JUN STUDIO

Jun Studio brings a little Tulum-meets-Florence to South Granville. Natural materials, handcrafted details and a biophilic approach transform this beauty salon into a warm, sculptural escape that feels equal parts relaxed and refined.

The

Challenge

Built in 1978, this boxy home had great bones and huge potential. Our clients—a sophisticated family with two young boys—wanted a vibrant, contemporary space packed with color and personality, far from a generic cookie-cutter house.

Unlocking that potential took resilience. Before construction even started, we spent over a year navigating the Board of Variance to resolve permit issues from an unpermitted past renovation and missing city records. Mid-build, COVID hit, driving material costs up by 30% and tangling supply chains.

Through constant budget recalibration and smart design edits on the fly, we protected the vision every step of the way—turning major bureaucratic and logisitical headaches into a distinct, character-filled family home.

Jun Studio was our client's first business, which meant there was plenty of excitement—and, naturally, a few realities to contend with.

She had a clear vision for creating an elevated beauty space that felt different from the typical salon experience, but she was also working with a tight budget and an even tighter timeline. The challenge was figuring out where to invest, where to be strategic and how to create a space that felt distinctive without requiring an unlimited budget to get there.

There was also a lot more happening inside the space than a typical lash studio.

Jun needed to accommodate lash and brow services while also functioning as a space for bridal and special-event makeup application and event hair styling. Each service came with its own set of practical requirements—from professional lighting and large mirrors to work surfaces, storage and enough room for both clients and artists to move comfortably.

The makeup and hair area presented its own little puzzle. It needed to feel bright and spacious, with large mirrors and plenty of light for detailed makeup and hair work, but the footprint was limited. We also needed a substantial amount of storage for products and equipment, without permanently filling the room with cabinetry. The solution needed to move and adapt depending on what was happening in the space.

In other words, this wasn't a one-trick pony.

We needed to create distinct areas that supported multiple services while still making the salon feel like one cohesive environment. The different functions couldn't compete with one another or leave the space feeling like a collection of unrelated stations.

The salon is located in Vancouver's South Granville neighbourhood, with oversized southwest-facing windows that bring an incredible amount of natural light into the space. That was a major asset, but it also meant the design needed to work with the changing light throughout the day and still feel intentional once the sun went down.

Most importantly, this couldn't just be a pretty place to get a service.

As a new business, the space needed to create an experience people remembered. It needed to feel elevated enough to establish Jun as a destination while remaining warm and comfortable enough that clients wanted to stay awhile—and, ideally, come back.

So we had to make the budget work hard.

We approached Mink as more than a commercial interior. The goal was to create a fully immersive environment where the operational requirements of a busy beauty business were woven into something that felt closer to an art installation.

The

Process

In its place, we introduced dramatically pitched scissor trusses that created 16-foot vaulted ceilings across the upper floor. It completely changed the game, bringing in more light, creating significantly more volume and giving us the opportunity to introduce a full wall of glazing at the back of the house.

We then flipped the floor plan. The kitchen, dining room, living room, office and powder room moved upstairs to take full advantage of the new vaulted ceiling and abundant natural light, while the three bedrooms, bathrooms, study and kids' play area stayed downstairs. This wasn't simply a matter of moving rooms around; the entire house was reorganized around how the family would actually live in it.

At the back of the house, we designed a floor-to-ceiling wall of glass with oversized sliding doors that opens the upper level directly onto the existing deck. Making that happen required serious engineering to support the new roof structure and withstand the significant wind exposure from the lane.

At the front corner, we pushed things even further. A large LVL structure allowed us to cantilever the corner of the house and install a seamless wraparound window. We met with more than 15 companies before finding one willing to take on the challenge. The result was worth the persistence:

The first move was to get rid of the original flat roof.

from inside, the window gives the family uninterrupted views of the neighbourhood and North Shore mountains, while from the street it gives the home a beautifully clean, reflective quality.

