¼C Modern ✳

The catalog · No. 17

The Trellis

Steel trellis, brick base, greenery climbing the grid on a hill street. 3 bed and 2 bath, 1,310 square feet. Small, honest, tight.

The Trellis design study render
Study No. 17 · design study render

The two faces

Modest to the street, open to the garden.

From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
From the street: a calm, low face. The house saves its glass for the garden.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The garden side opens wide in glass and warm light. The face the family lives with.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.
The way in, sheltered under deep eaves, a lit door at dusk.

The plan

Every square foot, accounted for.

Program3 bed · 2 bath
Floor area1,310 sq ft · 2 storeys
StructureSteel trellis over brick ground floor
RoofFlat, planted trellis
EnvelopeStep Code 5 target · ACH50 ≤ 1.0, blower-door verified
Signaturegreen screen trellis · hill-street entry

Plan drawn to the render. Room dimensions on the drawing; areas sum to the stated floor area. A construction set follows the House No. 1 pipeline.

POOL 19'×6' POOL COURT UP W/D DINING 10'×7' KITCHEN LIVING 18'×13' BATH 2 7'×7' HALL ENTRY 25'-0" 26'-2" TRELLIS BALC. DN BED 1 12'×15' BED 2 10'×11' BED 3 10'×12' BATH 1 6'×8' HALL GROUND · 655 SF UPPER · 655 SF N 0510 FT
The brick ground floor gives living and kitchen a walled pool court at the rear; three bedrooms stack above, with the primary opening onto the planted trellis balcony over the hill street.

The honest number

What it should cost to build.

Site prep + servicesexcavation, utilities to lot line hookups$26,500
Foundationslab or crawlspace, insulated$44,500
Structure + framingpost and beam or conventional, roof structure$71,000
Enveloperoofing, windows + doors, cladding, insulation + air sealing to ACH50 ≤ 1.0$106,000
Mechanical / electrical / plumbingheat pump, HRV, full rough-in + fixtures$79,500
Interior finishesfloors, millwork, kitchen, baths, paint$88,500
GC + contingencysupervision, permits admin, 5% contingency$26,500
Hard cost$442,500

Band $407,000 to $478,000 · $338/sq ft

Cost model v0.1: Okanagan 2026 hard-cost bands from a $/sq ft basis, stated as an estimate, not a quote. Excludes land, design and permit soft costs, and GST. As the House No. 1 build sheet gathers real supplier and trade receipts, receipts replace estimates here, line by line.

Where the money goes further

Small choices that hold the number down.

01Slab-on-grade, no basement

Slab-on-grade, no basement

One pour is the foundation and the finished floor. No basement to dig or to heat.

02One roof, framed simply

One roof, framed simply

A single flat form with deep overhangs. The cheaper roof to build and to keep dry.

03Stock materials, standard sizes

Stock materials, standard sizes

Cedar and fibre-cement in the sizes they ship in. Almost nothing is cut to waste.

Life inside

The rooms this plan is for.

Living room under steel trellis over brick ground floor, a full wall of glass to the outside.
Living room under steel trellis over brick ground floor, a full wall of glass to the outside.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
An honest kitchen: plywood, butcher block, a window on the yard.
A quiet bedroom that opens to the outdoors.
A quiet bedroom that opens to the outdoors.

The details

What you notice up close.

Green screen trellis, up close.
Green screen trellis, up close.
Hill-street entry.
Hill-street entry.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.
Where the roof meets the glass, the light gets in low and long.

Grows when you do

Built small, drawn to expand.

The Trellis is drawn to grow. A slab pad and a framed opening are set at the start, so another bedroom, a studio, or a suite lands on the side already built for it, with no re-doing what is there.

TodayDay one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
Day one: a blank end-wall and a slab pad left ready.
When you need itLater: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
Later: a matching cedar wing on that pad. Same roof, one more room.
← PreviousThe Tower IndexThe catalog Next →The Breezeway

Be first

Signatories get every catalog plan the day it publishes. Free.

Sign the manifesto