Brian Hemingway - West Vancouver

At the outset we merely wished to more conveniently connect two major spaces and levels of our West Coast Contemporary Home. A simple staircase seemed the solution; however, after Brian visited and surveyed the house planning and our additional qualitative concerns, he envisioned a series of interventions that have transformed the entire house and our level of livability.

The process with Brian is as remarkable as the results. He makes connections and feels connections from deep within, skillfully balancing his clients' needs and wants while maintaining the integrity of the home and its surroundings. The elements he adds are purposeful, sophisticated and timeless. We feel greatly honoured that our path has intersected with this true gentleman and visionary.

Our dream home started with a simple list of ideas and desires that we presented to Brian; a building set comfortably in our wonderful ocean-side setting featuring natural materials such as stone, copper, and wood. We asked for informal open spaces based on natural light and indoor-outdoor living to take advantage of our mild west coast climate, with appropriate separation for our evolving adult family needs, allowing us to live, work, and entertain in the same space. When we saw Brian's other buildings we knew we had found the right person to turn our dream into reality.

Brian more than satisfied all our desires. Simplicity masks complexity in the mechanics of the building, utilizing geothermal heat and cooling available from the ocean, and elegant engineering to ensure that the house is livable and easy to use.

For us it was important to enjoy the journey and the destination. Brian led the way with a gentle but deft hand from the outset in a series of casual site visits and informal meetings. He rapidly produced a series of conceptual sketches and ultimately a set of drawings and a model. The original design matched out needs so accurately, there were few if any changes to the original drawings during construction. Brian's personable and acute listening skills, coupled with his deep architectural experience and commitment to both form and function has resulted in a home that is comfortable for living, working, and playing, and is truly beautiful.

When Brian was first developing the concept of our house, he envisioned our house to be a jewel nestled in the landscape overlooking the ocean. He spoke of the importance of keeping it one with the natural beauty of our waterfront property in Lions Bay, B.C. Today, he has achieved this lofty goal and created a magnificent, yet natural structure, which has not disturbed the bald eagles that frequent the towering Douglas Firs just metres from our windows. Our house of glass also allows us to gaze downward through the water's clear abyss and see orange sun stars on the Howe Sound's rocky seabed.

Our home is a glorious sanctuary for our family and yet we are so proud to have understood Brian Hemingway's genius and given our global community an architectural legacy that all can admire and emulate. The Tidewater is truly the jewel in the landscape that Brian envisioned.

-Victoria Rogers & Kim Mailey

For people like us, a brilliant and creative architect is not only a marvel to behold, but also a valued advisor. We so appreciate your creativity, your ability, your professionalism, and your passion.

We recently undertook a major re build of our home. The design of the home contained some solid elements but was extremely dated. We engaged Brian with an overall design brief of developing a modern contemporary but cozy home. The end result has vastly exceeded our expectations. We achieved all we were looking for and more. Not only is the end product fantastic, the entire process of working with Brian was extremely enjoyable. Within a very short period of time he developed a series of beautiful hand drawn sketches reflecting our needs, but also introduced several design elements and ideas that transformed the design from a good home to an outstanding home.

The process was a pleasure and we would gladly reengage him but this project has been so successful we will not be moving soon; surely the sign of success of a great designer.

-Mark and Leslie Shuparski

In 2001, we were very fortunate to find a most remarkable piece of property on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia and we knew it needed a world-class home. When we found Brian Hemingway, we knew we had found the architect to create it.

Brian's well-established and timeless architectural style was a perfect match for the vision we had for our future home. Once we engaged Brian, it was clear that he could bring this vision to life. He created an exquisite union of granite, glass and ageless fir timbers that seamlessly and quietly melded into its waterfront setting, realizing its destiny as a 'temple for souls'.

Once the project was underway, Brian was steadfastly there for us as the inevitable unforeseen issues and decisions came along. In addition to the home itself, Brian designed a number of distinctive architectural features as well as certain custom-designed furniture pieces that elevated everything about the home. Brian has been very attentive and responsive as we've navigated the entire project. It is an extraordinary thing to find oneself here, living in a home that is truly a vision brought to life.

-Patrick and Carolyn

Our relationship with the Vancouver based, Canadian Architect, Brian Hemingway, began some 13 years ago in 2010. While searching for an architect, we found several international magazine articles showcasing some of his work. We instantly fell in love with his design of large homes.

Our 22000 SQ. FT. house is sited atop a hill in a 15 acre wooded property.

At the outset, we instructed Brian that we wished to have a large, contemporary house, but it must be imbued with an atmosphere of warmth.

Consistent with all his previous work, Brian developed a single storey, post and beam house with transparent exterior walls of glass, that blurred the relationship between indoors and outdoors.

The resulting composition of Douglas Fir and Virginia Moss Granite, bathed in light, truly surpassed our dreams.

Brian, over many weeks at our dining table, worked very efficiently, sketching floor plans and visual vignettes with his felt pen and tracing paper. It soon became evident that one of Brian's primary concerns was to have the house sit in repose, and in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

With this, he has succeeded.

Over the years, since completion, our house, like an excellent bottle of wine, has aged and become more beautiful than the day we stepped into it. We attribute all this success to Brian. It has been a wonderful experience working with him.