From Marpole east through Sunset, Victoria-Fraserview and Killarney, South Vancouver has more post-war and 1980s housing on larger lots than the city core, and the kitchens reflect that — often 180 to 300 sq ft, frequently the centre of a household that spans generations.
It is also where we build the most secondary cooking spaces. A spice kitchen or wok kitchen off the main room is a genuinely different design problem from a butler’s pantry, and getting the ventilation right is most of it.
Designing a spice kitchen or wok kitchen
A spice or wok kitchen is a separate, enclosed cooking space with its own high-output ventilation, adjacent to the main kitchen. The design priorities are containment and extraction: a door that closes, a hood sized to the cooking, and surfaces that clean easily.
The ventilation is the part that decides whether it works. High-heat wok cooking produces far more aerosolised oil than western cooking, and a standard 400 CFM hood does not deal with it. We typically specify 900 to 1,200 CFM ducted directly outside, with make-up air where the BC Building Code requires it — above roughly 400 CFM, a hood that powerful will depressurise a house and can backdraft other fuel-burning appliances.
The rest follows: full-height tile or stone on the walls rather than paint, a stainless or porcelain counter behind the burner, a door with a proper seal, and flooring that takes oil without staining.
Budget $18,000 to $40,000 for a spice kitchen depending on size and ventilation, on top of the main kitchen.
Kitchens for multi-generational households
The recurring brief in South Vancouver is a kitchen that works when three generations cook in it. Practically that means a second sink, two prep zones with 900 mm of clear counter each, and circulation that lets two people pass without negotiating.
- 1,200 mm minimum between opposing runs — the two-cook clearance, not the one-cook one
- A second prep sink, usually in the island, to separate washing from prep
- Two dishwashers, or one plus a drawer dishwasher, in households that cook daily for many
- Counter heights considered — a run at 850 mm suits shorter cooks better than the standard 900 mm
- Seating at a peninsula rather than in the working aisle
- Storage at reachable heights: deep drawers rather than high shelves
The Fraser corridor and what is under the floor
The ground closer to the Fraser is softer and the water table is higher than on the ridge, and a number of homes in Marpole and along the south slope sit on fill. For a kitchen this shows up as floors that have settled unevenly — a fall of 20 to 40 mm across a room is not unusual.
That matters because cabinetry hangs from a level datum, not from the floor, and a significant fall has to be either absorbed in the toe kick or corrected by levelling the subfloor at $1,200 to $5,000. We laser-check it at the measure and put it in the quote.
Typical projects here
| Project type | Typical scope | Cost (CAD) |
|---|---|---|
| Main kitchen, 1980s house | Full renovation, layout kept, island added | $45,000 – $75,000 |
| Main kitchen plus spice kitchen | Both spaces, high-output ventilation | $65,000 – $110,000 |
| Suite kitchen | Full replacement, durable specification | $12,000 – $25,000 |
| Counters and backsplash only | Quartz plus tile, cabinets kept | $6,000 – $13,000 |
