A Luxurious Calgary Infill

The architectural idea behind this dream home was something worth fighting for, which is a good thing because it took five years and a trip to the city’s subdivision appeals board to make it happen

What is white and brown and sleek all over? The answer: Ryan Heath’s modern inner-city infill designed by architect Marc Boutin.

Wrapped in cedar and stucco and accented with flashes of metal, Heath’s home is firmly planted on the eastern edge of Calgary’s downtown core. But it almost wasn’t built at all.

More than five years in the making, the space represents Heath’s urbane, modern sensibility and features an interior courtyard surrounded by three walls of solid glass that soar two storeys upward. Dramatic as it is, Heath laughs when he describes his introduction to the idea.

“I saw the first piece of paper and it literally was the shape of this house, a rectangle with a notch cut out in the middle,” he says.

When Boutin and his team at the marc boutin architectural collaborative inc. took on the design, they wanted to maximize the unobstructed views of downtown to the west and the rooftop views to the east, and bring light into the centre of the house. They achieved these goals and, in the process, produced a home that is confident and understated and hints at none of the trials of its creation.

These trials included a construction schedule that was spread out over three years, hampered by a mid-stream change of builder. And a lot of pain with getting the necessary permits to build.

“Breaking the project into the community was a bear,” says Heath. He adds that making the decision to do something different added time and complexity, including a trip to the sub-divisions appeals board because one person objected to the design.

As a result, Heath ended up going door-to-door, talking to everyone about his plans. He jokes it was actually a great way to meet the neighbours and is quick to add most were very encouraging and open to seeing something new. “There wasn’t much resistance once people got to see what the design looked like,” he says.

Boutin says renovating or building in an established area means asking whether people see the neighbourhood as a finished piece of history, or as something that evolves over time. He definitely sees it as the latter, and argues that new builds enhance neighborhoods. “They are a contemporary expression of what is already there,” he says.

In the case of the Heath house, there is a logic at work in the way the home looks that runs deeper than aesthetics.

“All of the home’s social spaces are defined by the wooden wrapper on the exterior,” says Boutin. “Stucco denotes the service spaces.”
Boutin says the design also features built-in economy of space by compressing and ganging all the services together on the north side and leaving the south side of the home as uninterrupted social space.

The centrepiece of the home is the interior courtyard, which bathes the house in light. It is afforded privacy with a hanging wooden screen that blocks the view from the street and features a 52-inch outdoor fireplace. Accessed through solid fir doors on opposite sides, the courtyard acts as an extension of the kitchen and living room that flank it.

At the back of the house is Heath’s kitchen. It is dominated by an oversized island, topped in white quartz, that doubles as a dining table. He says the area was originally intended as a separate kitchen and dining room. But Heath’s sister, Jennifer Brock of Thom Design, worked with him on the home’s interiors and helped him to see the benefit of making the room into a functional entertaining space.

“I love entertaining and hanging out in this kitchen,” says Heath. In fact, he recently hosted an all-day lamb roast for 20 friends. “At one time I had 15 people sitting around the table. It was great.”

From the kitchen looking through the courtyard glass, the living room is visible, along with the massive ebony wall unit that anchors it. Heath and Brock designed it to make a statement. It’s the first thing to greet visitors when they enter the home and includes space for a fireplace, storage as well as art, and a wall-mounted television.

The central courtyard allows light into the main floor, but the home’s sense of light doesn’t end as you descend into the basement. The area below grade is kept bright with six-foot-wide windows that reach toward the raised ceiling, making it very livable space. The basement houses a home gym; a media room complete with projection television, wet bar and fireplace; and a full bathroom. Stained concrete floors complete the modern look in the lower level, as well.

It is here in the basement that you get a sense of how carefully storage was considered when designing the interior of Heath’s home. For example, cupboards in the landing area at the foot of the stairs open to reveal a hidden laundry room with a washer and dryer, as well as storage and drying racks.

However, one of the home’s most unusual features is found two storeys up, at the top of the glass-panelled staircase.
Here you find the master bedroom and its ensuite shower, which features a floor-to-ceiling window with a dramatic view of downtown. Boutin says the shower was inspired by a more European notion of social norms around what is considered public and private space. He enjoys poking a little fun at what he calls “the more Protestant values prevalent in North American society.” As for Heath, he was game to include the window, but does favour the use of a curtain when he’s in the buff.

The other choices on the second floor are more conventional. Heath has created a library and small guest room at the back of the house. While that suits him perfectly right now, he appreciates that the modular nature of the house will allow him to easily convert them to an alternate use down the road. Given his involvement in planning and designing the space, it shouldn’t be hard.

Heath says he was involved in every design decision, including shopping for all fixtures and finishes although he found the range of choices overwhelming at first.

“After a while, you start to get acclimatized to what you like,” says Heath. “It gets easier to throw things out. I don’t think I was proficient at that — at all — at the start of this, but finally, you do start to see what Ryan Heath really likes.”