for plumb drilling.

What’s your dream project?

Designing a chair out of mushrooms that anyone in the world can grow on their own for less than $5.

Q&A

With JEFF MARTIN

What do people often get wrong about design?

That a designer has to stay in one lane. There is nothing stopping someone from playing in fine art, design, architecture or whatever else at the same time.

one to watch: furniture design

Things can feel tense when you enter the New Format Studio workshop—in the best way possible.

“The interesting thing about design to me is that it’s a set of parameters. You have to work within what the market will actually purchase, but you also have to work within what you feel good about creating,” says founder Henry Norris. “There’s a tension between those two things, and I think that’s what draws me to it.”

We first featured the Vancouver-based designer in our January issue, and since then Norris has continued to hone his gift for putting an artful spin on timeless furniture designs. For New Format’s Plano Bar cabinet, he curved acid-wash glass—which gave this familiar hard material a surprisingly soft feel—into a handsome vintage-modern storage piece (right). “Once you curve a standard building material,” he explains, “it takes on a much different light.”—Jusneel Mahal

Harry Bohm

New Format Studio

8 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

BeyondB

SPONSORED REPORT

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Beyond Beige Interior Design is a multi award-winning, North Vancouver-based design firm. Reisa Pollard and her team specialize in residential new builds, renovations of all sizes, and furniture and décor. The Beyond Beige name came from Reisa’s start, working on multi-unit projects that were so beige and boring that she wanted to infuse more interest and more personality into the spaces.

Today, she is devoted to tapping into the client’s personality and lifestyle for inspiration. Reisa sees potential in every new space. The diverse body of work, in both new construction and renovation, is not defined by her own personal preferences, as she adapts to each client’s personality to create something unique for their home. The mandate for every design project is that the client “feels good inside”. Beyond Beige believes in a collaborative process with the clients and works with a tight trusted network of trades experts. Beyond Beige Interior Design is one of the largest libraries and has thousands of samples for a hands-on experience with the client.

IMAGES BY PROVOKE STUDIOS

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Created by the Western Living advertising department in partnership with Beyond Beige Interior Design

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // MAKER

MATERIAL INSTINCT Calgary-based textile artist Natalie Gerber fosters community with her splashy screen-printed fabrics. by lucy lau // portraits by jager & kokemor

Shape of Ink

Comprised of linens decorated with various repeating forms, the Lotsa series is, in designer Natalie Gerber’s words, an “exploration of a whole lotta lines.” Gerber is photographed in her Calgary studio (opposite).

westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // MAKER Fine Print

The vibrant Peoniez (left), from Gerber’s Floralz series, honours a late friend, while the Ori series (below) is inspired by the ancient Japanese art of shibori.

N

atalie Gerber enjoys the physical—the soft feeling of fabric between her fingers, the push and pull of a rubber-edged blade scraping across a smooth surface. It’s why the Calgary-based textile artist was so drawn to screen-printing, a technique that involves squeegeeing layers of ink over silkscreen. The creative process of dreaming up colourful graphic prints—inspired by everything from Gerber’s South African heritage to mid-century modernism, shibori and the Arts and Crafts movement—wasn’t terrible either. “I love the clean lines; I love the crisp imagery,” she says. “I love being part of the colour mixing and choosing colours.

And just the play that comes along with that.”

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design (now the Alberta University of the Arts), Gerber crafts vibrant silkscreened linens that are splashed with arresting florals, minimalist lines and dynamic geometric shapes reminiscent of those native to her homeland. Coloured in shades of navy, red and mustard, many of these designs begin as sketches or are the result of playful experimentation (the Lotsa series, which includes textiles adorned with irregular circles and squares, is an “exploration of a whole lotta lines”), though Gerber is a big fan of collaboration, too. The KwaDabeka Township Project, for instance, was born when Gerber visited KwaDabeka, a township situated near her hometown of Durban, where she partnered with the Church Alliance for Social Transformation to conduct a surface-design workshop for residents.

8 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Q&A

With natalie gerber

What books are on your nightstand right now?

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, a beautifully written memoir, and Hal Koerner’s Field Guide to Ultrarunning. It’s good to set goals, and I want to do the Comrades Marathon before I’m 45… or maybe 50.

Metric or imperial?

Growing up in South Africa we used metric, but since living in Canada I find I switch between both, depending on the project. With printing, it’s necessary to be precise with measurements—often it’s down to the millimetre.

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

I think I would have been happy doing something outdoorsy… or maybe a rock star.

What’s your dream project?

Hey, Fluevog! Let’s collaborate–I’m all in!

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // MAKER

Break with Tradition

Gerber collaborated with artists from the South African township of KwaDabeka for a limited-edition collection of traditionally inspired patterns.

Participants developed imagery influenced by traditional South African shweshwe cloths, leading to a fair-trade partnership in which the artists were paid for the use of their works in a limited fabric run.

As with Gerber’s other linens, the fabrics ended up as drapery, pillow covers or striking upholstery for soft furnishings. “I am impressed with Natalie’s engagement and collaboration with a fellow community of artists from the KwaDabeka township,” says Janaki Larsen, Vancouver-based ceramicist, co-founder of Le Marché St. George and one of three judges in our Maker category. “To propagate, encourage and inspire making and design in others is a huge accomplishment.”

At cSpace King Edward, the Calgary co-working space where Gerber works and teaches screen-printing classes (she sees her time with students as another form of collab), the designer aims to minimize her environmental footprint. Since the launch of her practice in 2011, Gerber has employed inks that are free of harmful polyvinyl chloride and phthalates, and low in volatile organic compounds, which are known to contribute to pollution. Her decision to screen-print on linen considers Mother Earth, too: the plant-derived material doesn’t require pesticides to produce, and it’s highly absorbent and hypoallergenic to boot. “I don’t proclaim to be an eco brand at all… but I try to make very conscious choices about the materials that I use,” notes Gerber.

The artist admits that she strives for perfection, whether it be in the environmental friendliness of the physical process or the creative result itself. Over the years, however, she’s learned to embrace the occasional flaw. “I’m a very A-type person. I like things to be organized and well-executed,” she says. “Printing kind of forces me to step outside of that and to accept that perfection is not always what’s beautiful.

And that slight imperfections are part of the innate beauty of a handmade product.”

one to watch: Maker

Origins

The duo behind Origins is thinking ahead. “We’re trying to approach design from a generational standpoint, and trying to create generational pieces that have a long life,” says Deagan McDonald, who runs the experimental design and fabrication studio alongside Kelsey Nilsen. “I think a lot of the stuff that you’re seeing from big retailers and in the market today, I would consider it kind of temporary furniture; it’s got a very visible lifespan to it and a lot of it gets disposed.”

