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A good laneway house design brief in Vancouver is a short written document that lists who will live in the house, how they use each room, what must fit, what the budget is, and what you can give up. Writing it before any drawings begin keeps the design on track and the budget honest. Most…
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You’ve found the perfect lot in Burnaby or North Shore. You’ve sketched out where you want the bedrooms, the kitchen, maybe a small home office. But then you realize: where do the stairs actually go? And if they’re open stairs—which many laneway houses use to save space—how do you design them so they don’t dominate…
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What the District of North Vancouver asks for with a new house building permit: survey, arborist and geotechnical reports, stormwater plan, Step Code and the wildfire development permit.
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You’ve found the perfect lot in Burnaby or on the North Shore. You’re ready to build a laneway house. But before you draw up plans or meet with a builder, you need to understand one critical constraint: how your property’s existing house and lot layout will shape what you can actually build in that back…
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You’ve found the perfect lot in Burnaby or the North Shore, and you’re ready to build a laneway house. But as you start reviewing design options with builders, you hear two different approaches to how rooms connect to the outdoors: some designs push for maximum glass and sliding doors, while others suggest a more gradual,…
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You’ve found the perfect lot in Burnaby or the North Shore, and you’re ready to build a laneway house. You’ve met with our team, you’ve reviewed the neighbourhood, and now you’re staring at floor plans wondering: where should the stairs actually go? It’s a decision that feels simple until you realize it affects your layout,…
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A dining room that works on a Tuesday can fail on Thanksgiving. Here are the clearances and layout choices that make a big table comfortable.
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Update: see our current guide, Maximize Small Spaces: Ceiling Height Variation for Laneway Houses (https://www.myhousedesigner.com/maximize-small-spaces-ceiling-height-variation-for-laneway-houses/). When you’re planning to build a laneway house in Burnaby or the North Shore, one of the biggest design decisions is how to arrange your living space so it doesn’t feel cramped or poorly proportioned. Many homeowners focus only on…
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You’ve bought a narrow Burnaby lot or a steep North Shore property, and you’re thinking about a laneway house. Or maybe you’re a North Shore house builder planning one for clients. Either way, you know the footprint will be tight. The real question isn’t whether you can fit a home on the site—it’s how to…
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When you’re planning a laneway house in Burnaby or exploring custom home design on the North Shore, one of the biggest decisions you’ll face is how to arrange your kitchen work zones. A poorly planned kitchen can eat up square footage, create bottlenecks, and make daily cooking frustrating. But when work zones are designed thoughtfully…