Arthur Residence / 5468796 Architecture, Innovation
- Mark Lafond, RA
- Sep 12
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 23
Sustainable Change Models of Innovation in Architecture
Overview of Arthur Residence
Arthur Residence is a courtyard house situated on a narrow, 40-foot infill lot in Regina, Saskatchewan. Designed by Winnipeg-based 5468796 Architecture, this residence serves as an innovative, tranquil garden-centered refuge. It caters to a finish carpenter and an emergency-room physician, merging privacy with light. The design carves a sequence of outdoor rooms within a walled perimeter, organizing daily life around these spaces. Completed in 2024, the home spans an area of 320 m² (approximately 3,444 ft²) and has been photographed by James Brittain. For further details, refer to ArchDaily.
Site and Urban Context
Located in Regina’s Cathedral neighborhood, Arthur Residence counters the trend of replacing small bungalows with larger conventional houses. The residence adopts a deliberate strategy: it occupies the full width of the lot, replaces leftover side yards with purposeful courtyards, and employs a continuous concrete wall that serves as both fence and façade. A spare walkway leads from the street to a single opening in the wall. Beyond this entry, an entry court, a sunken patio, a main garden, and a carport define the home’s interior zones. More insights can be found at Canadian Architect.
Concept and Massing
The architectural composition of the house features a solid base of cast-in-place concrete, topped with a white stucco and plaster volume. Generous floor-to-ceiling glazing opens the ground and lower levels to the inward-facing gardens. The upper level, however, becomes a quieter “refuge,” turning outward in carefully controlled manners. This balance of solidity and airiness—of enclosure at grade and lightness above—organizes the spatial experience. It protects privacy without sacrificing daylight. For additional information, visit ArchDaily.
Plan Organization and Program
The ground floor comprises three primary volumes: a foyer, a double-height living/dining space, and a linear kitchen/utility wing. These spaces are oriented toward the courtyards, producing cross-views and varied garden walks. Two distinct upper-level suites are accessed by separate stairways: a guest suite above the foyer and the principal bedroom above the kitchen. Below grade, a two-bedroom secondary suite features its own street-level entry via the side yard and sunken court. This arrangement provides flexibility for multigenerational living or rental income. For further details, refer to ArchDaily.
Light, Openings, and Craft
On the second storey, gently warped plaster walls recess to create triangular voids. Some of these voids become deep light wells, while others are infilled with operable wood-framed windows fabricated by the homeowner. This design washes the bedrooms with soft, angled daylight. The interplay between the sculpted envelope and crafted fenestration imparts character to the serene interior while maintaining privacy from the street. More details can be found at ArchDaily+1.
Materials and Envelope
The project juxtaposes smooth, contoured plaster and white stucco with raw concrete—a tactile pairing that emphasizes light and shadow. Archival credits list Duxton Windows & Doors, Lafarge, and Soprema among the manufacturers, suggesting a high-performance window package, structural concrete, and robust roofing/waterproofing assemblies suitable for Regina’s climate. For further insights, visit ArchDaily.
Gardens as Architectural Structure
Rather than treating exterior space as residual, the project “sculpts” the lot into a series of outdoor rooms. These spaces structure movement, lend seasonal variety, and mediate between public street and private life. The perimeter concrete wall merges with the building, making the garden network legible and defensible. The pocket courts ensure that every interior has controlled exposure to daylight and planted outlooks. More information can be found at Canadian Architect.
Typological Reading
Commentators have framed the house as a Canadian reprise of a Miesian courtyard typology adapted to a prairie context. This includes a rigorous perimeter, glazed openings to protected courts, and an emphasis on proportion and material restraint. The design departs from a strict single-storey precedent by stacking bedrooms above and adding a below-grade suite. This intensifies land use on a modest lot while maintaining a low street profile. For further reading, see Architectural Record.