After wrapping up their masters of architecture studies at University of Toronto, the duo landed in Vancouver in 2017 and set to work crafting a small selection of smart, simple pieces (“We’ve heard the term ‘soft minimalism’ recently and I think that fits well with our way of thinking,” says McDonald) that use materials in intriging new ways: the wavy Tempo shelf (right) was built with CNC milling technology (rippling troughs cradle books neatly); a non-traditional mortar and pestle set is crafted from Eastern maple wood to create an appealingly smooth pestle surface. “It’s really about trying to unlock the potential in material,” says McDonald, “and to try to put out projects and products that allow people to view the material in a different manner.”—Jusneel Mahal 9 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FASHION

BRUTAL BEAUTY

Cold, frigid concrete is anything but, well, cold and frigid in Amanda Nogier’s hands. by lucy lau // photographs by carey shaw

9 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

A

manda Nogier has dabbled in many areas of the arts—photography, welding, graphic design—but jewellery design was never on her radar. That is, not until she decided to craft a selection of wearable concrete bling for a student-organized pop-up shop at the University of Alberta, where she was majoring in industrial design in 2014. That’s when the emails started coming. “People kept asking me about my jewellery: where they could find it, if I was going to make more of it,” she recalls. “And it grew organically from that.”

Now based in her hometown of Saskatoon, Nogier is the founder of Béton Brut (French for “raw concrete”), a line of, in her words, “minimal, modern” concrete jewellery with a “Memphis-y” edge. More specifically, the pareddown shapes of her drop earrings, necklaces and double-finger rings are inspired primarily by Brutalism, an architectural style that was popular in the 1950s and ’60s

and is characterized by its—no coincidence here—stark concrete constructions. Meanwhile, the colours—vibrant teals, pinks and lilacs—that are incorporated into Béton Brut’s pieces take more closely after the Memphis Group, a design-and-architecture collective founded in the ’80s that was known for its colourful post-modern works. The jewellery is made up of a lightweight mix of concrete that Nogier produces in small batches. She blends powder pigments into the mixes before pouring them into handmade moulds, resulting in marbled concrete forms that showcase a range of dreamy, at times ombré-like, hues.

Framed by 3D-printed brass or sterling silver, these highly durable, hand-polished pieces stand in for shimmering beads, metals or gemstones, highlighting the possibilities of a seemingly frigid, inflexible substance. “I love that concrete is an everyday material that most people kind of overlook,” notes Nogier. “It’s really accessible in

Rock Solid

Designer Amanda Nogier (opposite) poses in her Saskatoon studio.

The Hex pendant (top) is an homage to the first concrete jewellery piece that Nogier ever constructed, while the Lavalier earrings (bottom) are inspired by Art Deco.

westernliving.ca / S E P T E M B E R

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FASHION

High on Life

The Oculus pendant (left) gives a nod to our galaxy, while the High Line series (right) gives a shout out to one of North America’s most recognizable urban parks— first, by spelling out its name, and second, by showing off its linear shape.

the sense that it’s not super expensive. And, aesthetically, you can make it into such a beautiful thing.”

Such beautiful things include geometric studs and pendants, as well as larger statement items such as the Goldfinger, a striking double-finger ring inspired by “oftmisunderstood” architect Ernő Goldfinger, and the High Line series, a collection of necklaces commissioned by New York City’s High Line Shop that uses obsidian- and jet-black-stone-infused concrete to mimic the material of its namesake park. And then there’s Nogier’s favourite piece, the Arch earrings, a pair of dangle earrings that feature slabs of concrete that have been designed to resemble grand 3D archways.

The jewellery has a timeless, artful quality to it, one that’s earned Béton Brut a spot in boutiques across Canada and the U.S., as well as at institutions like the Royal Alberta Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “I was really drawn to the jewellery’s beautiful blend of perfect shapes and imperfect materials,” says DOTY judge Danielle Wilmore, co-founder and designer at Vancouver-based jewellery brand Pyrrha. “The concrete designs make each piece one-of-a-kind, yet the finish is clean and modern.”

In recent years, Nogier has also extended her concrete expertise to the world of home decor, producing small planters and vessels and collaborating with Edmontonbased companies Libertine Fragrances (on a candle) and Birch and Grey (on furniture pieces). However, there’s a certain thrill that Nogier finds in jewellery making that’s sure to keep the designer in the field for years to come. “Every time I pull a piece out of a mould and polish it, it’s a different experience,” she says. “I love the excitement of constantly being able to create something new.”

9 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FASHION

Q&A

With Amanda Nogier

You’re organizing a designer dinner party: which three designers, dead or alive, would you want there?

I’m going to have to go with all dead designers because I feel like I still might be able to meet the alive ones that I admire most one day.

Ettore Sottsass, founder of the Memphis Group; Marcel Breuer, a well-known Brutalist architect and student of the Bauhaus; and Aino Aalto, a Finnish designer who was my first female design idol.

What’s your dream project?

I would absolutely love to design facades and large public installations in my style of brightly coloured concrete. But I think the industrial designer in me really wants to design public furniture and spaces for interaction—not necessarily in concrete. I’ve always been incredibly interested in sociology and the way people interact with their surroundings, so I’d like to be able to use more of those ideas in the future.

Who do you admire most as a designer?

Full Circle

The Radii studs may resemble the shape of Pac-Man, but they’re actually informed by geometry: radii is the plural of radius.

Stefan Sagmeister. I forget how I learned about him, but it was back before I chose design as a career. He made me think—what do I love enough in this world that I would carve my skin to make a point?

