Standout touches distinguish Amacon’s Juneau
Mary Frances Hill
The Province
Juneau
What: 147 homes, including five townhouses
Where: 4465 Juneau St., at Willingdon, Burnaby
Residence sizes and prices: One- to three-bedrooms ranging from 515 to 1,979 square feet, priced from mid-$500,000; two-bedrooms starting from the $820,000s
Developer and builder: Amacon
Sales centre address: 2287 Willingdon Ave., Burnaby
Sales centre hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat. to Thurs.
In her work on the interiors at Juneau, Amacon’s new residential community in Burnaby’s Brentwood area, designer Louise Noon created a novel way to stand out in a burgeoning urban centre. She embraced the energy that surrounds it — in everything from the young families attracted to the larger suites, to the simple, modernist architecture of the building itself.
“Juneau is derived from the French word meaning ‘young’, so we wanted the interior to be natural and fresh,” says Noon, a principal with False Creek Design Group.
To appeal to homebuyers who prefer a touch of retro style, False Creek Design infused a fresh midcentury-modern flair to the interiors in accents that stand out among a calm, neutral palette. One kitchen’s tall, narrow window allows natural light to stream in while a homeowner gets busy at the food preparation area. Noon chose an unconventional fixture to hang above the rectangular dining room table — a centrepiece that resembles a collection of light globes arranged creatively. The piece satisfies False Creek Design Group’s taste for sculptural contemporary pieces with a hint of vintage flavour.
“Our intent was to deliver on a sculptural approach to the key areas,” Noon says. “Our mandate was to use shapes and textures to create an added level of interest on the high walls. In each room, we used either geometric patterns or a play of shapes, which we feel is an architectural approach to layering the backgrounds.”
Anchored by a transit hub and a busy and growing retail centre, Brentwood has been a magnet for developers for some time. But Juneau stands apart in the booming community, notes Grace Austin, Amacon’s sales and marketing manager.
“One of the biggest differentiators of Juneau is the boutique sense of scale. As a single highrise offering at 23 storeys, it’s a more intimate current offering in Brentwood,” says Austin, referencing the large community of towers and retail that has transformed the neighbourhood.
Homeowners of larger suites will likely be attracted to Amacon’s family-centred approach, which begins with the practical functions of storage and full-sized appliances in the larger homes, she adds.
“We wanted to create interiors of homes that … are highly functional,” Austin adds, referring to the integrated 36-inch wide fridge, full-sized washer and dryer, and custom closet organizers in the master bedroom closet included in each two- and three-bedroom home.
IBI Architects took its inspiration for the building’s exterior design “modernist compositions from Constructivist, Suprematist and de Stijl movements,” says Austin, referring to design styles that took root in the 1920s and 1930s and embraced simplicity and basic components of design. Shapes, geometric design and texture were paramount to the architects and interior designers alike.
“Colours and forms are simplified with the use of charcoal grey and white as the building’s dominant colours,” Austin says. These tones can also be seen in False Creek Design Group’s “Ecru” colour scheme, she notes.
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