About Plaid Fox

Founded in 2014, PlaidFox Studio specializes in residential and commercial design and construction. Fuelled by limitless curiosity, the firm encourages its employees to travel the world in search of great designs that inspire creativity.

The firm’s Vancouver-based office is staffed by 10 employees who produce unique design proposals for their clients, as well as technically-sound architectural drawings and specifications. The firm’s portfolio extends from British Columbia to the Western United States, where they have completed projects in California, as well as in Arizona.

Press distribution: V2com

This is a closer look at the bright corner of the living room adorned with a life-size stone statue illuminated by the surrounding glass walls and ceiling. This also makes the modern lighting stand out along with the yellow armchair with a matching footstool.

This is a look at the navy blue sectional sofa paired with a beautiful black and white coffee table and a black shelf on the back filled with decors.

This is the other end of the sectional sofa. Here you can see that it is paired with a couple of black chairs that match well with the coffee table.

This angle shows the white wall behind the navy blue sectional sofa that is adorned with a couple of black and white wall artwork to pair with the black waist-high cabinet.

This is a close look at the wall artwork behind the sofa from the vantage of the kitchen island beside the living room.

This is the beautiful kitchen beside the living room. Here you can see the kitchen island with a modern waterfall design and a dark brown tone that makes it stand out against the light hardwood flooring.

The kitchen island houses the modern glass-top stove that is topped with a modern vent with a gray hood that matches the cabinetry.

This angle of kitchen shows more of its gray modern cabinetry across from the kitchen island. This is complemented by a bright backsplash that matches the white ceiling.

This is the charming dining area that has a large rectangular wooden dining table paired with black wishbone chairs that match well with the modern black decorative lighting and the navy blue textured and patterned wall on the far side.

This is a closer look at the black shelves behind the sofa of the living room. This acts as a divider between the living room and the simple home office with glass walls and ceiling.

This is a look at the hallway just beyond the black waist-high cabinet of the living room. This area is adorned with black and white wallpaper depicting a desert landscape.

This is the primary bedroom with a gray platform bed that has white sheets. This is complemented by a light wood wall that matches well with the light hardwood flooring.

This is a closer look at the light wood wall behind the headboard of the bed. This is filled with various wall-mounted decorative tribal masks that give character to the simple tones of the bedroom.

This is the primary bathroom with a white freestanding bathtub contrasted by black fixtures and the dark gray walls that match the flooring. Next to the bathtub is the glass-enclosed shower area with the same black fixtures.

The hallway with the desert landscape wallpaper leads to a bathroom with a floating dark wooden vanity paired with a black flooring.

This is a closer look at the bathroom. You can see here that the toilet is placed on the corner beside the floating vanity topped with the wall-mounted mirror that extends from the vanity to the space above the toilet.

This is the other bedroom with a white brick wall behind the cushioned headboard of the bed that has blue sheets and various pillows. This is then adorned with a large leaning mirror on the side.

This is a closer look at the lovely white brick wall behind the dark brown cushioned headboard of the bed paired with a small black bedside table. These are then adorned with a vintage signage mounted on the wall beside the bed.

This is the rooftop patio that has an outdoor dining area. There is also a large L-shaped sectional sofa on the side adorned with multiple potted plants to augment the beautiful sweeping view of the city skyline.

PlaidFox is proud to showcase the remodeling and decorating of a 1,500 square foot penthouse in Vancouver’s historic Gastown district. Completed in April 2018, the project infuses modern minimalist design, with touches of global eclectic flare, into an early 20th-century brick and beam façade.

“We wanted to juxtapose historic industrial and clean modern design, with the latter being the underpinning of everything,” notes Ben Leavitt, Creative Director and Co-owner of the Vancouver-based design firm. “Despite the addition of some eclectic décor, the overwhelming feeling of the space is still minimal and modern.”

An internal focus

Perched atop the historic Terminus Hotel, built in 1901, the penthouse apartment was constructed as a rooftop extension in 2008, forming part of a revitalization project to transform a piece of historic Gastown into a vibrant residential and commercial neighborhood. Bordered by mountains to the north, Vancouver’s downtown skyline to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west, the penthouse’s glass-walled external façade already provided breathtaking vistas and abundant natural lighting to its occupants. Internally, however, the vision for PlaidFox was clear: convert a bland interior into something sharp and personable that would be representative of Gastown’s current vibe.

“Combining the modern with the ancient is a reflection, in some ways, of the home itself,” says Leavitt. “Water Street is currently one of Vancouver’s trendiest design stretches, and our goal was to create a space that embodied both the lifestyle of the client and the character of the neighborhood, both past, and present.”

Building a vision

The PlaidFox approach to every design begins with a heavy focus on profiling, consisting of extensive interviews with clients on a variety of topics. The firm has developed a questionnaire of approximately 65 questions aimed at establishing a clearly defined vision, combining a client’s understanding of design and construction with input from personality tests.

“The various questions and assessments reveal a true personality, as opposed to what might emerge from just a quick conversation,” explains Leavitt. “Once we have that profile, we’re able to build a proposal that is grounded in a clear understanding of the client’s lifestyle, interests, and preferences.”

In the case of the Gastown penthouse, the project was commissioned by a couple with a busy social schedule and a passion for traveling. In profiling the clients individually, the firm was able to establish that one partner harbored a preference for a more global eclectic mix of color and maximalism, while the other leaned towards cool, clean and modern minimalism.

“Rather than emphasizing those stark differences, the challenge of marrying maximalist enthusiasm with minimalist sensibility inspired us to keep things layered and interesting,” notes Leavitt. “We began by carving the spaces down to the basics, then we embarked on a journey to enliven each space with unexpected personality.”

Harmonized juxtaposition

Rooted in the fundamentals of clean, modern minimalism, the finished product features a uniquely eclectic blend of the couple’s combined styles, as well as elements paying homage to the penthouse’s historic setting. In recognition of Gastown’s traditional brick and beam construction, PlaidFox erected a brick wall in the primary bedroom, while its open kitchen concept exudes a modern industrial feel. The dining room is endowed with intricate millwork that also provides a very clean, modern, and fresh impression. In the spacious front room, a life-sized, 800-pound terracotta warrior statue stands guard over a global eclectic space, framed by Joshua Tree National Park wallpaper, African art, and wall-mounted masks. An oversized Argentinian hide rug adds depth to the room and provides a minimalist platform for the addition of other shapes and forms.

“Life is short, so make it chartreuse,” says Leavitt. “In design, bold should always triumph over boring, and inability to take risks only leads to tragic conclusions.”

Trendy, big-box design staples were bypassed in lieu of the genuinely historic and uniquely whimsical, including a custom-made Martha Sturdy coffee table, a bold lounge chair from Bensen’s ‘Park’ collection and a Mobile Chandelier from Andrew Neyer. A black B&B Italia bookcase was selected to showcase a gallery of authentic objects collected and sourced by the clients, including a crocodile skull, canopic jars, a zinc Buddha and a Jonathan Adler vase.

Externally, the project also included a 1,200 square foot open rooftop terrace, featuring unobstructed views of the North Shore mountains, cruise ship traffic and the downtown skyline. With the addition of a built-in BBQ, a large firepit, and abundant vegetation, PlaidFox helped ensure that space would be comfortable and functional for entertaining.

An attentive approach

“Many firms try to draw the client into their strengths, but we focus on getting to where the client is at, whether that means a farmhouse, modern, traditional or eclectic vision,” stresses Leavitt. “Once we understand where the client wants to go, we can take them beyond their expectations within that realm.”