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NewsArticleB.C. landscape architect Don Vaughan designed spaces that ‘belonged to the people’

B.C. landscape architect Don Vaughan designed spaces that ‘belonged to the people’

Category : Article

Date : February 25, 2026

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Meet Alexander Suvajac. Alexander joins the League

Meet Alexander Suvajac. Alexander joins the League on May 2nd at Design Victoria, sharing with us his latest works.

Alexander Suvajac is a landscape designer with a focus on rural retreats, wellness spaces, contemporary urban gardens, artist retreats, and restorative gardens. With respect and intention, the work seeks to create serene spaces that complement the outward expression of the land. Informed by new perspectives, the studio’s work and focus have developed to emphasize creating atmospheres that evoke a greater sense of well-being. The projects offer quiet confidence and respect for the sensitive, subtle, and energetic qualities space creates. The landscape design practice values a listening and response to the poetry of the landscape instilled over years of experience.

MAY 2 • 2026 | 10:30AM • 12:00PM
GABRIEL ROSS | 1319 GOVERNMENT ST | VICTORIA BC
DOORS 10:30AM | TALK 11:00AM

LINK IN BIO TO REGISTER

The League is grateful for the partnership and generous support of Gabriel Ross and Design Victoria Festival.

@wcm_league
@designyyj
@gabrielrossshop
@bidgoodco
@alexandersuvajac
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#wcmlontheboards #designvictoria2026 #designyyj2026 #interiordesign #moderninteriors #landscapedesign #modernlandscapes #designtalk #designevent #designfestival #victoria #britishcolumbia #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

Meet Kyla Bidgood, sharing her work with us during

Meet Kyla Bidgood, sharing her work with us during our upcoming 'On the Boards' event at Design Victoria.

Kyla Bidgood is a Registered Interior Designer and Creative Director of the award-winning design studio Bidgood. Bidgood creates spaces that blur the lines between design eras and styles. Their interiors embrace warmth, texture, and rich materials that are both thoroughly functional and artistically uplifting. Bidgood is dedicated to cultivating a feeling of joy in every space they touch. Anchored in thoughtful materiality and tactile experiences, their interiors are curated and considered.

MAY 2 • 2026 | 10:30AM • 12:00PM
GABRIEL ROSS | 1319 GOVERNMENT ST | VICTORIA BC
DOORS 10:30AM | TALK 11:00AM

LINK IN BIO TO REGISTER

The League is grateful for the partnership and generous support of Gabriel Ross and Design Victoria Festival.

[Images] Mary McNeill-Knowles @mmk_creative

@wcm_league
@designyyj
@gabrielrossshop
@bidgoodco
@alexandersuvajac
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#wcmlontheboards #designvictoria2026 #designyyj2026 #interiordesign #moderninteriors #landscapedesign #modernlandscapes #designtalk #designevent #designfestival #victoria #britishcolumbia #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

In a little over a month, the League welcomes you

In a little over a month, the League welcomes you into a house that holds a prominent place in the cultural milieu of Vancouver’s design scene. Originally built for a couple who made waves within their respective disciplines—Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Canada’s most celebrated landscape architect, and Peter Oberlander, an architect and founding Director of the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning and UBC Centre for Human Settlements—this house was lovingly made a home by them over decades. Today, under the stewardship of new owners, this remarkable piece of modernist architecture has been devotedly revived, ensuring its longevity while setting the stage for a new family to make it a home.

The League invites you to join us to share in a preview of the soon-to-be-completed renewal of the house and garden, and to hear from the designers, Tony Robins and Ryan Donohoe, on the process of tackling its revival.

Limited spaces remain. Get your tickets today!

LINK IN BIO

Oberlander Salon is a fundraising effort of the West Coast Modern League, a volunteer-based non-profit society dedicated to the promotion and celebration of modern architecture and design on Canada’s west coast. All funds raised from the event will support the League’s ongoing public programs and initiatives.

[Images] Pre-Renovation. Steve Gairns (2023).
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#oberlandersalon #barrydowns #corneliahahnoberlander #peteroberlander #aarobinsarchitect #donohoelivinglandscapes #westcoastmodern #bauhaus #modernlandscapes #modernarchitecture #iconichouses #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

Melding the house with its Vancouver Island site w

Melding the house with its Vancouver Island site was a primary objective of this 2004 design by Bill Pechet and Stephanie Robb. Taking on a U-shaped plan, turning and weaving through a landscape of Garry Oak trees, grasses, and bedrock hillocks, the home holds in reverence the seasonal shifts of time and light, and immersively folds the daily cycles of nature into the architecture.