In other words, what do I want to do so badly that it doesn’t matter how hard it is, because I would endure it regardless? He has always been a bit of a controversial designer, constantly pushing the boundaries, which is why I love him so much. I’ve always been really bad at following rules and answering to authority, which often caused difficulties with my professors to the point where I was threatened to be expelled from design school, until my professor sat down with me and learned a little more about where I was coming from. Reading and learning about Sagmeister makes me feel like it’s worth being myself, and to keep pushing on.

one to watch: fashion

Grandi

“The kind of things that capture me are old stories—not necessarily just pretty colours or something shocking,” says Grandy Chu, creator of Grandi, a Vancouver-based luxury womenswear boutique. For Chu—who has already caught the attention of Vogue and Glamour in the U.K. and dressed Oscars attendees—designing collections and individual pieces primarily for aesthetic purposes is “weary and uninteresting,” and so her pieces reach beyond to explore ideas of narrative. The pop-arty Pantomime collection features silhouettes with contrasting black and white, which represents the questioning of opposing perspectives in ancient Greek theatre; the gilded dresses of her Serpentine capsule conjure art nouveau fairy­tales. “When you watch a runway show, it’s almost like reading sentence after sentence in a storybook,” she explains. “By the time the collection is done, you have a whole story.”—Jusneel Mahal 9 6 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // JUDGES

ARCHITECTURE AND ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD Peter Cardew of Peter Cardew Architects has been practicing architecture in Vancouver for 30 years. The work of the office emphasizes quality and innovation rather than any particular building type and has been recognized through numerous international publications and awards, such as the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal.

INDUSTRIAL Tim Antoniuk is an associate professor of industrial design at the University of Alberta and is the owner of Architure, a micro-space design, research and production company. He also co-founded Hothouse Design Studio in the early ’90s, and worked with international design companies such as Droog.

Omer Arbel cultivates a fluid position among the fields of architecture, sculpture, invention and design as principal of Omer Arbel Office and Bocci. Focal themes of his work include investigation of intrinsic mechanical, physical and chemical qualities of materials and exploration of light as a medium.

Susan Herrington is professor and chair of the landscape architecture program at the University of British Columbia. She teaches in the landscape architecture, environmental design and architecture programs, and is the recipient of the Anne de Fort-Menares Award and John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize for her research and writing.

MAKER Jonathan Adler launched his first ceramic collection in 1994. Now his empire encompasses myriad product lines, each dedicated to bringing style, craft and joy to life.

Jim Olson has explored the aesthetic interplay of art, nature and architecture, and the relationship of light, space and mood for more than 50 years as the founding partner of Olson Kundig. Olson is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Seattle AIA Medal of Honor and many national and international design awards.

Matt Carr is VP of design for Umbra, where he oversees a global design department headquartered in Toronto.

Carr’s passion for design was first sparked when he interned at Douglas Cardinal Architect. He went on to study at Humber School of Industrial Design, where he received an All-Canadian Academic award for scholastic and varsity achievements.

David Keeler and Robert Quinnell (partners in life and business) founded Provide in the fall of 2007 out of a shared passion for travel. Inspired by design destinations, they decided to establish Provide, a place where they could curate their own collection of goods. Quinnell sadly passed away this summer (see below) but Keeler and Provide keep his legacy alive.

Todd Saunders founded his eponymous architecture studio in 1998. Saunders has lived and worked in Bergen, Norway, since 1996, following his studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax and McGill University in Montreal. He continues to combine teaching with practice and has been a part-time teacher at the Bergen Architecture School since 2001.

Shawn Sowers is currently a product designer at Ikea.

He has worked in the past as a designer at IBM, Lenovo and Bose before transitioning into furniture design working for Sauder. He has had his own high-end furniture company, Commonhouse Furniture, and has done freelance furniture design work for Starbucks, Henredon and several others.

Janaki Larsen loves dirt. Born into a family of artists, Larsen has been making ceramics in Vancouver for nearly 20 years. Aside from her main role as a potter, she is also the co-founder of Le Marché St. George and has curated many pop-ups supporting both local and international artists and craftspeople.

FASHION Lyndon Cormack is co-founder and managing director of Herschel Supply and is responsible for overseeing sales and operations. Cormack brings with him several years’ experience working with brands in the fashion industry, and has ownership interests in apparel and lifestyle retailer Need Supply, as well as luxury boutique Totokaelo.

INTERIOR DESIGN AND ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD Matt Davis is a principal and founding partner of Design­ Agency, a global design studio operating out of offices in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. DesignAgency’s work has led to numerous awards and accolades from Fast Company, Architectural Record, the New York Times and countless others.

Catherine Guadagnuolo, founder and president of Vestis Fashion Group, operates 11 stores, including four Max Mara boutiques in Vancouver—the largest concentration of Max Mara shops in any North American city— and four Weekend Max Mara locations. Vestis Fashion Group also operates the first stand-alone boutique in Canada for Italian jewellery brand Pomellato, as well as two Blubird boutiques.

Kelly Deck’s interior design and home decor ideas have gained an international following, through her column in the Globe and Mail, her series on Home and Garden Television and ongoing contributions to Western Living, Canadian House and Home and Style at Home.

Danielle Wilmore is principal designer and co-founder of Pyrrha, whose internationally recognized line of talisman jewellery has been handcrafted in her and her husband Wade Papin’s Vancouver studio since 1995. Wilmore grew up in rural Ontario, where she started making friendship bracelets and never stopped.

FURNITURE Danny Chartier is the head designer and executive manager of the iconic Canadian brand Montauk. You can now find a Montauk Sofa showroom in the most dynamic cities in North America—Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, New York and Chicago.

Paul Lavoie has been a Calgary-based residential interior designer for more than 25 years. His career has been documented by design magazines such as Architectural Digest and Luxe, and many international publications.

Piero Lissoni has designed products and exhibition stands for many prestigious companies, including Alessi, Audi, B&B Italia and Cassina, and he is art director for Alpi, Boffi, De Padova, Lema, Living Divani, Lualdi and Porro. His architecture and design work is recognized worldwide and has earned him a series of international awards, including the Good Design Award and Red Dot Award.

Brent Comber initially began working with wood as a garden designer in early 1990, creating pieces to complement his Pacific Rim inspired gardens. Brent Comber Originals is an art and design studio that creates sculpted objects, functional pieces and design environments.

LANDSCAPE David Battersby is a founding principal at Battersby­ Howat Architects Inc. Established in 1996, Battersby­ Howat is a full-service architectural practice that specializes in a fully integrated, multidisciplinary approach to design. Battersby’s background includes professional education in both architecture and landscape architecture.

Zoe Garred is the director of product development at Article, an original modern furniture brand that is reengineering the shopping experience. In addition to her current role, Garred is owner and creative director of her Vancouver-based design studio, Fleet Objects.

Kate Stickley and Gretchen Whittier are both partners at Arterra, a full-service landscape architecture firm specializing in contemporary, sustainable design and based in San Francisco. They are dedicated to doing sustainable work, and living sustainable lives.

