RSAAW Plants a Towering Library as the Heart of the Renovated Berkley House in Canada

“Rafael Santa Ana Architecture Workshop Inc. (RSAAW) is a Canadian architectural firm that carried out a thorough, mid-century interior renovation of this dusky, two-storey house in Vancouver, Canada, replete with a timber-clad treehouse out in the garden and a double-height library that adorns its all-white interiors. Called the Berkley House, the dwelling possesses a “gallery-like” quality with a liberated sense of light and space, a tale of succinct transformation, from “a tired, inefficient house with good bones to a contemporary home on another level,” according to Rafael Santa Ana, the principal architect, who is also the client, and currently inhabits the home with his family.

There is something to be said about the contents of books piling on as we had hoped to contain everything within our minds, to appreciate the scale of information we take in. This bookshelf / library / display cubbies, establishes through its massive verticality, a sense of progression of books intended for the children at the bottom, constant consultation within the reach of kids, moving up to books from university and some classics, then slightly higher up, the bulk of a lot of architecture and art books, and then some rare editions towards the top shelf. Monumental libraries are a beautiful form of displaying tomes that provided and keep providing us with knowledge, emotions, entertainment and memories, and thus, libraries evoke a reaction like a collection of artworks, at least for our family,’ explains Rafael, detailing out why the bookshelf takes up such an intentional, prime space within the interior design.

RSAAW’s renovation made sure that the home stayed rooted to its origin, in an industry trend that leans towards complete demolition and choose disposable fixtures and finishes. Their design opened up the dreary, closed spatiality, by simply adapting it to perform to superior efficiency levels, and accommodate future generations of family life enveloped in modest home-living, in a way that overcast days would have less impact on the home’s bright new opened space. ”