CHAPEL-HAUS

2024 |  VANCOUVER, BC  |  COMPLETE​

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This character house forms part of the design lineage that later developed into Longpre Architecture’s Japavarian language. It explores how a new home can carry the emotional depth of an older building, creating a sense of constructed memory, as though the house had been lived in, adapted, and cared for across generations.

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The project began with a unique request. The developer was working with a nearby church, and one of the homes was asked to carry a more ecclesiastical presence in response to that relationship. Rather than treating this as decoration, the design became an opportunity to translate religious and civic memory into a domestic form.

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Inspired by the church across the street, the house brings together steep roof forms, brick masonry, dark grounded cladding, arched openings, layered balconies, and a sheltered front garden to create a home with a quiet spiritual presence. It remains residential in scale, but it carries a sense of ceremony, rootedness, and neighbourhood memory.

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For David Longpre, the project marks an important step in the evolution of a design language that would later become more clearly defined through Longpre Architecture: homes shaped by soul, atmosphere, dignity, and belonging.

 

Project note: Prior professional work by David Longpre, completed while employed at Formwerks Architectural Inc. David’s role was Project Architect and Department Head, MCD Department. Architectural firm: Formwerks Architectural Inc.