GOING PLACES
Residents of 1555 West Eighth will be steps from South Granville’s many galleries, boutiques and eateries
Edwin Kenstone, whose development company built the 1555 residential project just off South Granville at West 8th Avenue, says he started his search for a design for the property with the question: What about a building of penthouses?
What emerged five years later was a small collection of 20 single-level homes in two buildings that command compelling views of Vancouver’s cityscape, welcome lots of natural light into the homes and don’t share walls with neighbouring suites. Stepping outside, the homeowner has an easy walk to Granville Island and South Granville’s many attractions.
“We acquired the site in 2010 and fell in love with the location right away,” Kenstone said. “It’s a part of the South Granville shopping district, but also is part of its own neighbourhood sub-pocket: it is surprisingly residential intermixed with independent galleries, boutiques and eateries on treelined streets and narrow roadways.
“We instinctively knew this would be a great site to flex our design muscles and create something special.”
As Kenstone’s starting point suggests, the homes enjoy the same level of privacy as many penthouses do.
With 1555, the design was “differently conceived from the ground up” he said. In most buildings, buyers have a choice of purchasing a home with a surrounding mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom homes attractive to investors, and the likelihood that the home will share one, if not two walls, with neighbouring suites.
“(At 1555), every residence is effectively a corner suite with two or three exposures to views, natural light and ventilation, ” Kenstone said. “We are able to do this because of our unique building form. It has an unusually high interiorto-exterior ratio. From a bird’s-eye view, most buildings are shaped in a rectangle. But our building looks like three rectangles attached to a central core.”
The project is smaller than Kenstone’s previous developments, which include 22 units in the 12-storey Monte Carlo at Pine and 10th Avenue, the 115-unit 18-storey Sage building at UBC and Addition, a 164-unit development on Hornby.
But Kenstone said 1555 became a pet project on which he spared no expenses and energy. “We treat it as our flagship project to showcase what we can do.”
The fact that it was an in-fill project replacing a former printing operation and wholesale jewelry firm created its own set of issues, he said. The initial design called for a brick exterior, but access challenges for scaffolding and staging from adjacent properties sent the designers back to the drawing board. Instead, they developed a special undulating 22-gauge steel panel exterior that reflects light in much the same way that a water surface shimmers, he said.
“Another challenge was how to program these really large threebedroom-and-den plans without casting half the home in darkness,” Kenstone said. “You see this condition in other buildings all the time: bedrooms that are crammed together next to each other.”
“So we introduced a light well and a courtyard around which the buildings wrap, and bring light into areas such as the bathroom ensuites and the elevator lobbies on every floor.”
Floor-to-ceiling glazing stretching 29 feet along one wall and balconies with deep overhangs with red cedar soffits provide west views to the city lights and the water beyond.
In the main lobby and at each home entrance are custom-sculptured lighting spheres by Vancouver-based glass artisan firm Bocci. Simple, heavy oak entrance doors that reach to the top of the eightfoot-six ceilings add to the minimalist style inside the homes. Engineered wide-plank oak is used for the main living area flooring.
The open-concept kitchen and living rooms are on a scale one would find in a single-family home, allowing for maximum flexibility for seating and for enjoying the views. Below the balconies at ground level is a Japanese Zen garden.
The 15 buyers who have purchased suites are a diverse lot, Kenstone said. “We have buyers from White Rock and from West Vancouver, downsizers wanting to be closer to Vancouver, but not in the city. You have growing families and a number of out-of-province buyers from Ontario and Nova Scotia and a couple from California.
“They are accustomed to the comforts of the single-family home, but they want the easy maintenance and security of condo living.”
Some of the remaining five homes for sale vary somewhat, but the kitchens feature custom cabinetry by Italy’s Friul Intagli, white lacquered doors in a softtouch matte finish with white oak doors in a natural finish. Recessed door pulls and soft-close hinges open on to pullout drawer sets. In place of the typical high-gloss marble or quartz counters are matte Corian in a waterfall wrap. Set in the island is a 24-inch Julien undermount stainless steel sink with polished chrome Hansgrohe pulldown faucet.
For cooking, there is a Bertazzoni 36-inch gas range top with six cast brass burners and a wok adapter and simmer ring, and a 30inch convection oven with quadruple glass door window and seven racks. Other appliances include a 36-inch Fhiaba integrated bottom mount fridge, a Bosch integrated dishwasher, and an AEG slide-out range hood and a Panasonic builtin microwave with trim kit.
Just off the kitchen is a smaller flex area that can be used for a den or sitting area.
Bathrooms feature white frosted floor-to-ceiling glass allowing in lots of natural light form the light well behind. Cabinetry, like in the kitchens, is by Friul Intagli, with Lava Grigia stone slab countertops with undermount ceramic basins. Featured are oversized seamless walk-in rain showers with frameless glass enclosures and aluminum linear shower drains in the ensuite.
There are six-by-24-inch ceramic wall tiles and a recessed wall niche in the ensuite shower. Flooring has heated 24-by-24-inch porcelain tiles with programmable thermostat.