Arthur Erickson Memorial Award 2026: Studio Balcaen Kwan

When it comes to celebrating architecture, our society often fixates on the bold and brash: the over-the-top designs screaming for attention. But Vancouver’s Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design offers a gentle rebuttal to the assumption that architecture needs to be loud, oversized or technologically extravagant to be impactful. Bettina Balcaen and Tillie Kwan founded their practice in 2018 with a shared belief in “quiet architecture”: an understanding that work driven by context, craftsmanship and the human experience is what really shapes meaningful environments.

It’s this philosophy of intention and focus that guides their small (by choice) studio, our 2026 winner of the Arthur Erickson Memorial Award for an Emerging Architect. Kwan and Balcaen met while working for acclaimed BattersbyHowat Architects—their employer for years before the opportunity to do a side project, a laneway house for a mutual friend, inspired them to consider striking out on their own. “It was just really enjoyable,” recalls Balcaen.

For both architects, a love for the built form emerged early on. Kwan grew up hanging out in Gastown, admiring historic buildings and developing a loose understanding from her parents’ architect friends about what a career in design could be. “I thought it was like, draw all day, come up with amazing ideas,” she says. “But then I went to architecture school and realized there was a lot more to it—in a great way.” She fell in love with the process of working with trades and fabricators. “It’s so great to learn from other people about how things come together, whether it’s millwork or metalwork.”

As Kwan was being dazzled by Gastown’s Dominion Building, over in Germany, a teenage Balcaen was busy considering a career in science. A high-school practicum in a lab came about while her parents were building a house—but when she found herself bored by the lab and invigorated by meetings with the architects, the design work her parents were undertaking inspired a change of plans. “I wanted a job that had challenges, and is never the same, and the course of the design process and construction process was super interesting. It was artistic but also had a scientific component,” Balcaen says. She made a last-minute switch to architecture school in her university application and never looked back. “I don’t regret it,” she laughs.

Discovery Island Family Retreat. Photo by Janis Nicolay.

Now, eight years into Studio Balcaen Kwan, the duo is still having a great time—and producing great work in the process. “There is a level of sophistication in Studio Balcaen Kwan’s work that stands out,” writes judge Kelley Buffey of Akb Architects. “Their interest in how a space feels, and making that as much of a priority as how it looks, resonates.”

Though Balcaen and Kwan do bring on select additional team members as projects require and work closely with trusted local tradespeople, the biggest collaborators on each home are typically the clients themselves. Early conversations with homeowners focus on how they live—daily routines, rituals and long-term aspirations. But the duo doesn’t just listen: they watch. “We have a consistent way of paying attention: How do people move through space?” says Kwan. “Where does light enter? How do rooms change over the course of a day and across seasons?”

Balcaen received her master’s in architecture and urban planning from the Technical University Darmstadt in Germany; Kwan holds a master of architecture from the University of British Columbia—but, for both members of the team, that technical expertise and education is deeply enhanced by intuition. This approach is easily detected, no matter the typology of project, and with Studio BK, that could truly be anything, from a coastal retreat to a tight urban infill.

Their Discovery Island Family Retreat is a standout example: three low-profile cabins, arranged around a central courtyard, create a multigenerational ensemble that treads lightly on its forested site. With on-site milled cedar, refined detailing and passive environmental strategies, it achieves a quiet dialogue between architecture and the West Coast wilderness.

HIGH PERFORMERS: Sustainability is baked into every step of Studio Balcaen Kwan’s work, from massing and orientation to envelope design and material choice. Their multigenerational and Net Zero residential projects, like the Discovery Island Family Retreat shown here, explore how low-carbon, high-performance buildings can be realized within conventional construction. Photo by Janis Nicolay.

Over in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood, the studio’s Kits Point I Residence demonstrates a thoughtful use of a compact lot—a vertical spatial sequence and central skylit stair flood the home with light while preserving privacy and neighbourhood scale. Their Trout Lake Duplex on the east side of the city, meanwhile, is a collaboration with a contractor friend who is also the client: the opportunity to offer a model of gentle density, reinterpreting Vancouver’s historic gabled vernacular through contemporary proportion, textured fibre-cement shingles and generous daylighting.

LET THE LIGHT IN: Completed in 2021, the two-and-a-half-storey Kits Point I home was designed for a young family in Vancouver’s historic Kitsilano Point neighbourhood. Carefully placed openings frame views toward the surrounding landscape—from intimate garden outlooks to distant views of Vancouver’s mountains and the mature street treescape. Photo by Ema Peter.

The homes are just a small sample of a growing portfolio, one in which Balcaen and Kwan continually display exceptional material refinement, environmental responsibility and contextual sensitivity—what judge Alfred Waugh, principal of Formline Architecture + Urbanism, calls “hallmarks of thoughtful, enduring architecture.” In fact, he declares Studio BK to be “one of Vancouver’s most promising young practices… with a mature, nuanced sensibility that seamlessly bridges landscape, context and domestic life across scales.”

Kits Point I Residence. Photo by Ema Peter.

So, yes, Studio Balcaen Kwan may call itself quiet, and the homes that Balcaen and Kwan are producing may be experienced and enjoyed by only a few lucky people. But don’t mistake “quiet” for “silent.” This is work that has something to say.

Bettina Balcaen and Tillie Kwan on Design

Bettina Balcaen and Tillie Kwan of Studio Balcaen Kwan. Photo by Evaan Kheraj.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be doing?

BB: I was always drawn to science and problem-solving, so I could have seen myself pursuing a career in research. I even interned at a pharmaceutical company, but some of the testing work made me realize the lab wasn’t quite the right fit for me.

What is the most perfectly designed object?

Arne Jacobsen’s Stelton teapot. Image courtesy of Arne Jacobsen Design.

TK: The Stelton teapot by Arne Jacobsen. The one we use at home was purchased by my mother-in-law on a trip to England in the 1980s.

The USM Haller modular furniture system. Image courtesy of USM.

BB: One of my favourites is the USM Haller modular furniture system. I like how durable, adaptable and timeless it is. It has been around since the 1960s and still feels just as relevant today.

What do people often get wrong about design?

TK: People often equate design with decoration and focus only on aesthetics. In reality, most design work is a collaborative problem-solving process and how something looks should never diminish usability and functionality.

Bettina and Tillie’s Local Favourites

For Breakfast

BB: Flourist reminds me of my student days in Germany, where freshly milled flour and great bread were part of everyday life. I love that you can see the working flour mill from the café, then browse the shelf with cookbooks while enjoying breakfast.

TK: Helen’s Grill: this old-school diner has been around for over 60 years and my kids love the booths and individual jukeboxes.

For Lunch

BB: Harvest Community Foods. The first time I went, I was disappointed they didn’t make sandwiches. A few minutes later, I’d completely forgotten about that. My favourite dish is the rice noodles with almond-hazelnut sauce and charred chili greens—one of those meals I find myself craving on a grey, rainy day.

For Local Shopping

TK: Welks General Store is wonderfully curated and sells everything you need from housewares and health and beauty products to food and drink items, linen, toys, books and stationery.