Our Commonplace
At just 765 square feet, Our Commonplace demonstrates how thoughtful space planning can make a home of this scale can feel remarkably generous.
The two-bedroom residence is organized around a central courtyard, using outdoor space, carefully placed glazing, and efficient planning to create a sense of openness that extends beyond the building’s compact footprint. Rather than treating size as a limitation, the design concentrates on proportion, natural light, storage, and the spaces people use most.
Project Details
| Location: | Vancouver, BC |
|---|---|
| Status: | Show Home |
| Design & Architecture: | McKinley Studios |
| Builder: | Purehaus Development |
Founded by Walker McKinley, Edmund Lee, and Richard Frontain, the project is driven by a commitment to sustainability, affordability, and safety. Commonplace approaches residential construction as a coordinated system, with architecture, structure, interiors, and manufactured components resolved together before assembly. Components are fabricated to approximately 1/8-inch tolerances, making dimensional coordination especially important for window and door openings. AeroFrame developed its systems as part of that process, allowing frame dimensions, glazing, interfaces, and installation conditions to be established alongside the building rather than adjusted later in the field.
Large areas of triple glazing bring daylight deep into the interior while creating layered views between rooms, planted outdoor spaces, and the surrounding neighbourhood. A two-track lift and slide door opens the kitchen directly onto the courtyard, while picture windows and glazed swing doors carry the same visual language through the rest of the home. Warm wood interiors sit against slender black aluminum frames, giving the glazing a precise architectural presence without overwhelming the smaller rooms.
The windows and doors become part of a broader idea about compact living: fewer unnecessary spaces, greater attention to the ones that remain, and construction detailed closely enough for simplicity to hold together.
