Keating Heights - A townhouse development designed for durability — spaces built to evolve with the people living in them.
The brief wasn't to produce a standard starter home. It was to challenge what that typology is allowed to be. Starter homes have become consumable properties — designed for short occupation, minimal adaptation, and eventual disposal. The project set out to design against that.
Working within and against current zoning constraints, the six units are organised to maximise footprint and deliver durable, adaptable spaces. Resilience is a structural principle rather than an aesthetic overlay. Each unit is sized and configured to support extended occupation across different life stages — a home for a first-time buyer, then for a growing family, then for someone downsizing again — without requiring the property to be replaced along the way.
The result is a small development that asks a larger question about what starter housing should mean. Not consumable. Not disposable. Built to be lived in for a long time.
Location: Central Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
Typology: Residential development, new build
Programme: Six townhouse units
Built area: Approx. 14,060 sq.ft. / 1,305 sq.m. total
Services: Architectural design, construction drawings, Development Permit application
Status: Development Permit stage
Ground floor
A two-car garage anchors the ground floor, alongside a bathroom, storage, and a parlour flexible enough to serve as an additional bedroom. The configuration makes the most of the available footprint while keeping the entry level practical and adaptable.
First floor
The first floor is a single open volume — living room and kitchen running the full depth of the unit, with a powder room integrated without interrupting the plan. A balcony at the rear extends the living space and provides outdoor access directly from the main social area.
Second floor
The sleeping quarters occupy the full second floor, divided between a master suite with ensuite bathroom and two additional bedrooms served by a shared bathroom. A laundry room sized for a stacked unit completes the level — practical, out of the way, and where it needs to be.
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