In 2017, Dominion Market stood vacant and deteriorating on a prominent corner in Victoria’s Vic West neighbourhood. Rather than replace a familiar piece of the neighbourhood, the project gives the former corner store new life as a contemporary family home while preserving its presence in the streetscape.

The clients had purchased the property with both the decommissioned store and a run-down single-family house. Faced with Victoria’s high housing costs, they proposed “Project 2 for 1”: subdivide and rezone the property into two small residential lots, sell the existing house, and use the proceeds to help finance the conversion of the store into a home for their growing family.

When the original store structure was found to be unsalvageable, its footprint, pitched roof form, and restored retro Pepsi sign were reconstructed rather than erased. Behind this familiar frontage, a contemporary flat-roof addition wraps a secluded courtyard, bringing natural light and a direct connection to the outdoors into the compact plan. North-facing skylights and high street-facing windows bring soft natural light into the vaulted living space while maintaining privacy. Floor-to-ceiling glazing extends the interior into the courtyard, making the approximately 800 sq. ft. home feel significantly larger. The steep site was reshaped with concrete retaining walls to create areas for outdoor living, play, and urban agriculture, while a 120 sq. ft. shed/office further extends the use of the compact property.

The result is a small-footprint family home shaped by the constraints and memory of its site, while keeping a recognizable piece of Vic West’s neighbourhood identity legible in the streetscape.

Photography: René Gauthier, Michelle Proctor, Shea Pollard

Construction: MDRN Built