You’ll find some excellent ideas for home renovations on the internet, but if you’re considering renovations to your Vancouver home, you’ll find that some of those ideas just don’t have that unique local feel. Is there such a thing as a “Vancouver” home renovation?
Consider, for starters, the local natural environment. For example, stone and cedar live in harmony here along the British Columbia coast. Many local homeowners have incorporated them into their dream renovations, and Reid Developments has been glad to help.
The Camosun Heritage Renovation
You can bring together these locally sourced natural elements in your home’s exterior, interior, or both. The Reid-built Camosun House is a classic example amongst our hundreds of new-builds and renovations. Camosun Heritage features rugged stone panels that provide more than just eye appeal. They provide protection from the wet Vancouver weather while the cedar siding accents give a warm, soft feel.
Uniquely local renovations often recreate the look of local architectural history, like the steeply pitched gable roofs a Tudor-style house of late 19th and early 20th century Vancouver. Or, they might mean renovating a character home to make it more liveable.
The Point Grey Cuisine Renovation
If you enjoy the good fortune of living in one of Vancouver’s historic homes, you may find that what appears majestic on the outside can become a claustrophobic experience inside. The Reid-renovated 1930s “Point Grey Cuisine” is a case in point. The walled off areas rooms typical of the era gave it a cramped, dark feel. Our renovations include a new traditional style kitchen that opens up to the rest of the house. We also added a main floor powder room added and an office space in the front.
The Chancellor Renovation
Another 1930s home included among our renovations is a 1930’s Tudor-style house, The Chancellor. The owner wanted to capture West Coast Contemporary style inside and out. The result was an award winner. The Reid project took the Vancouver Homebuilder’s Association “Best Exterior Renovation” at the 2010 RenOvation Awards. It was also nominated as one of the five finalists for the Georgie Awards 2009 in the renovation over $750,000 category and one of the top 5 finalists for the National Homebuilders Association SAM Awards in 2009. The Chancellor is a breathtaking example of how classic, historic architecture can be mixed transformed into a genuinely “Vancouver” residence.
Vancouver Greenest City Action Plan
Something any Vancouver renovator should consider is our city’s commitment to “going green.” Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan is a sustainability initiative to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by the year 2020. In Vancouver, making the planet more sustainable starts at city hall– literally.
Vancouver City Hall’s new heating and cooling system recycles the waste heat generated from cooling or extracts it from the air directly. It uses the waste heat using it to heat the building and provide hot water, instead of relying on gas boilers. The ambitious 3-phase plan expects to reap a 45% savings in gas and a 34% reduction in greenhouse gases in its first two phases. When all renovations are complete, the reduction in greenhouse gases is forecast at a whopping 91%.
The Soaring Eagle Renovation
Your residence doesn’t need the massive eco-motivated renovations of City Hall. But there are many ways to reduce your home’s ecological footprint. An eco-renovation can produce long-term energy cost savings, too. Reid Developments has built many green homes, like the UBC home Soaring Eagle which features a geothermal heating system. We have the experience with both building green homes and renovating them to make them more environmentally-friendly.
Contact Reid Developments
Need more stylish, practical and uniquely “Vancouver” renovation ideas? We have a few for you. On our website’s Projects page, we’ve got some real Vancouver recently-built and recently upgraded homes that you can “wow” over online AND in real life. After you do, contact us here. Reid Developments would love to work with you on a uniquely Vancouver renovation!