9 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

in memoriam: Robert Quinnell

I fell for Robert Quinnell’s store, Provide, almost as much as I fell for Robert himself back when he opened the Vancouver design boutique with his husband, David Keeler, in 2007. Any visit would start with him fixing you an espresso, and follow with a tour through whatever beautiful Robert Quinell (left) new line he and David had and David Keeler. discovered on a trip to Milan or Paris. We’d share travel stories, reality TV obsessions (thank you, Robert, for finally getting me on to Drag Race) and, eventually, start a dinner club together. He was genuinely touched by how much our design community adored and supported their shop (I dare you to find a Vancouver home in Western Living that doesn’t feature their accessories), and the feeling was mutual—David and Robert have been generous supporters and boosters of both new and established designers, and they were judges for this year’s Designers of the Year Awards in the Maker category. We lost Robert this past June after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, and our community has lost one of its kindest and gentlest souls. David will be carrying on Provide as Robert’s legacy—and we’re all here for him.

—Anicka Quin, editorial director

Photo credit: Brett Hitchins

Judges

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2019 tickets now on sale!

It’s the design party of the year! Join in on the festivities at our 12th Annual Designers of the Year Awards on September 19. For more information, visit wldoty2019.eventbrite.ca or contact: rsvp@westernliving.ca

Presenting Sponsor Monogram | Venue Sponsor Burritt Bros Carpets | Platinum Sponsor Volvo | Gold Sponsors Coast Wholesale Appliances | Pacific Specialty Brands | Front Row | WindowWorks Multimedia Sponsors Ames Tile and Stone | Trail Appliances | Prize Sponsors Cantu | Provide | J&S Reclaimed Wood | Beverage Sponsor NĂźtrl Vodka | Wine Sponsor Oliver Osoyoos Wine Country

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FINALISTS

Finalists

FURNITURE

Architecture Building Culture, North Vancouver DeJong Design Associates, Calgary Frits de Vries Architects and Associates, Vancouver Garret Cord Werner Architects and Interior Designers, Vancouver Lanefab Design/Build, Vancouver Leckie Studio Architecture and Design, Vancouver Measured Architecture, Vancouver

AdrianMartinus, Calgary Alykhan Velji Designs x Mobilia, Calgary Autonomous Furniture, Victoria Edits, Vancouver Grant MacPherson Design, Tofino, B.C. MTH Woodworks, Vancouver Mtharu, Calgary Oliver Apt., Edmonton

Sturgess Architecture, Vancouver INDUSTRIAL ARTHUR ERICKSON MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING ARCHITECT Architecture Building Culture, North Vancouver Arno Matis Architecture, Vancouver Miza Architects, Vancouver

FASHION Becki Chan Design, Vancouver Jamie Gentry Designs, Sooke, B.C. Parts and Labor, Calgary Seymour and Smith, Vancouver Sonja Picard, North Vancouver Truvelle Bridal, Vancouver 1 0 0 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Pot Inc., Vancouver Quake Studio, North Vancouver Tomnuk Design, Edmonton

Measured Architecture: Ema Peter; AdrianMartinus: Jameel Aziz; Autonomous Furniture; Jo-Ann Richards; Tomnuk Design: Cooper & O’Hara

ARCHITECTURE

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INTERIORS Alykhan Velji Designs, Calgary Amanda Hamilton Interior Design, Calgary Connie Young Design, Calgary Enviable Designs, Vancouver Falken Reynolds Interiors, Vancouver Measured Architecture, Vancouver Nyla Free Designs, Calgary

Sophie Burke: Ema Peter

Sophie Burke Design, Vancouver

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DESIGNERS OF THE YEAR // FINALISTS

Finalists

LANDSCAPE Acacia Landscape, Victoria MAKER Hfour Design Studio, Vancouver Naked Frames, Edmonton Scandinavia Wolf Designs, Garibaldi Highlands, B.C. Steelwood Design, North Vancouver Trae Designs, Squamish, B.C. ROBERT LEDINGHAM MEMORIAL AWARD FOR AN EMERGING INTERIOR DESIGNER

Violet Finvers and Scott Alpen, North Vancouver

Aaron MacKenzie-Moore Design, Vancouver Accentrix Design, Burnaby, B.C. Gillian Segal Design, Vancouver Hazel and Brown Design Company, Vancouver How to Be, Vancouver Purity Designs, Langley, B.C.

Top Trophy

Rochelle Cote Interior Design, Calgary Rudy Winston Design, Vancouver

1 0 2 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

For our 2019 award statue, we tapped last year’s Industrial Designers of the Year, Kaly Ryan and Bram Sawatzky of Willow and Stump, to create something special—and boy, did they deliver. “We wanted to create a physical object that would feel representative of designers from all Western Canadian provinces,” explains Ryan. The flat ash base symbolizes the expansive fields of the Prairies, while backlit Corian “hills” nod to the mountain views of B.C. and the Rockies. “Through considering and celebrating the landscape where our Designers of the Year live, we hope to represent a collective Western identity,” she says.

Studio Block: Christine Pienaar; Acacia Landscape: Jeffrey Bosdet

Studio Block, Vancouver

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Bright Now

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How One Vancouver Designer Gave His Light-Filled Yaletown Space a Gold-and-Glam New Look EXPERT ADVICE

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Inspiration from a Chic, Modern Makeover

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WL Condo spotlights Vancouver’s most stylish small-scale spaces, from luxury penthouses in Coal Harbour to restored vintage townhouses in Mount Pleasant, and everywhere in between.

You’ll also find hot furniture trends, spacesaving tricks, designer advice and insider neighbourhood guides in every issue, helping readers make the most of city life.

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FOOD

Y O U R N E W F AV E W I N E L R E S TA U R A N T S T O W AT C H L P A R I S I A N P E R F E C T I O N

R EC I P E

Good Mornings

Hakan Burcuoğlu

“My childhood breakfasts were royale,” says Deniz Tarakcioglu of Vancouver’s Novo Pizzeria. He grew up in Istanbul with his grandmother whipping up a feast every morning. “Two soft-boiled eggs atop grilled sourdough, soaked in olive oil, along with tomatoes, cucumbers and chilis—the Turkish trinity.” It’s an experience he recounts as part of the new Food Stories cookbook from food and arts website The Curatorialist, which chronicles memories and recipes from Western Canada’s most fascinating culinary characters. But the love and history behind Tarakcioglu’s hearty menemen recipe is evident just through taste alone. “It’s rich, it’s versatile.

It’ll keep you going if you have nothing else,” says the chef. For the recipe, turn the page.

