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Subterranean Home


Calgary | Completed in 2025

An absolute studio favourite, this brilliant architectural concept introduces an improbable yet masterfully engineered design that defies traditional constraints. Born from a unique challenge, our clients acquired the property adjacent to their existing Alloy home and tasked us with creating a laneway suite and formal garden courtyard to seamlessly integrate with their current backyard. To navigate strict municipal bylaws that permit a laneway suite only if a primary residence exists on the property, we designed an innovative subterranean primary home. This allows the entire grade-level footprint to function as an open, expansive exterior courtyard, anchored by an above-grade indoor/outdoor dining pavilion that presents as a sleek, mid-century bungalow from the sidewalk. Beneath the laneway suite, a glass-walled classic car showroom overlooks the central courtyard. Forward-thinking to its core, the subterranean structure is engineered to serve as the structural foundation for a future two-story dwelling

  • Cleverly features a below-grade primary residence to satisfy local zoning laws while preserving the entire above-ground footprint for an expansive courtyard.
  • Integrates an above-grade mid-century inspired dining pavilion, an independent laneway suite, and a sunken central courtyard.
  • Structurally engineered so that the below-grade home serves as a ready-made foundation for a future two-story above-ground dwelling.
  • 1800 sq. ft.
  • 4 Bdrm
  • 3 Bath

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