A PRIME POSITION IN GREATER VICTORIA
Lyra Residences offers a quiet setting in a central location
Lyra Residences’ location on Rainbow Hill Lane, just below the crest of Christmas Hill in Saanich, is reminiscent of an address from a storybook. But the eight-storey development is very real, with building already underway and completion scheduled for 2018.
“You might call Christmas Hill the geographic centre of Greater Victoria. It’s equally distant from most of the areas on the peninsula, so it’s a very central location,” says project architect Peter de Hoog, principal at de Hoog & Kierulf Architects.
The 39-home development is adjacent to the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Conservancy, which links to a corridor of green space that runs through Saanich, de Hoog says. The conservancy includes the oak-forested Christmas Hill and the bird-rich marshland of Swan Lake.
De Hoog worked closely on the site with an arborist to establish the drip lines of significant trees and made changes to parts of the excavation to disturb as few trees as possible.
The concrete mid-rise includes two-bedroom homes ranging from 1,077 to 1,207 square feet, each with a parking space and storage unit. The west side of Christmas Hill has been developed over the last 15 years and the two-phase Lyra Residences is being built towards the east end of a two-acre lot, the last vacant site in the area. The second building will come to market this summer, says Sarah McNeil, project coordinator with Rennie Marketing Systems, the company marketing the development.
The central location and the quiet setting with nature as a neighbour has proved popular with downsizers, McNeil says.
“We’re seeing purchasers who are selling their single-family homes because the market in Victoria is so awesome,” she says. “The large balconies and proximity to the trails and green space in the area are very attractive to 50- to 65-year-olds who still want an indoor-outdoor lifestyle, but don’t want to maintain a home,” she adds.
The units’ over-sized balconies run the entire width of the units and average more than 300 square feet and are attractive to this group. In addition to providing an outdoor living space in the warmer months, they are a perfect vantage point to enjoy the panoramic views. While the outlook depends on the position of the unit, it could present views of Victoria, towards Washington State, the Strait of Juan de Fuca or the Sooke Hills, de Hoog says.
Another feature of the balconies is the coloured glass in the balcony guards, an homage to the natural hues on the site.
“In summer, Christmas Hill has lots of rust and tan colours, because the grasses go that colour, and then you have the Garry oaks and their various browns and greens,” he adds.
Each unit has two doors to the balcony, which can be accessed from the living room and from the main bedroom.
Inside, the interior design is ‘quiet’ to enable each homeowner to personalize the space and also to create a backdrop that doesn’t compete with the views and natural surroundings, says project interior designer Judy Henderson of Inside Design Studio.
Henderson says the floor plans of the units are well conceived.
“When you walk into the unit, there is a strong sense of entry; you don’t walk right into the kitchen or down a long hallway. There is a contained entry with closets and then the space opens up,” she says.
There are two interior colour palettes: Walnut, with its darker engineered wood floors and a matte blue-tile backsplash; and Champagne with light-oak floors and the same contemporary tiles in neutral beige for the backsplash.
The kitchen island features the same light-coloured quartz with eased edges as the perimeter countertops. The island, large enough to tuck in four stools below the overhang, also has a double stainless steel Lenova sink with Grohe faucet and accommodates a KitchenAid dishwasher. The other major appliances include a stainless steel gas cooktop and a 30-inch fridge and a freezer, both by KitchenAid. The eye-catching stainless steel hood is by Broan.
The kitchen cabinetry is a stylish mix of wood grain on the lowers and a matte white laminate on the uppers. A generous pantry cupboard with adjustable shelving ensures plenty of storage space in this hub of the home. Under cabinet lighting complements the general illumination from pot lights.
The engineered wood floors in both palettes comprise five-inch wide planks and extend throughout the unit except in the bathrooms where the 12-by 24-inch porcelain tiles distinguish the space. The vanity in the master ensuite is the same wood-grain finish as the kitchen cabinetry, subtly carrying the design feature through the unit. The ensuite bathrooms include a 60-by 32-inch shower with frameless glass surround and an adjustable shower head, while a tub is located in the second bathroom.
While the generous balconies encourage outdoor living in summer, in the cooler months a gas fireplace in the living room makes for a cosy retreat.
Lyra homeowners will also have more reason than most to star-gaze from their balconies. The development is named for the constellation Lyra. While it is one of the smaller constellations it has one of the brightest stars in the night sky, Vega.