Refined refuge in an urban landscape

April 1, 2019

Originally published in: Metro Spaces February 2019

With an expansive green space serving as the backdrop for Intracorp Homes’ Maywood on the Park tower, the project’s interior design firm looked to its surroundings for inspiration. The result? An interior design scheme that reflects nature and the local vicinity’s current transition.

“While this development is very centrally located in Burnaby, it’s on a park, which is coveted,” says Adele Pransky, senior associate at CHIL Interior Design of the Metrotown location. “I also looked at how Burnaby is going through a transition from low-rise building and single-family homes and thought of Maywood on the Park as being a refuge in an urban landscape and went with layers, textures and colours that reflect the restorative calm and quiet of nature.”

It’s a theme that starts from the moment homeowners or guests enter a sophisticated lobby with a dramatic lighting feature that will emulate walking under a canopy of trees. The details are further extended to the corridor carpeting, which will have a similar pattern reminiscent of a dapple light design.

“These features will welcome you as you make your way to your suite, so with double height spaces in the lobby and amenity rooms that will be flooded with light and views of the park as well as access to a large outdoor amenity space, it will be quite memorable,” says Pransky.

Inside their units, meanwhile, residents will find a refined yet extremely practical design that Pransky says is not fussy. The most important element CHIL considered here, she says, was the functionality people require today.

“Starting in the kitchen, we have an interesting island component,” says Pransky. “We’ve integrated a dining space, a storage and functionality as the island allows for seating on one side and still has a storage feature. This really caters to however owners may use the space. For example, a lot of people work from home and need a large surface or love to bake or entertain, so it allows for large spreads for guests. It’s meant to be a piece of furniture that serves a lot of functions. We didn’t want owners to want for anything.”

Functionality continues throughout with features such as a single slab porcelain backsplash that eliminates grout lines and allows for ease of cleaning and integrated appliances in the kitchen, floating vanities in the bathrooms that achieve a sense of openness as well as a unique bedroom millwork aspect.

“The bedrooms have a custom millwork piece that surrounds the bed,” says Pransky. “It provides functional storage and a hanging space in the closets, drawers for residents’ belongings, cabinetry that spans across the width of the bed with recess lighting and a built-in bedside table with connectivity such as a USB outlet. This is a truly approachable home.”

Finally, a choice of two colour schemes offers a sense of customization as homeowners choose between a palette with woodgrain features and lighter floors that has a continued connection to nature and a more subdued feel or a more striking look with crisp white cabinetry and darker floors for a bolder look.

Higher elevation creates some stunning views

With perks that include accessibility, walkability and a central location, Maywood on the Park in Burnaby’s Metrotown has it all. The development, by Intracorp Homes, not only overlooks Maywood Park but is also near all of life’s necessities.

“Maywood on the Park is really all about convenience,” says Barrett Sprowson, Intracorp’s VP sales. “You have a residential feel but you are close to Metropolis at Metrotown, Crystal Mall, coffee shops, boutiques and services. It’s a place you can park your car and walk everywhere.”

Additionally, Metrotown benefits from being equal distance to Richmond and Vancouver with major routes that include Kingsway, Boundary Road, Marine Way and the Trans-Canada Highway.

While all of these essentials are important, Sprowson says the especially unique here, in addition to living on a park, is that Metrotown’s higher elevation allows for stunning views, without having to climb too many storeys.

“Depending on where your unit is, you have unobstructed park views, cityscape views, some mountain peek-a-boo views, Metrotown views, without having to be very high up,” he says. “In another area, you’d have to be higher up but our homeowners have this unique advantage you can’t get in other places.”