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Miracle Beach House, 2008Miracle Beach House, 2008Miracle Beach House, 2008
 
Modern West Coast PlacesBo HelliwellMiracle Beach House, 2008
Miracle Beach House, 2008
Miracle Beach House, 2008
Miracle Beach House, 2008

Miracle Beach House, 2008

Category : Blue Sky Architecture, Bo Helliwell, Kim Smith
  • Constructed 2008
  • Location Black Creek, BC
  • Architect Bo Helliwell; Kim Smith
    Helliwell + Smith • Blue Sky Architecture
  • Use Dwelling

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Canada. A place of remarkable and deeply talented Canada. A place of remarkable and deeply talented peoples. Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 . . . . . #canadaday #canadianarchitecture #canadianpublicart #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
Granville Street is for the people. Build it and t Granville Street is for the people. Build it and they will come. Pure joy. [Image] Steve Gairns . . . . . #granvillepedestrianzone #granvillestreet #worldcup2026 #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
Talk about a hidden gem! Blink and you will probab Talk about a hidden gem! Blink and you will probably miss it. We found this because someone in the passenger seat happened to turn their head to look out the window at the exact moment we drove overhead. Guardians of the Pump (2024) by Hanna Benihoud took an otherwise unnoticed piece of urban infrastructure and transformed it into a playful community intervention. Enlisting narrative and design input from local children, Hanna created a series of modern-day, medieval-inspired gargoyles, each “guarding” the pump station and populating a brightly painted mural enveloping the landscape and its structures. Of course, we’ve added this to the League’s Modern Places index! [Images] Steve Gairns . . . . . #publicart #urbaninfrastructure #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
When it opened in 1983, BC Place was said to be th When it opened in 1983, BC Place was said to be the largest air-supported dome in the world, a white teflon roof colloquially referred to as the “marshmallow in bondage.” The day after a grand ceremony, the first event was a victorious Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game against the Seattle Sounders. Designed by Studio Phillips Barratt, BC Place was built to replace the former 1954 Empire Stadium at the PNE, and was constructed in the lead up to Expo 86. On what was then largely industrial lands surrounding False Creek, the stadium was placed in what would, over the following decades, become a densely populated downtown core, seamlessly integrated into Vancouver’s walkable urban fabric, unique among North American stadiums. You might remember entering the building through turnstile doors, critical to supporting 16 large fans in maintaining the air pressure necessary to keep the roof inflated. In the days after the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the stadium closed for a little over a year to undertake the replacement of its iconic roof. The marshmallow was deflated and replaced by what is said to be the largest cable-supported retractable roof of its kind. 36 steel masts now tower over the stadium, holding steel cables that suspend fixed fabric panels over the audience and a retractable portion over the field. The profile of the roof was also heightened to include transparent industrial-strength plastic panels to allow more natural light into the arena and serve as a canvas for a nightly LED light display. Over 43 years, BC Place has seen some stuff – host to Expo 86, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2014 NHL Heritage Classic, a 2007 friendly match between the Whitecaps and LA Galaxy with David Beckham, 8 Grey Cup Championships, and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. It has seen visits from Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles & Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II, and host to The Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, and the final shows of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. This month, it hosts 7 matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. . . . . #bcplace #vanarch #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
West Coasters are unafraid of a little rain – you West Coasters are unafraid of a little rain – you have to be to live here – but while we’re a city of performance fabrics, umbrellas, and tree canopies, we lack critical outdoor public assembly spaces with roof cover. For the past few weeks of the World Cup, we’ve had hot sunny skies conducive to public gathering on the streets and viewing parties in our open plazas. For the rest of the festival, however, it looks like we are in for a much-needed hydration break. So, what happens to our outdoor public gatherings over that time? I guess we’ll find out. If only we had a public open-air plaza with rain (and sun) cover and a capacity to hold thousands. We once did, in a prime waterfront spot along our heavily used seawall, in downtown’s stadium district. It was one of the crown jewels of Expo 86, and one of the few legacy structures of the exposition, but woefully underappreciated for decades after. It’s called the Plaza of Nations and it was a beautiful cultural asset! Now stands only one-half of the original Plaza of Nations/BC Pavilion. Designed by Picek Architects with Waisman Dewar Grout Carter, it was Vancouver’s modern interpretation of