Architectural Design

Often, but it depends on the lot, the zoning and the building. Ceiling height and egress windows are the two things that most commonly stop a basement suite, and both are expensive to fix after the fact. It is worth checking before you plan around it.

Both are detached dwellings in the rear yard. A coach house — a laneway house in Vancouver — typically fronts a lane and often sits above or beside parking. A garden house is used where there is no lane access. Which one your lot allows is set by the zoning and the lane.

Yes. Work-stop notices and unpermitted work are a large part of what we do. We document what exists, prepare the drawings needed to bring it into compliance, and deal with the municipality directly.

It depends on the size and occupancy of the project. Where a project requires it, a registered architect reviews the design for compliance with the BC Building Code and local bylaws, and provides sign and seal.

Recent provincial direction on small-scale multi-unit housing has changed the answer for many properties. Frontage, lot area, setbacks, servicing and protected trees all bear on it. Give us the address and we will tell you what it allows.

Yes. We have been building since 2007 and designing since 2018, so the same office can carry a project from the first sketch through to close-out.