Awesome Any Time

Pssst—maybe it originated as a breakfast dish, but there’s nothing stopping you from making this for dinner.

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

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FOOD // BITES

BITES

openings

Food news to chew on.

Finfolk

the gadget Feel the Squeeze Are you really over the juice trend, or is it just that you haven’t met a juicer worthy of your daily morning attentions? Hurom’s rose-gold H-AA slow juicer ($649)—which processes fruit and veg at a leisurely 43 revolutions per minute to mimic the motion of handsqueezing—is such a beaut that she may just win you back to the world of cold-press. And when you’ve had your fill of blitzed beets, just switch the Hurom over to its ice cream function. (Let’s be honest: that’s why we brought it home in the first place.) hurom.ca

The Magnet 309 W Pender St., Vancouver Who The beer nerds behind Alibi Room and Brassneck Brewery.

Why we’re excited The cozy, brew-centric venue just seems to pull us in like a you-know-what. Chef Paul Finlay crafts “good grub” with British DNA—think chicken-liver parfait and meat pies—to pair with a wide range of craft taps. themagnet.ca

Eve Olive

1600 Franklin St., Vancouver Who Vancouver-born-and-bred Darren Brown has done a stint at CinCin and cooked for Spanish princesses—now he puts a northwest spin on Scandinavian flavours.

Why we’re excited As obsessed as we all are with Scandi design, the region’s cuisine is suspiciously absent from Vancouver’s food scene. So bravo, Finfolk, for paving the way for the much-ignored Nordic palate with fresh foraged ingredients and pickled everything. finfolk.ca

Harbour Oyster and Bar 1408 Commercial Dr., Vancouver

5281 Rutherford Rd., Nanaimo Who Singer-songwriter Ambre Rippon brings her passion for plant-based food to her hometown.

Why we’re excited The low-key wine bar marks a welcome turning point in Nanaimo’s culinary offerings, and is the first licensed vegan restaurant on Vancouver Island. In the rustic space, find a carefully curated wine list, creative cocktails and plant-based dishes like cashew cream Thai curry. eveolive.com

Allora Everyday Italian 114–326 Aspen Glen Landing SW, Calgary Who Chef Thipphakune Xaykasem, who cut his teeth at Banff Springs and Concord Group.

Why we’re excited If the ingredients in Allora’s kitchen aren’t locally sourced and handmade, they’re coming in straight from Italy—load up on house-marinated olives and shaved-to-order salumi in the cheery, Tuscan-yellow room. allorarestaurant.com

Who Seafood-loving party animals.

Why we’re excited The hyper-casual seafood spot does happy hour right (or, rather, happy hours— running 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily) with $1.50 oysters, prawns by the dozen and sweet deals on by-the-glass wine (and tequila shots, if you’re feeling frisky). Pull up a stool at the mint-coloured bar and shuck the night away. harbouryvr.com

Annabelle’s Kitchen 3566 Garrison Gate SW, Calgary Who Leslie Echino of Blink and Annabelle’s moves from her wine-bar beginnings into the restaurant sphere.

Why we’re excited Echino already proved herself adept at curating cool, cozy, date-night-approved spaces; add in pizza, pasta and a patio, plus a design from McKinley Burkart, and Annabelle’s Kitchen is already a slam dunk. annabelleskitchen.ca

the bookshelf Island Indulgence You’re going to need a designated driver for this road trip: following the path set out in the Island Craft guidebook ($25) is certain to be a boozy affair. After all, author Jon Stott visited 33 different breweries in his quest to document the brewers of Vancouver Island, from Victoria’s Spinnakers to Campbell River’s Beach Fire Brewing—a true hero we’ll happily raise a glass to. touchwoodeditions.com 1 0 6 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Is This the Future of Italian Wines?

Truth? Even seasoned oenophiles get daunted by Italy. Sure, we get the barolos and brunellos, the soaves and the sassicaias. But venture too far from the main wine road and the grapes (negroamaro?) and the wines (Lacryma Christi?) take a major detour into where-the-heck-are-we territory. The wine behemoth Treasury Wine Estates is hoping to calm our fears with a delivery on the back of a golden horse.

Their new Cavaliere d’Oro wines span the length of Italy—from chunky nero d’avola in Sicily to glera (Prosecco) in the far north—with the idea that you’ll be more likely to try something adventurous, like a primitivo from Puglia, if you recognize the label.

Your comfort comes from their flagship holding: the famous Castello di Gabbiano in Chianti, long a producer with a sterling reputation for producing excellent chianti at reasonable prices. And the Gabbiano wines are still amazing. Their logo may now be covered in gold, but it’s still an ode to tart cherries and crushed violets... maybe even good enough to carry a whole country on their backs.

The Magnet: Vishala Marapon; Finfolk: Nathan Lee

NEAL M c Lennan’S WINE PICK

recipe

Turkish Menemen with Mushrooms and Feta

BY CHEF DENIZ TARAKCIOGLU. EXCERPTED FROM FOOD STORIES: A COOKBOOK FOR A CAUSE (FOODFORALL.CA)

This rendition of menemen is forgiving, so feel free to use any variety of mushrooms, cheese or herbs to make it your own.

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1½ cups mushrooms, chopped Salt, to taste 4 tbsp butter 1 medium white onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, minced Handful of basil leaves (or desired herb), chopped whole, divided Pepper, to taste 1 lb ripe tomatoes, chopped 3 tbsp water 3 large eggs ½ cup feta (or other briny fresh cheese), crumbled Heat a large skillet, cast-iron preferred, over medium-high heat. Pour in oil.

Add mushrooms and season with salt. Cook mushrooms until golden brown in colour, drop in the butter, and let foam for 30 seconds.

Add onions, garlic and half of the basil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onions become soft and translucent.

Add tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, gently crack in the eggs, sprinkle with cheese and let simmer. Cover skillet, reduce heat to low and cook for 3 minutes.

Turn off burner, and leave menemen to cook over residual heat for an additional 2 minutes.

Taste for seasoning, sprinkle with remaining basil, and serve immediately. Enjoy out of the skillet with fresh or grilled sourdough bread.

Serves 3.