Hyde Park’s Crystal Palace. Sitting on the water’s edge and constructed of a simple glass skin over a steel spaceframe, the building allowed the indoors and outdoors to collide while reflecting Vancouver back to itself. The building served as exhibition space, nightclubs, concert and event space, offices, or an impromptu public plaza protected from any type of weather. Lit up at night, it became of beacon of civic joy and celebration. Today, while Vancouver hosts another World Cup match in the rain, or during the scorching hot days of the past few weeks, it would have been a perfect venue for an outdoor viewing party. Cultural and festival infrastructure is critical to the health of cities. We need to protect what we have and strive for more. Half of the Plaza of Nations is still standing, and future development is currently in flux. Perhaps we should reconsider current plans to let it go while we still have the chance! . . . . . #plazaofnations #expo86 #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
In anticipation of Team Canada’s second home game In anticipation of Team Canada’s second home game this afternoon for the FIFA World Cup, we look back to one of the last times Vancouver hosted the world. Canada House was originally purposed as the home of Team Canada during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Designed by Nick Milkovich with Arthur Erickson, the low-lying towers prominently feature on the coastal shoreline as a pair of duelling fish scaled forms set against the rippling foregrounded waters of False Creek. The complex is composed of two buildings flanking the east and west edges of a sunny, central courtyard. The fish scale silhouette is generated by the gentle rotation of each floor upon one another in conjunction with glass and stainless-steel cladding. Since 2010, the complex has served as a residential building with a front row seat to Vancouver’s world stage. Go Canada Go! [Images] Steve Gairns . . . . . #nickmilkovich #arthurerickson #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
When Nelson House was built, architects on Canada' When Nelson House was built, architects on Canada's west coast were only starting to embrace new, modernist ideas. Completed in 1941, Nelson House was built the same year as the renowned B.C. Binning House, recognized as the first modernist house in Vancouver, but with notable differences in their commitment to modernist principles. Commissioned for Richard Nelson, a Norwegian-born entrepreneur and co-founder of Nelson Bros. Fisheries, and his wife Evelyn (Kellie) Nelson, the home was designed by notable architects Robert A.D. Berwick and Charles (Ned) Pratt. By this time early in their careers, both architects had been elevated to Associate at the venerable firm of Sharp & Thompson, but neither had fully yet adopted modernist principles. Rather, they were experimenting with modern ideas, materials, and forms blended with more traditional architectural styles, fitting for a neighbourhood of predominantly Victorian, Craftsman, and Colonial heritage homes. Now published to the League's Modern West Coast Places catalogue. LINK IN BIO [Images] Steve Gairns (2026) . . . . . #modernwestcoastplaces #modernism #modernarchitecture #modernheritage #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
The West Coast Modern League congratulates the rec The West Coast Modern League congratulates the recipients of this year’s Governor General’s Medals in Architecture, awarded by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) and the Canada Council for the Arts. This biennial program recognizes recently completed projects designed by architects from across Canada, celebrating outstanding design in housing, civic spaces, and adaptable infrastructure. This year, 11 projects have been recognized for excellence in design including two projects from Vancouver’s @patkauarchitects. LINK IN BIO [Images] Patkau Architects, Arbour House. James Dow. Patkau Architects, Kiweki Point. Doublespace. @2spacephoto . . . . . #governorgeneralsmedalsinarchitecture #raic #architectureawards #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
In anticipation of Team Canada's first home game t In anticipation of Team Canada's first home game this afternoon, we celebrate a modern icon on Vancouver's skyline, originally designed by Bruno Freschi. Like a lighthouse on the water's edge, this geodesic dome has served as a beacon on the frontlines of civic celebration for the past 40 years. Originally the Expo Centre for the Expo 86 world exposition, the building has been most known over its lifetime as Science World. For the 2010 Olympic Winter Games it served as Sochi House. In everyday life, it sparkles over the water and brings attention, through its programmable nightly light show, to various causes and holidays. Today, it is dressed up as the Trionda in celebration of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Just as important, it reflects the incredible undercurrent of architectural creativity here on Canada's west coast. Can you believe it was originally intended to be temporary? It's too important a structure for that! In architecture as in soccer, Go Canada Go! [Images 1-3] Steve Gairns [Image 4] Courtesy of Bruno Freschi . . . . . #geodesicdome #trionda #modernarchitecture #vancouverarchitecture #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

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Miracle Beach House, 2008Miracle Beach House, 2008Miracle Beach House, 2008