In Vancouver, Canada, Imu Chan Architecture designed the E44 Laneway House for clients with a very specific brief that incorporated their own needs but also the needs of their cat. Tucked into a compact 700 square feet footprint, the home became an exercise in accommodating human and feline lifestyles, exploring how different routines can comfortably coexist under one roof.

Rather than feeling cramped and constrained by its limited space, the house unfolds as a sequence of cleverly layered spaces. Organised around two intersecting volumes, which are joined by a staircase, there is a lower level containing the kitchen and bathroom, and the upper volume that contains a raised sleeping loft on top of the living room below. The floorplan has a purposeful flow to it, with the sperate, functional spaces open to each other, rather than feeling closed off. Storage is smartly tucked into the structure of the house – beneath the stairs and incorporated into custom joinery – which keeps the interior calm and uncluttered. For the cat, its needs are served by an array of integrated ledges, cubby holes and perches placed by the architects throughout the home. 

The most charming moment is found halfway up the stairs, where a discreet slot appears to create a cat-only shortcut between the sleeping loft and the kitchen below – a playful, inventive nod to the shared lives of the home’s inhabitants that captures the spirit of the architect’s design. Discover more projects by Imu Chan Architecture.

Photography © Lucas Inacio