Leckie Studio-designed Penthouse Inside Bjarke Ingels’ Vancouver House.

Rising up from downtown Vancouver is the new Vancouver House tower designed by Bjarke Ingles. The penthouse interior, found in this 59-storey tower, was recently fitted out by Leckie Studio to reflect the owner’s love for travel, art and natural artefacts. Positioned on the tower’s northwest side, the two-storey penthouse apartment celebrates the expansive views of the English Bay and the North Shore Mountains.

Leckie Studio weaves a layered, balanced environment that celebrates the inside and outside with an organic and refined element through an iterative design process, responding to the client’s lifestyle.

Divided into public and private spaces, the penthouses’ first floor houses the living, dining, kitchen and office area. It is a warm space for socialising and entertainment, the result of maximising natural light and views. Providing the ideal work-from-home setting, when the sun sets, the spaces on the first floor are lit aglow by the city lights.

An internal courtyard, vertical garden, the penthouse’s focal point, extends through the entire penthouse up to the roof terrace. Filled with luscious vegetation and considered as a microcosm of the Pacific Northwest rainforest, a full-size red cedar tree grounds the interiors and creates a soft radiance for the stairs. “The ecosystem surrounding this tree will be sustained long term by a ‘nurse’ log, which replenishes the space with nutrients from decay, ” explains the design team.

Featuring a copper-laced firefly-like Bocci lighting installation running along the stairwell, the prominent lighting fixture is adorned with 122 multicoloured glass bulbs that look like vines, bringing the outside in with pink, orange, amber, green and blue hues.

The master suite is flooded with morning light, expansive views of the surrounding water on the second floor. Beyond that, the roof deck can be accessed by a personal elevator and expands the social and public areas of the penthouse, ideal for inviting friends and family over. Custom designed stainless steel hot tub, outdoor shower, garden, and kitchenette makes it a highly hospitable and open-air leisure area.

Leckie Studio opted for a restrained material palette and earthy elements. American black walnut is used in the living, kitchen, bath areas and stair treads, and these are complemented with blackened steel accents. Travertine was used for the floors and custom-made bathroom sinks, with radiant underheating.

Leckie Studio’s penthouse at Vancouver house is a far departure from the concept of Vancouver House tower by BIG. Clearly an entertainer’s home, the open atrium and rainforest bring life into the penthouse’s subdued palette.

Related: Crane in the Sky Sydney Penthouse by YSG Studio.

[Images courtesy of Leckie Studio. Photography by Conrad Brown.]