Homes

50 Years of WL: #5 All of Our Love for the Infill

Prairie ingenuity makes it work.

By Western Living /

How did Calgary, a city whose population density rivals that of Ulaanbaatar, come up with the infill? The engineering and design feat, wherein a single-family home on a standard 50-foot lot gives way to two freestanding homes on their own 25-foot lots, seems like it should be the purview of packed Kitsilano, not rolling Marda Loop. Perhaps it takes a Prairie ingenuity to make it work (coupled with a Prairie sense of wanting a freestanding abode), but the form is now ubiquitous throughout inner-city Calgary€”a few were even spotted in Edmonton's tony Glenora a few years back. Credit goes to the dreamers€”from a young Jeremy Sturgess (see #12) to Chris Lemke of Alloy Homes€”who reimagined what a single-family house could be, in the unlikeliest of spots.

Credit: Jack Bryan/Western Living June 1982

Architect Jeremy Sturgess designed this infill called the Schafer House, featured in our June 1982 issue.

Credit: Jack Bryan/Western Living June 1982

While individual rooms were small, the space soared in the centre: a colonnade supported the second floor, keeping the space feeling airy.

To read about more great people, designs, homes and innovations that shaped Western Living, click here.

Western Living

Western Living

The editorial team at Western Living loves nothing more than a perfectly designed space, place or thing: and we’re here to tell you about it. Email us your pitches at [email protected].