Jesse Donaldson, who’s doing Space Cases on Openfile, did a fine treatment on the Vancouver Special:
Despite decades of derision, the legacy of the Vancouver Special remains, both in the renovated homes that still dot the east side—one even won a Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Award for Innovation in Architecture—and in the continued push for greater density in residential areas.
The city has legalized lane cottages, and zoning changes actually reward new dwellings which contain basement suites. After years of being dismissed as a nuisance, and rallied against, Vancouver Specials remain what they were for the families that first built them: necessary.