Performance and Building Technologies
The envelope strategy of the residence points to performance. Beyond its passive courtyards and deep recesses that temper sun and wind, Duxton’s fiberglass frames are known in Canada for dimensional stability and low conductivity. They support dual, triple, or quad panes with warm-edge spacers—features that reduce heat loss and condensation risk in cold climates. Pairing these with cast-in-place concrete’s thermal mass and a compact plan around sheltered courts yields comfortable interiors with reduced peak loads. (Product capabilities noted here are general to the manufacturer; specific glass make-ups for this project are not publicly disclosed.) For more information, visit Duxton Windows & Doors+1.
Smart Building Features
While the published record focuses on architecture rather than electronics, the house’s spatial logic and envelope render it “smart-ready.” The following measures align with the project’s intent and can be layered in without altering the architecture:
Zoned controls that connect operable windows to CO₂/VOC/temperature sensors, enabling mixed-mode ventilation when conditions allow and reverting to mechanical ventilation in shoulder seasons.
Daylight-linked dimming for fixtures near the triangular voids and garden-facing glass, minimizing lighting energy while preserving the home’s luminous atmosphere.
Soil-moisture-based irrigation controllers for the main garden and pocket courts, reducing water consumption compared to timer-only systems.
Leak detection and humidity monitoring in the basement apartment to protect finishes below grade.
EV-ready wiring within or adjacent to the carport, with conduit planned for future PV tie-in to a subpanel.
These measures are consistent with the residence’s performance orientation and local climate. Owners can scale them from consumer-grade devices to an integrated residential automation platform.
Project Delivery and Craft
The builder of record is HOLZ CUSTOM PREFAB, while structural engineering is provided by Lavergne Draward Associates. This collaboration underscores the project’s detail-driven execution—particularly the curved plaster geometry and the custom wood windows. Tolerances, sequencing, and finish quality determine whether the minimal assembly reads as intended. For further details, see ArchDaily.
Budget and Cost Perspective
Published budgets for Arthur Residence vary across time and outlets. Early coverage (2014) reported a budget of C$750,000 for approximately 2,500 ft², including garage and basement. Later coverage (2025) cites a budget of approximately C$1,000,000, with an area breakdown of 209 m² above grade and 111 m² below grade (total ~320 m² / 3,444 ft²). Normalized, both figures imply a hard-cost density in the ~C$290–C$300/ft² range, consistent with a custom, concrete-and-stucco, garden-wall house in the Canadian prairies. For broader benchmarking, Altus Group’s national Cost Guide indicates custom residential costs vary by market and specification. Recent years have shown stabilization after pandemic-era volatility. Consumer summaries place Canadian single-family builds broadly in the C$140–C$320/ft² range, with custom, high-spec homes trending toward the upper end. These ranges are indicative only; actual bids depend on scope, procurement, and market timing. For more insights, visit Altus Group+1.
Why It Matters
Arthur Residence advances a quietly radical proposition for North American infill housing: trade “bigger on the street” for “better on the lot.” By transforming a conventional side-yard diagram into a quartet of courts, the project concentrates investment where it most affects daily life—light, air, privacy, and garden. This approach maintains an unassuming public face, preserving neighborhood scale. As cities densify and climate loads sharpen, such courtyard-forward, envelope-intelligent houses offer a durable model for resilient, high-quality living. For further reading, see Canadian Architect+1.
Construction Costs and Specifications
Project name: Arthur Residence
Location: Cathedral neighborhood, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Client: A finish carpenter and an emergency-room physician
Architect: 5468796 Architecture (Johanna Hurme, Sasa Radulovic, Colin Neufeld)
Structural engineer: Lavergne Draward Associates Inc.
