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Page 6 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY February 1998 By: Anne Vernon PHOTO: WEST VANCOUVER PLANNING DEPT. FEATURE PRESENTATION REPORT West Vancouver’s Award Winning Houses Joel Lawson, Assistant Planner for the Municipality of West Vancouver, came to share his knowledge of many of our world-famous West Vancouver architects and designers, and the buildings they have given us, with our members at the Historical Society’s November General Meeting in the West Vancouver Senior Activity Centre. His presentation was well received by the largest turnout of members and visitors that we have have had out to our General Meeting in some time. Their appreciation was evident from the attentive reception and the number of questions from the floor. (It was unfortuate that many listeners could not hear the questions directed at Joel, again pointing out our need for a portable microphone that could be circulated to speakers from the floor.) Architecture is in the news this winter, mainly due to the fascinating exhibition called The New Spirit which was on display at the Vancouver Art Gallery during December and January. Here in the Lower Mainland we have been blessed by the fact that many outstanding world-famous architects and designers - Erickson, Berwick, Vm Norman, Hollingsworth, Thornton, Pratt and Downs to name only a few - lived among us, some of them in West Vancouver. These men, together with numerous others, were responsible for many of our ^est buildings and were forerunners in the new, modem approach to architecture which followed the population explosion during the late forties. In that era, and through the fifties and sixties, we in West Vancouver experienced exciting times where a new style came into being, firstly for local consumption, then latterly to become known throughout the world as the West Coast Style. Mr. Lawson showed slides of a few of these houses which are mostly in a well preserved state and in careful, loving hands. Interestingly enough it is now a “plus” to mention that a house is a heritage listed building when it is put onto the market - not so long ago an old house was hard to sell. Times are surely changing! The West Coast design arose out of various needs - the houses had to fit into the new social demands being made, suit the climate and the topography. Buildings designed in this style had spare, strong lines and were planned to fit into the landscape. Much use was made of beautiful woods (available to us at that time) and large amounts of glass which brought the wonderful views of surrounding water and mountains right into the house. Designs had to fit the lifestyles and needs of the new PHOTO: GORDON MONTGOMERY W m Binning Residence, B.C. Binning, Designer Smith House, Arthur Erickson, Architect owners and great attention was paid to the landscaping of the gardens. The end result was that the houses “belonged” to the landscape and vice versa. Over the years many West Vancouver homes have won design awards. One of the most famous is the house which Arthur Erickson designed for Gordon and Marion Smith in 1966 and completed in 1967. Situated close to Lighthouse Park, but invisible from the road, Erickson took advantage of the hillside situation and designed seven “layers” of glassed-in space overlooking the water. The house has appeared in many magazines throughout the world and, of course, has won several prized awards. Nowadays, because of new government regulations, it would not be possible to build such a creation because of local building regulations. One point which Mr. Lawson made strongly is that our heritage buildings are not protected in any way. They can be built on or even demolished and municipalities are unable to do anything to prevent such actions. West Vancouver, however, is trying to find some way of overcoming this unfortunate state of affairs. Let us hope they can succeed. One of the ways heritage buildings are being brought into the public’s eye is the aimual West Vancouver Heritage Achievement Awards, presented to owners who carry out sympathetic maintenance on their heritage buildings. These awards are made in February of each year and are presented in the West Vmcouver Museum & Archives at Gertrude Lawson House. It is up to us, the public, to put forward names of people we feel merit such an award. Joel Lawson would love to hear from you if you have anyone in mind.