THE INSIDE SCOOP
Plenty of living space on offer at unique Toppen Ridge
To meet the City of North Vancouver’s contemporary design guidelines for the Moodyville neighbourhood while also incorporating features that echo the area’s industrial past and meet homebuyers’ demand for a simpler design esthetic, Formwerks Boutique Properties came up with its own style for its Toppen Ridge development: Contemporanian.
Toppen Ridge, a 24-townhome development to be built at 237 Ridgeway Avenue in North Vancouver, will be part of the transformation of the suburb that traces its industrial roots to the establishment of the Moodyville Sawmill in the 1860s.
Following the 2016 rezoning of the land east of St. Patrick’s Avenue to Queensbury Avenue and south of East 4th Street, the area is being redeveloped and, when complete, will include about 1,500 homes, a renewed Moodyville Park and improved greenways.
Lonsdale Energy Corp. will extend its thermal energy system to the neighbourhood. The LEC uses a network of underground pipes to circulate hot water to heat the buildings connected to its system, resulting in a smaller environmental footprint with cost, energy and space savings.
Toppen Ridge’s planned contemporanian style is the result of considerations of many of the features that existed within Moodyville, says James McKenny, sales and marketing manager, Formwerks Boutique Properties.
“At the port, there’s a lot of black metal, concrete and different hard materials, but the area also has a beautiful natural landscape and the mountains.”
These local influences are seen in the architectural design of the development with the peaked roofs showing the visual influence of the mountains, while the industrial gooseneck lighting and black metal awnings recall the industrial heritage of the area.
The development on the 20,493-square-foot site includes ground-level courtyard homes with townhouses stacked above them. The courtyard homes have a double-wide floor plan and open on to a central courtyard.
“You walk right in and everything is on one level so they’re ideal for people who are looking for a home with no stairs,” McKenny says.
There are several types of townhouses, he adds, noting a special zoning allows for live-work homes. Inside the live-work townhouses, sliding frosted glass doors easily close off part of the living area to create a space for a home-based business.
Two of the courtyard homes also have a feature that broadens their appeal: lock-off studios with their own entrance. The space can be used as a third bedroom, a nanny suite or rented to generate income, McKenny says.
The development is already attracting interest from people who grew up on the North Shore and want to return to raise their families in the area; people who are moving up from one-bedroom condos to larger homes; homebuyers looking for a lock-and-go lifestyle, plus downsizers seeking one-level living, McKenny says.
“It’s going to be a very vibrant neighbourhood,” he adds, noting the location is within walking distance of Lonsdale Quay, where the SeaBus takes 15 minutes for the trip to downtown Vancouver.
The North Shore municipalities are also working with TransLink to introduce the Marine-Main B-Line high-capacity express bus service that will travel along 3rd Street as part of its route.
While the location and the architecture are attractive features, McKenny says potential buyers have also responded to the interior design.
“People really saw the vision of the interior design. It’s very clean and simple. It’s very high quality and speaks to modern lifestyles.”
Interior designer Natalia Kwasnicki, partner at Portico Design Group, says Formwerks retained its single-family home boutique-builder creative philosophy for the development, an approach that resulted in more character and distinctive features for Toppen Ridge than is typical in most multi-family developments.
“We pushed the boundaries a little. Most multi-family offerings have a more neutral palette, whereas Toppen Ridge will have a more boutique feel with more personality and character in the materials selections,” she says, pointing to choices like the hexagon-tile floor in the ensuite bathroom and a darker-than-usual marble-look porcelain backsplash in the kitchen.
Buyers can choose from two colour palettes: Freya, the lighter scheme, and Finn, with its darker floors and cabinetry.
While inspired by Scandinavian influences, during the design process the esthetic expanded into a modern, contemporary European look, Kwasnicki says.
In the kitchens, both palettes feature the same marble-look backsplash, white countertops and white upper cabinets. For homebuyers who select the Freya palette, lighter wood-tone lower cabinets and lighter laminate floors will distinguish their homes from the darker hues that differentiate the Finn option. Cabinetry is flat panel, in keeping with the contemporary style, while the white uppers make the space light and fresh, she says.
The hardware on the integrated appliances and the Kohler faucet are black matte.
“We’re playing with contrast in the kitchen with the white upper cabinets, the darker backsplash, and black matte hardware and faucet,” Kwasnicki says.
In the main ensuite bathroom, the colour palette is more subdued: the white marble-look countertop and white cabinets allow the hexagon-tile floor to attract all the attention.
Each floor tile has its own marble-look variation that will collectively fill the space with character, Kwasnicki adds. Another standout is the unusual wall-tile pattern where two sizes of the same tile — four-by-four inch and four-byeight inch — show how working with scale can introduce a playful element into a space.
The presentation centre at 549 East 3rd Street includes kitchen and bathroom vignettes in the Freya scheme, along with examples of the materials and colours of both palettes.