Eleven West blends the old with new
Spanish colonial revival building to house artists’ studios next to condo development
When contemporary marries classic, the chemistry is just right for Cheryl and Dwayne Nadeau, partners in Nadeau Developments, builders of the Eleven West condo and townhome community at West 11th Avenue and Maple Street in Kitsilano.
Cheryl Nadeau, the project’s sales organizer, says it’s a priority to honour the heritage value of the site, home to one of the last Spanish colonial revival buildings in Vancouver. Adjacent to this 1929 building, the Nadeaus are introducing a boutique development of condominiums and townhomes for which they’ve created spare, modern interiors, with large windows that will emphasize the outdoors.
“We really wanted to concentrate on all the beautiful natural light and the views, whether they are of the green space, trees, or the city, mountain, and water,” says Nadeau, who also specializes in real estate sales with Engels and Voelker Vancouver. “We have as many windows as allowed to capture the light and views. We wanted to continue to focus on that so we created a light palette.”
Nadeau says if she were to live there, she’d settle into the townhome on the southwest corner, with a view of the green space on West 11th.
“Walking out to the large patio in the south sun would be amazing for entertaining or relaxing.”
Artists’ renderings show a penchant for light neutrals and white, with a dark feature wall in one rendering “to create diversity and interest,” says Nadeau. Another rendering includes a media wall, with a large television, on the standout dark feature wall.
Meanwhile, the heritage building standing next to Eleven West will welcome artists’ studios. The details of the heritage building were a huge influence in the vision for the new building, Nadeau says.
“The thing that most attracts us in the architectural details in the heritage building are the big, beautiful windows along the front and the bay windows on the second floor.”
The enterprising couple was so inspired by the Mediterranean heritage of the 1929 building that they brought in tile designer Sean Cloete from Fontile to jump-start the vision for the design details in both buildings’ interiors. Cloete says the company used materials from Porcelanosa Grupo ceramics manufacturers to introduce an ornate beauty reminiscent of Spain and Italy.
“When we first looked at the project and discovered the history of the building, we knew it was special. We want to bring it back to its beauty and glory but also allow the new owners to create their story by adding interesting elements, such as funky cool tile,” Nadeau says.