Vancouver Special

plural Vancouver Specials

1. British ColumbiaarchitectureA style of detached two-storey residential house widely constructed in Vancouver, British Columbia from the 1960s to 1980s, characterized by its large and boxy shape (often occupying most of the width of a lot), low-pitched gabled roof, and a front balcony spanning the entire second floor.

   The 'Vancouver Specials' are unique in that they quickly achieved widespread unpopularity for their boring flat fronts, boxy shapes, and low roofs.

   1993, Harold Kalman, Ron Phillips, Robin Ward, Exploring Vancouver: The Essential Architectural Guide, page 202

   2 more examples

   There were campaigns waged by neighbourhood groups against boxy “Vancouver Specials” in the 1980s and highly eclectic “monster houses” in the 1990s.

   2014, John Punter, The Vancouver Achievement: Urban Planning and Design, page 116

   Our design proposal is a mash-up of the Vancouver Special with Brooklyn brownstones and Chinese courtyard houses, resulting in a typology we call 'Extra Special.'

   2019, Alex Bozikovic, Cheryll Case, John Lorinc, House Divided: How the Missing Middle Will Solve Toronto's Housing Crisis, unnumbered page