The interior concept became what we called “sophisti-quirk.” Our clients were sophisticated but playful, and we wanted the house to feel the same way. The architecture is clean and considered, but then you turn a corner and something unexpected happens.

The kitchen is clad in a custom terracotta-coloured laminate that brings a surprisingly calm warmth to the space. Honed quartz keeps the surrounding surfaces quiet while dramatic blue quartzite wraps the hood and continues onto the sculptural island leg. Then there's the piano. We found and restored a vintage citron piano and let it become a full-blown colour moment in the heart of the home. It's bright, slightly ridiculous and completely perfect.

The most unconventional move happens between floors. We introduced suspended netted platforms that function as light wells, play spaces and visual connections between the levels. They're part architectural intervention, part playground and part conversation starter. Some guests immediately want to climb onto them; others absolutely do not. Either way, nobody forgets them.

We flipped the layout and introduced scissor trusses to create 16-foot vaulted upstairs ceilings, moving the main living spaces to the upper level to maximize natural light. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall opens directly onto the back deck, while a cantilevered corner features a seamless wraparound window framing views of the North Shore mountains.

The interior embodies a "sophisti-quirk" concept—pairing clean architecture with playful, unexpected elements. Terracotta laminate and dramatic blue quartzite in the kitchen are anchored by a restored, bright citron vintage piano in the heart of the home.

Connecting the levels, suspended netted platforms act as both light wells and indoor playgrounds, turning the space between floors into an unforgettable architectural statement.

Underneath, cork flooring gives the kids a soft place to land and brings warmth to the lower level. It's also a particularly practical material for family life—comfortable underfoot, naturally insulating and far more forgiving than a hard floor when someone inevitably drops something. Custom millwork was another major part of the transformation.

On the lower level, practical cork flooring offers soft warmth underfoot for family life. Custom millwork integrates seamlessly into the architecture to define circulation and storage, while salvaged Douglas fir framing was reincorporated throughout the build to honor the home's history.

The interior palette pairs Pacific Northwest staples—white oak, concrete, and natural stone—with bold pops of color so the space feels sophisticated, not beige. Outside, matte black stucco, shou sugi ban cedar, and hand-milled soffits with integrated lighting give the home a striking, contemporary West Coast presence.

Throughout the house, we designed and built cabinetry, storage and architectural elements specifically for the new floor plan rather than trying to make off-the-shelf pieces work around it. This allowed the millwork to become part of the architecture itself—defining circulation, creating storage and giving each room a clear sense of purpose.

We also made a conscious effort to reuse what we could. A significant amount of the original Douglas fir framing was salvaged and reincorporated into the rebuilt structure. It reduced waste, reduced the environmental impact of the renovation and allowed a piece of the original house to literally become part of its next life.

The rest of the material palette leans heavily into the Pacific Northwest: white oak, Douglas fir, cork, concrete, natural stone and ceramic tile. Then we interrupted all that restraint with carefully placed hits of colour. Because a house can be sophisticated without being beige.

Outside, matte black stucco, shou sugi ban cedar and blackened hot-rolled steel give the home a strong monochromatic presence. Our team milled the solid cedar soffits by hand into narrow individual pieces, with integrated lighting washing the façade at night and emphasizing the shifts in texture. The result feels contemporary and distinctly West Coast—but not like it came straight out of a catalogue titled Pacific Northwest House.

The Solution

Archē is a pretty good argument for not judging a Vancouver Special by its cover.

What started as a dated, uninhabitable house became a completely reworked family home with vaulted ceilings, expansive glazing, unexpected architectural interventions and a healthy dose of colour and personality. But the goal was never to make it flashy for the sake of being flashy. Every big move had a job.

What emerged is a home that feels architectural but comfortable, sophisticated but playful, and contemporary without being tied to a particular trend. It is very much a family home—just one with a little more personality than most.

We call that sophisti-quirk.