Builder/general contractor: HOLZ CUSTOM PREFAB
Photography: James Brittain
Site width: 40 feet (narrow urban infill parcel)
Site strategy: Full-width perimeter wall; house and wall merge to define courts
Courtyard sequence: Entry court; sunken patio for lower suite; main garden; carport court
Gross floor area (approx.): 320 m² / 3,444 ft²
Above-grade area (approx.): 209 m²
Below-grade area (approx.): 111 m²
Levels: Two storeys above grade plus a fully finished basement
Program, main dwelling: Double-height living/dining core; linear kitchen/utility wing; separate foyer volume
Program, upper level: Two distinct bedroom suites reached by independent stairways (guest suite over entry; principal suite over kitchen wing)
Program, secondary unit: Two-bedroom suite below grade with independent street-level access via sunken court
Structural system: Cast-in-place concrete base; conventional framing and plaster/stucco upper volume
Primary materials: Exposed cast-in-place concrete; white stucco and interior plaster; custom wood windows; architectural glazing
Exterior wall character: Deep plaster reveals; triangular recesses that form light wells and window pockets
Fenestration: High-performance fiberglass-framed windows (manufacturer credited: Duxton), with floor-to-ceiling garden-facing openings
Shading/daylight control: Deep recesses and courtyard orientation to reduce glare and summer gain
Ventilation: Operable windows enable mixed-mode strategies; mechanical systems not publicly specified
Thermal strategy: Concrete thermal mass at grade; high-performance glazing; compact plan around wind-calmed courts
Roof: Low-slope membrane assembly (manufacturer credited among project suppliers)
Waterproofing: Robust assemblies suitable for prairie freeze-thaw conditions (manufacturer credited among project suppliers)
Interior feature: Double-height living/dining space with cross-views to multiple courts
Privacy strategy: Continuous street-facing wall with a single controlled entry aperture
Landscape: Native/adapted plant palette for low-maintenance courts; hardscape integrated with structural concrete
Parking: Carport integrated as a fourth courtyard and exterior work zone
Lighting approach: Layered ambient/task lighting; daylight-responsive dimming recommended for court-adjacent zones
Water management: Sunken court doubles as light well and controlled drainage zone for lower suite; irrigation recommended via soil-moisture control
Acoustics: Mass of concrete wall and inward-facing program reduce street noise transmission
Accessibility and egress: Separate lower-suite entry; egress via sunken court and interior stair; standard code compliance assumed
Future-readiness: EV-ready conduit and subpanel capacity suggested; PV-prewire provisions feasible without envelope changes
Completion: Publicized as completed in 2024, with broad editorial coverage in 2025
Order-of-magnitude cost references: Early reporting near C$750,000; later reporting near C$1,000,000; aligns with national custom-residential benchmarks
Procurement: Single general contractor with close architect–builder coordination for finishes and plaster geometry
Quality drivers: Tolerance control for curved plaster; deep-reveal window detailing; integration of hardscape and structural concrete
Sustainability posture: Passive first (orientation, mass, courts), with optional layered smart controls for ventilation, lighting, and irrigation
Works Cited
“Arthur Residence / 5468796 Architecture.” ArchDaily, 11 Sept. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. ArchDaily
“Arthur Residence.” Canadian Architect, 1 Dec. 2014. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. Canadian Architect
“Minimalist and Inspiring Sanctuary. Arthur Residence by 5468796 Architecture.” METALOCUS, 25 Feb. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025.
Stephens, Suzanne. “5468796 Architecture Reprises a Miesian Typology for a Western Canadian Prairie Context.” Architectural Record, 18 Mar. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. Architectural Record
“In This Regina House, Airiness and Solidity Live in Tandem.” NUVO Magazine, 26 July 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. NUVO
“5468796 Architecture Sculpts Gardens into Arthur Residence.” AN Interior / The Architect’s Newspaper, Aug. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. AN Interior
“DUXTON Windows & Doors – Architectural Guide.” Duxton Windows & Doors, 2023. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. Duxton Windows & Doors
“2025 Canadian Cost Guide—Costs Are Stabilizing Despite Looming Threats.” Altus Group, 27 Mar. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. Altus Group
Jarvis, Clay. “How Much Does It Cost to Build a House in Canada?” NerdWallet Canada, 24 Apr. 2025. Accessed 11 Sept. 2025. NerdWallet