Get your tickets today for a stellar program of de

Get your tickets today for a stellar program of design events happening across Design Victoria.

This signature 4-day festival celebrates Victoria’s growing design community–from architecture and interiors to fashion, graphic design, furniture, product design, ceramics, and more. Design Victoria transforms the city into a celebration of creativity and design where visitors can explore studios not normally open to the public, discover the stories behind local design businesses, and experience the ideas shaping Victoria’s creative future. From exhibitions to talks, workshops, tours, films, and socials, there’s much to come and explore!

The League is a proud community partner of Design Victoria. On May 2nd, with Gabriel Ross, the League presents 'On the Boards' with interior designer Kyla Bidgood and landscape designer Alexander Suvajac. Don't miss it!

DESIGN VICTORIA
2026 APRIL 30–MAY 3

LINK IN BIO

@designyyj
@wcm_league
@gabrielrossshop
@bidgoodco
@alexandersuvajac

Experimental architecture on the North Shore. The

Experimental architecture on the North Shore. The 1974 Culhane House, among others Roger Kemble designed during his “coloured boxes” era, explored the use of plywood as both a sheathing membrane and structural stressed skin, coated in a neoprene hypalon sealer, and finished in a vibrant colour palette.

[Image] Courtesy of the Kemble Estate

It's almost that time of year when the city's foun

It's almost that time of year when the city's fountains are re-animated in anticipation of a hot summer. Whether intended as sculpture or a passive urban temperature regulator, these fountains connect us to natural elements and a sense of respite within the urban hardscape.

Completed in 1980 as part of a high-rise development, Don Vaughan conceptualized a treed plaza with cascading rapids flowing along the downward slope of the street edge. As the roaring "river" runs into the plaza, the grade sinks below the plane of the street to create a visual and audible buffer from the city – a place of urban respite. Inspired by Lawrence Halprin's Lovejoy Fountain in Portland and the Millicoma River in Coos County, where he raised, Don sought to reinterpret natural settings with architectural forms evocative of the west coast.

Link in bio for MODERN PLACES, the League's ongoing survey of modern west coast buildings and projects.
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#donvaughan #landscapearchitecture #modernlandscapes #westcoastmodern #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

Constructed in 1970, this building was purpose-bui

Constructed in 1970, this building was purpose-built to house the studios of the illustrious architectural partnership Erickson/Massey Architects.

The original design took on the form of a simple, rectangular box with few windows punched into its facade, and a roof structure pulled back from the exterior walls to allow natural light to illuminate the interior and evoke a sense of spatial infinity. The main interior space, a two-storey volume of bustling activity, featured four large rough-sawn tree-form columns supporting a wood roof.

In late 2025, a rezoning application was filed on the property to make way for a 16-storey hotel development.

LINK IN BIO

If you worked in this building, as so many did, please share with us your stories. Email us at league@westcoastmodern.org.
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#ericksonmasseyarchitects #arthurerickson #geoffreymassey #westcoastmodern #iconicbuildings #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

📢 On May 2nd, join the West Coast Modern League, w

📢 On May 2nd, join the West Coast Modern League, with Gabriel Ross, at the Design Victoria Festival for "On the Boards" with Victoria-based interior designer Kyla Bidgood and Salt Spring Island-based landscape designer Alexander Suvajac. Each will share with us their exciting new works and research.

LINK IN BIO TO REGISTER

Kyla Bidgood is the Creative Director of the award-winning design studio Bidgood. Bidgood creates spaces that blur the lines between design eras and styles. Their interiors embrace warmth, texture, and rich materials that are both thoroughly functional and artistically uplifting.

Alexander Suvajac focuses on rural retreats, wellness spaces, contemporary urban gardens, artist retreats, and restorative gardens. With respect and intention, his work seeks to create serene spaces that complement the outward expression of the land. Inform by new perspectives, the studio's work and focus have developed to emphasize creating atmospheres that evoke a greater sense of well-being.

MAY 2 • 2026 | 10:30AM • 12:00PM
GABRIEL ROSS | 1319 GOVERNMENT ST | VICTORIA BC
DOORS 10:30AM | TALK 11:00AM
FREE EVENT WITH REGISTRATION

The League is grateful for the partnership and generous support of Gabriel Ross and Design Victoria Festival.

@wcm_league
@designyyj
@gabrielrossshop
@bidgoodco
@alexandersuvajac

2025/26 Partners & Supporters

The West Coast Modern League is based on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples – Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
© 2013-2026 West Coast Modern League. All rights reserved.

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