Trade Secrets

Bring heritage and contemporary elements together around a neutral colour palette.

How Frank Architecture modernized a historic residential space.

When Frank Architecture was tasked with renovating this vacant suite in a Calgary heritage building, they started from scratch. Principals Kate Allen, Kelly Morrison and Kristen Lien pulled off the drywall to expose the existing brick and then layered on modern details—an imported-from-Italy Scavolini kitchen, an angular light fixture and smooth Corian countertops. The sleek finishes are a textural contrast to the rugged brick and warm, weathered floor, but a grey-toned palette—colours natural to the space—ties all of the elements, old and new, together, “to work with the character of the existing building,” says Lien.