DOODL Studio have recently completed a beautiful 2-storey home, located in Calgary, Canada. This new residence was designed for a dynamic family that includes five people over three generations.
The property has been Keren and Steph’s (mother and daughter respectively) family home for over 20 years. When Steph and Jeremy decided to move in and begin their life together, they approached Keren about combining their resources to build a home suitable for everyone. It was important to Steph to be close as her mother ages and Jeremy required space for his children from a previous marriage, who spend half of their time living with their father. The balancing act of satisfying all of these requirements led them to seek professional design help. With such complex needs, they knew that they needed one authority to manage the entire design process from beginning to end. A neighbor down the street (a contractor that has worked with DOODL on many projects for several years) referred the homeowners to DOODL and it was a perfect fit.
The main consideration for this design was to create a beautiful, timeless home that will suit their family’s needs as they change over time allowing for the three generations that will be sharing the home to be able to live their lives to the fullest under the same roof. An open plan to enhance entertaining with easy indoor outdoor access and a great BBQ area were secondary considerations. The plan needed to allow each group enough privacy and independence so that the home would meet their needs regardless of how many people were under its roof at a given time.
The 2-Storey Home is designed around a central indoor-outdoor living space that extends two storeys. The homeowners love to watch golf, and so the outdoor space was designed so that the TV can be easily viewed for comfortable, outdoor summertime golf watching. On the main floor, Keren’s suite is separated from the central living space by a double sided brick feature detail that houses the family hearth, TV, storage, and display shelving.
The second storey is accessed via an open sculptural staircase and is divided into two distinct areas: the master suite, which includes a large bedroom, covered deck, walk-through closet and large ensuite; and the “kids wing” with bedrooms as well as bathing and laundry facilities. Keren’s suite has direct access to its own patio and has its own small sitting and living area that she can enjoy privately, and the master suite has a balcony that Steph and Jeremy can enjoy at their leisure. Both suites and the kid’s bedrooms are heavily sound proofed so that someone can sleep peacefully while the kids get ready for school or the adults can enjoy a movie in the living room after the kids have gone to bed.
The interior and exterior finishing’s were selected to allow for Jeremy’s logical, more traditional sense of style to blend with Steph’s love of color and flair. The home’s color pallet in terms of walls, floors and cabinetry is very neutral and minimal, which allows for color to be added tastefully with furniture and art pieces.
The exterior is a great example, white on all exterior walls with a splash of bright color on the door. The living room furniture is another great example, when you have a subtle overall interior look, bright pieces like the area rug and sofa add jolts of energy that balance the space and allow it to reflect the styles of the homeowners.
The kitchen was designed with an open plan that allows for easy circulation when entertaining and has counter top space above a wine fridge at the edge of the kitchen for a potential bar or drink station. This allows guests to serve themselves while whomever is working in the kitchen has their own defined work space free of guest traffic. The outside BBQ area is just off to the side of the large patio doors at the back of the house, which lets the grill master (Jeremy) have quick easy access to the grill (important for long, cold Canadian winters!) without impeding any potential traffic flow between the indoor and outdoor spaces.
