Book Lover’s Paradise by RSAAW Celebrated as Western Living’s Home of the Year
Project Berkley HousePublisher Archello
Photography Ema Peter
“Celebrating the best of Western Canadian architecture, Book Lover’s Paradise by Vancouver firm Rafael Santa Ana Architecture Workshop (RSAAW) has won Western Living’s annual competition for Home of the Year. A thorough mid-century renovation featuring a stunning stair-side, double-height bookshelf and a secret attic playroom, the project transformed a tired, inefficient house with good bones into a chic, contemporary, and spatially eloquent family home.”
RSAAW restores the headquarters of the Architecture Institute of British Columbia (AIBC) in Vancouver, BC
Project AIBC RenovationsPublisher Archello
Photography Michael Elkan
“Instead of seeing the layered history of the space's design as a constraint, RSAAW used it as a source of inspiration, creating an intervention that respects the diversity of the building's history and seeks to build on and modernize it, as opposed to attempting to preserve or return the building to its original state.”
Sustainably Unique Northwest Family Home
Project Berkley HousePublisher Archello
Photography Ema Peter
“The challenge was to celebrate the home's quasi post-and-beam style and Californian-style character while adapting to the reality of the Canadian climate and minimizing energy wastage.”
A Modernly Blended Heritage Renovation
Project AIBC RenovationsPublisher Archello
Photography Michael Elkan
“The glass and steel complement the previously exposed structural system of the general assembly room across the atrium, while wood slatting is introduced as a finish to conceal mechanical systems and to accentuate the frame of the glazed atrium.”
A Boutique Merging of Residential and Industrial
Project Copper Spirit DistilleryPublisher Archello
Photography Andrew Latreille
“The client’s holistic approach to the alchemy of boutique distilling remained a constant guide during the logistical challenge of constructing such a mixed-use facility on a small island.”