250.384.4663

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Victoria BC

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2019-07-25 4:56 PM

25 4:56 PM

Brunch à la Marché

If there’s anything better than Paris in the spring, it’s Paris in the fall, when the markets are overflowing with fresh produce—and inspiration. Author and Beaucoup Bakery founder Jackie Kai Ellis recently uprooted from Vancouver to make beloved Paris her home base, and has embraced Parisian life like a pro, spending lazy Sundays whipping up butter-laden breakfasts and afternoons wandering from patisserie to patisserie. We asked Ellis to share her secrets for a market-inspired brunch to bring a little taste of Paris home, and she delivered: think savoury gougères and decadant roasted pears... best paired with a mimosa, of course. Vive la France. recipes by Jackie Kai Ellis // photographs by Joann Pai

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 9 1 0 9

FOOD // BRUNCH À LA MARCHÉ

To Market, To Market

Jackie Kai Ellis browses the options at her little local market, Marché Villette. Since selling the acclaimed Beaucoup Bakery two years ago, she’s written a memoir (The Measure of My Powers) and recently launched an online platform, APT La Fayette, to share, she explains, “inspiration and tools for creating meaningful beauty every day.”

From Paris, With Love

Ellis was splitting her time between Paris and Vancouver for the last five years before moving in more permanently and calling the 10th arrondissement home. “I knew I had settled here when I bought houseplants. I used to move around so much prior, it was never an option, but now I feel really rooted,” she says. “Not sorry for the pun.”

“When I bought my Paris apartment, it was with the intention of only using it as a pied à terre. But as I continued to design the space, the more I felt connected to making it special, like a nest...

I think my intuition knew I needed a place to rest before my mind knew.”

1 1 0 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Thyme Gougères Adapted from the Tartine cookbook

I love to make gougères for apéro. They go perfectly with a glass of champagne, or with mimosas for brunch. They can also be made in advance, piped and frozen to be baked when needed for last-minute guests.

1¼ cups skim milk 10 tbsp salted butter ½ tsp fine sea salt 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plucked from stems 1 cup all-purpose flour 5 large eggs 1 large egg white ¾ cup gruyère or comté, grated For finishing 1 large egg ¼ tsp fine sea salt ¼ cup gruyère or comté, grated for sprinkling 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plucked from stems Freshly cracked black pepper Preheat oven to 350˚F, with fan on if convection.

Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift flour into a bowl and set aside.

In a heavy medium saucepan, combine milk, butter, salt, pepper and thyme and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture has come together. Place pot back on stove on low heat, stirring continuously, cooking the paste, until it becomes smooth, has pulled away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball.

Remove from heat and transfer paste to a heatproof bowl. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or using a wooden spoon and elbow grease, add the 5 eggs and egg white one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before you add the next. When eggs have been well incorporated, mix in the ¾ cup of grated cheese.

Fill a piping bag to pipe the gougères (or use a spoon or small ice cream scoop as you would with loose cookie dough). Whisk together the last egg with the salt in a small bowl to make an egg wash.

Pipe 1-inch mounds, spaced about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg wash onto each mound, and top with a bit of cheese, thyme and pepper. Place in oven and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until it has a very deep golden colour. Do not open oven until 20 minutes has passed, then you can take a peek. If there is still white on the crust, leave them in until the surface is brown and crispy looking, or they may deflate.

Take gougères out of oven and cool on baking sheet. Serve at room temperature or warm from the oven. Makes about 30.

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 9 1 1 1

FOOD // BRUNCH À LA MARCHÉ

Mushrooms and Balsamic Onions on Toast This is my brunch take on the classic French mushrooms on toast. I braise the onions in balsamic and add them to the sautéed mushrooms so that it creates an unctuous sauce. You can use any kind of mushroom, but during the fall and early winter wild mushrooms are plentiful in the markets, so I like to use them as they have a more complex flavour. For the onions, you can use small pearl onions, cippolini onions or the large white bulbs from spring onions, depending on what you can find.

For the mushrooms 1 lb small onions, peeled, larger bulbs cut in half lengthwise 5 tbsp olive oil, divided 1 tsp fine sea salt ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper ½ cup dry white wine, divided 1½ cups vegetable stock ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp honey 1 lb mushrooms, sliced 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 5 stalks fresh thyme ¼ to ½ cup crème fraîche, to taste For finishing 4 thick slices of brioche 4 large eggs ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste In a medium saucepan, sauté onions in 2 tbsp olive oil, with the salt and pepper, on mediumhigh heat until caramelized. Deglaze pan with ¼ cup of wine, making sure to dissolve any of the little brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add stock, vinegar and honey, bring to a boil and simmer slowly until liquid has reduced to about half. Set aside. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.

For the mushrooms, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet and sauté mushrooms with garlic and thyme until well cooked and browned on the edges. Add prepared onions to mixture and cook until re-heated. Off the heat, stir in the crème fraîche and taste to adjust for seasoning.

You can use just a little crème fraîche if you like the sauce to be on the tart side, or more if you like a sauce that is richer.

To finish, make soft-boiled eggs by bringing water to a boil in a small saucepan and gently dropping in the 4 eggs. Boil for 6 minutes and run under cool water immediately to stop the cooking. Peel eggs carefully and set aside.

Toast the brioche slices, and place one on each plate. Top with generous spoonfuls of the mushroom and onion sauce. Place the softboiled egg on top, cut in half and sprinkle the dish with parsley. Serves 4.

1 1 2 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

FOOD // BRUNCH À LA MARCHÉ

Salad with Chive and Lime Dressing This is a simple dressing with enough acidity to cut through the richness of the mushroom and onion sauce. Toss it with tender lettuces like baby gem, butter or red leaf lettuce, as I have done. ¼ cup chives, finely chopped Zest of one lime ¼ cup lime juice ⅓ cup olive oil Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste Combine all ingredients except the olive oil.

Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking and season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

My Paris

Jackie Kai Ellis shares some of her favourite neighbourhood haunts.

The Morning Coffee

Dreamin’ Man makes one of the best cups of coffee in Paris out of a tiny and charming space. Their granola and flan are also beautiful. 140 rue Amelot, 11eme arrondissement, instagram.com/dreaminman_paris

The Culture Hub

A little museum beside the Pompidou is one of my favourite museums in Paris. It’s a recreation of Brâncuși’s atelier and is full of gorgeous sculptures and inspiration. Place GeorgesPompidou, centrepompidou.fr

The Sweet Stuff

Pierre Hermé is one of the most well-known pastry chefs in the world, and the reputation is deserved as I think his pastries are truly among the best. His macarons are my favourite.

Multiple locations, pierreherme.com

The Shopping Spree

L’Officine Universelle Buly is a little jewel box, offering perfumes and beauty products since 1803.

