Local submissions among winners in housing design contest

The North Okanagan Housing Design Competition has resulted in eight designs being pre-approved and available for developers, with some of the designs coming from locals.

The Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO), along with the partnering municipalities of Vernon, Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Enderby and Lumby, received 69 entries from across Canada for the contest.

“Communities within the Regional District of North Okanagan launched the competition to reduce barriers for homeowners to add a secondary dwelling on their property by generating pre-approved building plans available for purchase,” Ashley Gregerson, communications officer, said.

“The pre-approvals and low cost for plans will make the building permit process faster, easier and more affordable, saving both time and resources for homeowners and builders.”

A panel of experts selected four one-storey and four two-storey housing designs from the competition as winners, and the plans for those housing developments have now been made available for purchase at $1,000 each.

The floor plans for all the projects are 90m² or less, and are all two-bedroom and one- to two baths, but range in styles from single family homes to row-house to a cube house.

Though the designs came from people across Canada, a majority of the winners were locals.

Vernon’s Alyssa Quiring and Dora Anderson won with their submissions for the ‘Familiar Faces’ and ‘The Sprout’ designs.

Top: The Familiar Faces design by Alyssa Quiring. Bottom: The Sprout design by Dora Anderson. (concept images courtesy of the RDNO)

Kelowna’s Levi Weaver won twice with his ‘The Louise’ and ‘The Francis’ designs.

Levi Weaver’s The Louise (top) and The Francis (bottom) designs. (concept images courtesy of the RDNO)

The ‘Single Storey’ design by Dennis Lowe of Salmon Arm was another winner from this competition.

Dennis Lowe’s Single Storey design (concept image courtesy of the RDNO)

Five other one-floor and two more two-floor housing styles had also been approved through the contest, though the RDNO had not released the details on those designs.

One set of the pre-approved plans and a PDF can be purchased as-is for $1,000, plus GST. Additional copies can be bought after the initial buy for $10 per page. The full building plans can only be viewed in person at the RDNO office.

Though each municipality will need to be consulted for zoning and utility servicing purposes, the pre-approval is intended to ensure the shovels can get in the ground and the houses are built quicker.

Developers wishing to make any modifications or additions to the approved plans will need to contact the design team to discuss changes.

All the concept images and floor plans for the winning designs can be seen at the RDNO website.

As the winners have now been selected, the RDNO is asking the public to vote on their favourite designs. People can visit the RDNO website and vote for their People’s Choice selection until June 26.