Rise and Shine: A Laneway House

Set atop the repurposed foundation of an old shed, Rise and Shine is a compact laneway house that engages directly with the challenges and opportunities of urban infill. Designed on a tight lot with immediate neighbours on all sides, the project balances three essential urban living concerns: privacy, access to natural light, and connection to views — all within a small and efficient footprint.

Privacy: The design lifts the primary living spaces to the upper level, offering both physical and psychological separation from the alleyway. The social spaces of the home are protected from the lane’s unrelenting pulse of garbage trucks, dog walkers, and urban critters. This upper level ‘box’ carefully crops all sight lines ‘out from’ (and 'in to’) the home, maintaining total privacy for all neighbours. At ground level, an accessory storage unit frames a private outdoor space for yoga and a garden.

Access to daylight: High, clerestory windows line the perimeter of the roof . This halo of glass introduces soft, diffuse light throughout the day while not sacrificing privacy. This band of windows is paired with exposed roof trusses, painted white to reflect and scatter light deep into the space.

Views: Like a camera on a tripod, the laneway house is deliberately elevated to capture views over the rooftops of downhill neighbours, toward Kootenay lake beyond. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall opens onto a raised deck, where the views, a barbecue, and a hammock conspire to slow the pace of urban life.

Rise and Shine demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform overlooked or underused land into meaningful, high-quality living space. Through modest scale, careful planning, and a sensitivity to context, the project offers a compelling model for laneway housing — one that embraces constraint as an opportunity for engaging and impactful architecture.