It’s also a perfect place for little gifts and to pick out a special scent for yourself. 6 rue Bonaparte, 6eme arrondissement, buly1803.com

The Go-To Restaurant

I love unassuming, unpretentious food in little restaurants with good wine. Les Juveniles always serves cozy, delicious classic French bistro food. 47 rue de Richelieu, 1ère arrondissement, juvenileswinebar.com

The Happy Hour Hot Spot

Candelaria doesn’t just have some of the best cocktails in town—if you happen to get peckish mid-sip, they also have an adjoining taco joint. 52 rue de Saintonge, 3ème arrondissement, quixotic-projects.com/candelaria

1 1 4 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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Buy from our online store: Buy from our closdusoleil.ca online store: closdusoleil.ca

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2019-07-30 11:29 AM

FOOD // BRUNCH À LA MARCHÉ

Roasted Pear Belle Hélène Traditionally, a poire belle-Hélène is a poached pear served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. I really love when fruits are roasted, caramelized on the edges and even a little warm when served with ice cream. You can use whatever pears you find at the market as they won’t be overly ripe, though anjou and bosc pears are traditional for cooking and hold their shape well.

For the chocolate sauce 3 tbsp water ¼ cup heavy cream ¼ cup whole milk Pinch sea salt 100 g dark chocolate, Valrhona if possible 30 g milk chocolate, Valrhona if possible For roasted pears 2 pears, cut into quarters and cored 4 tbsp salted butter, melted 1 vanilla bean, scraped For finishing 1 pint good vanilla ice cream 8 walnuts, roasted and broken into pieces Pinch of Maldon sea salt Preheat oven to 425˚F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium saucepan, heat water, cream, milk and salt until just under a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate into the cream mixture, letting it sit for a minute to melt.

Using a spatula, slowly mix chocolate into the milk until smooth and shiny. Set aside.

In a bowl, toss pears, butter and vanilla bean seeds until evenly coated. Place pears onto the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges of the pears brown a little. They don’t necessarily need to be cooked through, as a ripe juicy inside also tastes delicious.

To assemble, place two pear quarters into a bowl and add two small balls of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and top with nuts. Serves 4.

1 1 6 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

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2019-07-10 2:08 PM

TRAVEL

D E S O L AT I O N S O U N D L S TA N D - U P P A D D L E B O A R D I N G L S A N J U A N I S L A N D S

T H E LO C A L

Destination Lounging

Island Time

From the beach house, you’ve got a front-row seat to all the marina action—and easy access to a kayak if you want to splash around yourself.

Yes, Quadra Island is a little tougher to get to than its Gulf Islands brethren, but who said great things come easy? Besides, the journey on BC Ferries over to Nanaimo (an hour and 40 minutes from Horseshoe Bay), then the jaunt up the Island Highway (90 minutes to Campbell River) and then a final 10-minute skip across the water to the Quadra harbour (on a vessel more akin to a barge than a boat) is hardly torture: between the sail over and the winding, tree-lined thoroughfare, it’s basically door-to-door, “look at the view!” wilderness.

And once you’ve arrived, you’ve arrived. Because you’ve booked the beach house suite at Taku Resort, right? So that patio—a sprawling deck that hovers right over the marina, with a 180-degree view that captures otters bobbing in the harbour and paddleboarders sending ripples down the shore—is all yours.

Plant yourself with a bottle and some smoked scallops from Southend Farm Winery down the road for a front-row view of West Coast magic. The ocean seems to stretch on forever from this vantage point, and it almost feels like the sunset never ends, thanks to the reflection in Desolation Sound. But darkness finally falls and a new show begins, as bioluminescence blooms in the water below.—Stacey McLachlan

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 9 1 2 1

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GET UP, STAND UP Writer Dan Rubinstein travelled from Washington to Tofino with his feet planted firmly on the board.

by Dan Rubinstein // photographs by Liv von Oelreich

westernliving.ca / s e p t e m b e r

2 0 1 9  1 2 3

TRAVEL // GET UP, STAND UP

If

you have the need to broaden your horizons while on holiday—if feeling small and vulnerable and getting jostled out of your comfort zone is on your downtime to-do list—sailing up the southwestern flank of Vancouver Island in late September is a pretty good start. Especially if you have never set foot on a sailboat before. But if the boat you’re on is a 64-foot, steel-hulled cutter that has circumnavigated the Americas, and if the captain is an intrepid waterman capable of stand-up paddleboarding this stretch of coastline, then the voyage itself, rolling swells notwithstanding, is unlikely to elicit the required humility. Which is why I find myself climbing down the side of said boat, the S/V Ocean Watch, to balance on a paddleboard and manoeuvre closer to land so I can attempt to surf some Pacific waves. Which is something else I’ve never done before.

We’ve dropped anchor half a kilometre off Sombrio Beach, about 100 kilometres west of Victoria, near the mouth of Juan de Fuca Strait. A river flows through a slot canyon to the shore, producing breaking waves that you can catch on a stand-up paddleboard (SUP), even when the seas are small. If you know what you’re doing, that is. Captain Karl Kruger, who runs a sailing charter business from his base on Orcas Island, Washington, knows how to read and ride waves. Like many paddleboarders, he discovered the sport through surfing, and when Kruger is not in the midst of a long-distance SUP adventure (say, through the Northwest Passage, his next expedition), he takes clients on sail and surf trips along the coast. But because I’m an experienced paddleboarder, albeit an experienced flatwater paddler who lives in Ontario, Kruger figures I don’t need any coaching.

1 2 4 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Escort Service

Man does not travel by board alone, which is where the S/V Ocean Watch comes in—at the ready for support, guidance and the occasional freshly grilled steak.

Chris Downey

Janet Echelman

Paul Krismer

#1 The Intersection of Design and the Science of Happiness #2 Human Connections through Design #3 The Future of Design

TRAVEL // GET UP, STAND UP Coast Guard

A large portion of the trip hugs the rugged West Coast of Vancouver Island—great for waves, but a bit more challenging for a lake paddleboarder from back East.

Wearing a too-thin and too-tight wetsuit borrowed from my brother, with a handful of surf sessions on the Great Lakes and in Newfoundland stoking a long-slumbering primal part of my brain, I approach the impact zone and wait for a set. For greenhorns, SUP surfing is easier than traditional surfing: you’re already standing, and the paddle provides more propulsion than your arms. There’s a risk of overconfidence (though that’s generally vanquished the first time you get head-over-heels washing machined in a shallow, rocky bay in Newfoundland). At Sombrio, a trio of glum surf bros bob in the water beside me. Today’s swell isn’t big enough for them. But when a three-foot wave rises behind me, I pivot, take a few quick power strokes and catch it just below the crest, riding the whitewater all the way to shore.

