Canadian studio Falken Reynolds has chosen stark white surfaces and contemporary finishes to enhance the original features of a historic Vancouver residence.
The local firm renovated the ground floor of a 100-year-old townhouse on Hemlock Street, in the city's South Granville neighbourhood.
Taking its name from its location, the project involved retaining the home's character while updating many of the features.

"A thoroughly modern interior with nods to its heritage roots was the brief for this 110-year-old South Granville townhouse," said Falken Reynolds, led by Chad Falkenberg and Kelly Reynolds.
A new open-plan layout puts a kitchen at the core and a dining nook nearby. A sitting room is located at the front entrance and is visually separated from the kitchen by a corner fireplace.
"Converting a series of tiny rooms to an open plan involved shoring up the crumbling foundations, adding structural beams and raising parts of the floor," said the studio.
"The central, sizeable kitchen ? an important feature for the client ? occupies more than half of the square footage of the main floor, but appears smaller by way of colour-blocked forms and materials."

Falken Reynolds optimised space by building one stationary kitchen island and added a nearby dining table at the same height. Supported on industrial caster wheels, the table can be moved easily to make space when necessary.

The fixed island incorporates electrical and mechanical systems,...