It’s an apartment lobby unlike any other in the city. But as surreal as the all-white bar scene in the entryway of Vancouver’s Blood Alley building may be, designer Sholto Scruton (of Sholto Design Studio) based the tableau on the neighbourhood’s very real history. “It serves to link the past to the present,” writes Scruton in his submission.

Photo: Ema Peter

Period-correct details like a bar, poker table (complete with chips and cards) and tailored coats fill the space to replicate the saloon that once existed at the 1911 Cordova Street address—but this time, covered in ghostly white paint. Is the horse stepping through a mirror historically accurate? Only Scruton knows for sure.

Photo: Ema Peter

Project: Blood Alley apartment entryway
Designer: Sholto Design Studio
Collaborators: Henriquez Architects (architect), Westbank (developer)
Location: Vancouver

Meet all of the 2024 WL Design 25 winners here.

Stacey McLachlan

Stacey McLachlan

Stacey is a senior editor at Western Living magazine, as well as editor-in-chief of sister publication Vancouver magazine. She loves window shopping on the job: send your home accessories and furniture recommendations over to [email protected]