“Surfing is about learning to communicate with waves,” Kruger tells me a couple of hours later when, exhilarated and exhausted, I haul myself back onto the boat like an evolutionarily challenged seal.

A replenishing spread of hummus, cheeses, olives and crackers awaits in the wheelhouse. “Surfing is pure joy,” continues Kruger, “until it’s not. But even then, you’re probably not going to die.”

Pure joy is a frequent feeling on a trip with Kruger. Within an hour of meeting at the ferry terminal on Orcas Island, we’ve driven to the marina, untied the Ocean Watch and motored to a sheltered cove just off San Juan Island National Historical Park, our first anchorage on a five-day trip to Tofino. “I like to hit the ground running,” Kruger shrugs, handing me a beer and dropping grass-fed steaks from a local non-profit farm onto the rail-side grill as wispy clouds turn crimson to the west. Despite his own boundless energy, he also likes guests to settle into the natural rhythms of sailing. To forget about clocks and computers and cubicles and the confines of our landlocked, rectilinear lives.

“We’re a therapy business, really,” says Kruger, who calls paddleboarding an unfiltered experience on the water. It’s just you, a paddle and your board. To him, the sight and sounds of waves breaking over the bow feels elemental, like looking at fire. “People come to us,” he says, “because they need what we have.”

In the morning, while waiting for the fog to lift so we can get back to paddleboarding, we take the skiff ashore for a dose of forest therapy, hiking through tracts of old-growth cedar and hemlock to a grassy ridge overlooking the patch of Salish Sea that Kruger paddled across on the first day of the 2017 Race to Alaska, a 1,200-kilometre route from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan that competitors must complete without support. He’s the only person to ever finish the race on a paddleboard, an accomplishment that supplies some perspective on our way to Victoria, when my biggest challenges are deciding whether to read or nap and remembering to reapply sunscreen as I lounge on the foredeck. We spend a night docked in the Inner Harbour, picking up provisions (more steaks, more beer) and crew (recovering chocolatier Don Rowe) and dining in a downtown bistro. At dawn, 1 2 6 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

TRAVEL // GET UP, STAND UP Standing Pretty

The main draw of such a trip is the sensation occasioned by standing on top of a board while the ocean bobs and breaks below your feet.

It feels like...freedom.

another unexpectedly bright and warm autumn day, we leave the city and pass a few humpbacks and porpoises en route to Sombrio.

We continue up the coast after the surf session—which, despite my initial success, features a painful percentage of wipeouts—and pull into the protected waters of Port San Juan. Kruger snugs the boat close to the shore at Thrasher Cove, where tents and driftwood campfires line the beach. I hop onto a SUP for a paddle, meandering through a kelp bed and realizing that some of the bulbs are actually the heads of seals keeping a watchful distance. And that the seal undulating in the water in front of me is actually a sea lion, from which I maintain sufficient personal space.

Pausing on the shore for a chat with our human neighbours, I learn that the campground is a stop on the West Coast Trail. Hiking was my passion before paddleboarding took over, but I’m so out of touch with the terrestrial that I had no idea we were anywhere near the iconic route. For a few minutes, I’m jealous of the simplicity of their sleeping bags and single-pot meals. But then I get back to the Ocean Watch, where Johnny Cash is blasting from the speakers and Rowe is roasting romanesco and squash topped with thyme, coconut oil and aged cheddar in the cozy teak-lined saloon. “This is why I love cruising,” says Kruger. “You get to experience places like this. But at the end of the day, there’s a modicum of comfort.” I open the hatch above my bunk that night for a better view of the stars, knowing that if it starts to rain, I can simply reach up for the latch and then sink back into my dreams.

The rest of our trip is just as idyllic. Minimum risk, maximum reward. When we attempt another surf stop south of Ucluelet, the waves are too small even for SUPs, but it’s hard to be disappointed when you’re watching eagles catching thermals while paddling along an empty, rainforest-fringed beach. The swells produce a bit of nausea back on the boat, augmented perhaps by last night’s tequila. But that abates when we pull into the glassy-smooth waters of the Broken Group of islets and moor for the night on the lee side of Clarke Island.

With golden-hour pinks and oranges framing the peaks of Pacific Rim National Park Preserve to the east, I embark on my new favourite tradition: the pre-dinner paddle.

For most paddleboarders—like Kruger and, now, me—much of the sport’s thrill comes from dynamic conditions. From the interplay between wind and tides, between big global weather patterns and small localized systems. The waves we’ve been riding originated as storms somewhere off the coast of Japan, and tomorrow we’ll reach Tofino for a weekend of adrenalin in Canada’s surf capital. But as I drift through a narrow and shallow passage between a pair of islands, where crabs scuttle amongst softball-sized starfish and clams on the sea floor, my fin clips a couple of rocks and then digs into the sand. I stand motionless, marooned in a few inches of clear water, and can’t conceive of a better place to get stuck.

1 2 8 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

YO U A R E A L R E A DY B E AU T I F U L

E VA L I N A B E A U T Y. C O M C R U E LT Y A N D PA R A B E N F R E E

D E S I G N E D BY

Robert Bailey, Robert Bailey Interiors Photo Michel Gibert: for advertising purposes only. Special thanks: Lotus wall installation, Valeria Nascimento, www.valerianascimento.com. *Conditions apply, ask your store for more details.

TRADE SECRETS

The Look

WARM WELCOME

For designer Robert Bailey, an entryway isn’t just a place to drop your bag: it’s an opportunity for an introduction.

“It should start to tell the story of the home and who lives there,” says the designer of this light and airy Vancouver condo. And here, the story is clear: one of elegance, warmth and welcome, thanks to Bailey’s knack for pairing pieces that balance each other in a way that carries a sense of intention yet somehow feels natural. “We want elements that speak or relate to each other but are not ‘matched.’ We want to layer composition, periods and textures without it feeling too clever or overdesigned,” says Bailey.

“Curate, don’t decorate.”

1 3 0 s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 / westernliving.ca

Ema Peter

Infuse the entryway with thoughtful textures and balanced colour.

Photo Michel Gibert: for advertising purposes only. Special thanks: Lotus wall installation, Valeria Nascimento, www.valerianascimento.com. *Conditions apply, ask your store for more details.

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design Raphael Navot

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Western Living

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