Regina home recognized internationally for architectural design

Regina home wins architectural award WATCH: A residence in Regina has been recognized internationally for its unique creative design. Hallee Mandryk takes us on a tour.

Jane Arthur and her husband David began a unique construction project in 2014. Now, a decade later, their home in Regina's Cathedral neighbourhood has won a title in the Urban House and Villa category at the World Architecture Festival.

"Sort of on a whim, contacted them and said we'd be interested in building a house, partly because David is a craftsman himself. And we thought, well, this would be an interesting craft project if you can call building a house a craft, and that's how we proceeded. We contacted them and it kind of snowballed from there,” Jane explained.

The house was designed by the 5468796 Architecture firm located in Winnipeg. Colin Neufeld, principal architect of 5468796 Architecture expressed why this title is particularly meaningful.

"This is a great project. It's with a really great client, in a particularly sort of unique setting. We are from Winnipeg. We're not from Regina, but we sort of love the Prairies. We feel that the Prairies in Canada can produce world class architecture and world class buildings and people and professionals, and we try to celebrate that," Neufeld said.

This recent title is actually the second one awarded to the Arthur house. In 2020, the home was awarded a similar title in the design category after the original concept for the house was submitted for consideration.

While accolades were not the intention when building the house, Arthur expressed that it is always a good feeling to have hard work recognized.

"It was exciting, and I think it also was quite reaffirming of the choices we made....I can still look around just and say, ‘There's so much that's not done, so much that's not right, so much that should be changed,’ but overall, I think the whole concept of the house has worked very well, and it's a lovely house to live in,” she said.

This was much more than a construction project for Arthur and her husband. The pair call it home, and David acted as the contractor for the project, building all of the furniture within the house.

"We wanted a house that reflected craftsmanship, partly because David is a craftsman, but also because we had access to craftsmanship. We also wanted a house that used mostly natural materials, because there's a feeling, I have that natural materials will age gracefully,” she explained.

“So, we wanted a house that would kind of be a forever house. Like a house that would age over a very long period of time, long after we've left it. So that was that was the rationale."

Another special feature of the house was that it was built with the couple's love of gardening in mind. During the warmer months, the house is surrounded by stunning flowers, particularly tulips.

"That's something that we don't see often in the prairie is not just a house that looks like this, but a garden that is as rich and vibrant as they've created,” Neufeld said.

“The garden and the house really play off of each other and was a unique challenge, slash opportunity, for the project."

It took some time to get the necessary permits in order, thanks to the house being rather unusual. David acted as the contractor throughout the process, and much of the building was done in Winnipeg, and imported to Regina for the final construction. Specifically, the timber frame which makes up the top floor of the house.

"It's got curved walls. Very unusual. It needed craftsman to actually do those walls. They were from Mexico. And obviously that's a culture that knows a lot about using stucco. And so it was a bedroom with beautiful curved walls and lots of layers of interest. It's not a square room. It's a room with shapes, and I suppose I find that it's a real refuge." Arthur said.