This past Saturday, Sept. 25th a few of the “fluffians” attended the second annual Vancouver”s Special tour, put on by the Vancouver Heritage Foundation. Vancouver Special is a term used to refer to houses built in a particular architectural style in the period from roughly 1965 to 1985 in Vancouver, and its suburbs. They are characterised by their “box-like” structure, low-pitched roofs, balconies across the front of the house, and brick or stone finishes on the ground-floor level of the facade with stucco elsewhere. Vancouver Specials have similar floor plans with the main living quarters on the upper floor and secondary bedrooms on the bottom, making them ideal for secondary suites. In response to public reaction to the proliferation of this design, the City of Vancouver made changes to the single-family zoning regulations in the 1980s with the intent to stop additional Vancouver Specials from being built. These style of homes are popular for renovation due to their large floor space ratio. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed on the tour, below find some examples of beautifully renovated Vancouver Specials, and be sure to attend the tour next year as it is amazing!

Chris Doray and Arno Matis from Vancouver, Canada’s Iconstrux Architecture provided a complete redesign for this 1960’s “Vancouver Special” house in Vancouver’s Dunbar neighbourhood.