Jake Fry and Aaron Rosensweet have discovered an affordable housing gold mine in the most unlikely of places -- Vancouver's gritty back alleys.
Together the two Vancouver designers have formed Smallworks, a design/build company, to push their vision for laneway housing, boasting that they can build quality yet affordable homes quickly, while at the same time reducing the impact of urban sprawl.
"We are able to build a home at half the cost in half the time," says Mr. Fry. "We can put up a living house within 2 months."
While laneway housing has generated civic optimism in Vancouver, the maze-like bureaucratic process one must navigate to achieve a permit has left few with the time, strength and resources for laneway construction. The initial excitement over the potential for densification as presented by laneway housing in urban centres like Toronto has given way to concerns over the cost of and access to services for these sites and a reluctance of civic authorities to permit construction.
Mr. Fry and Mr. Rosensweet feel that unlike Toronto, Vancouver has a more open dialogue between public clients, politicians, city planners, architects and developers. There seems to be a push from all directions for the livable densification process that laneway housing can provide. In addition, Vancouver, as a newer city, has an infrastructure which lends itself to laneway housing.
"In Vancouver physical services run in the alley," says Mr. Rosensweet. "We pull power and sewer from the back alley so there is no intrusion into the streets here," he says.
With their commitment to laneway housing Smallworks believes that while this form of development is not yet main-stream, it soon will be.
"I have sat in with city planners who say there is a 95 per cent positive response to the idea of constructing additional small residences on existing properties," says Mr. Fry.
"To move forward, all we need is political will, and I think it's there. The only thing missing right now is that we need someone to say, 'we are going to do this," he says.
Despite the bureaucratic headaches, laneway houses are popping up in such neighbourhoods as Mt. Pleasant, Strathcona and Kitsilano. The city has also introduced a new zoning designation -- RT-10 -- that allows for small-lot infill and laneway housing in Kensington-Cedar Cottage.
Smallworks will demonstrate their ability to utilize the spaces now occupied by decaying carports at next month's dv-Interior Design and Urban Living Expo, where they will feature a studio suite, with green space, with the dimensions of a single-car garage.
"With the dv outdoor feature, we have always looked to challenge traditional thoughts on architecture and space design," says Jason Heard, the show's director.
This attraction to design concepts from 'outside the box' led Mr. Heard to Smallworks. "Smallworks struck me as a company looking to change the world -- one laneway home at a time," he says.
Following the expo's theme, 'stories,' Smallworks aims to weave the tale of how we might live while increasing densification. "We are going to tell the story about the way that this city and our lifestyles can change based on the buildings we choose to live in," says Mr. Fry.
Smallworks hopes its proposals, coinciding with the city's eco-density initiative, will stoke interest in laneway housing.
"Laneway housing is really an ideal solution for Vancouver," says Aaron Rosensweet.
As a city surrounded by growth boundaries like mountains, water and the American Border, laneway housing is a very viable solution.
"The only place the city is growing is out into the valley but, the appetite is to live in the city," says Mr. Rosensweet.
