On a street of gray Vancouver specials (a boxy style of home mass-produced from the 1960s through the ’80s) and plain-vanilla, vinyl-sided ranchers, the Fluevog family’s jagged, mint-colored house, with its wild, wonderful cutouts, will make you look twice. “The neighbors call it a ‘shape sorter’ house,” says homeowner Ali Palmer-Fluevog, who lives there with her husband, Adrian Fluevog, and their two young sons, Jonah and Lucas. It’s a moniker she and Adrian—CEO of John Fluevog Shoes, the cult fave Canadian brand founded by his dad in 1970—take as a compliment. “I’ve grown up making ‘unique soles for unique souls,’” says Adrian. “I’m used to quirkiness.”

Vancouver firm MA+HG Architects is to thank for this eye-catching, 3,155-square-foot salute to Euclidean geometry. “We were trying to riff on this notion of ‘How would you create architectural designs in a similar way to how you would design footwear?’” explains MA+HG coprincipal Harley Grusko. “They use two-dimensional patterns to create three-dimensional objects, so we developed the facades as a singular pattern and folded it to create the home’s shape.”

The narrow, three-story house is filled with natural light because of plentiful windows and infused from top to bottom with a playful spirit. A yellow central staircase leads from the open-plan ground level lined with powder-blue cabinetry to the second floor, where the Fluevogs’ sons have mirror-image bedrooms connected by a secret passageway. “I thought the main floor was going to be my favorite, but then you go up to the kids’ floor and you’re like, This is amazing,” says Adrian.

In the couple’s top-level suite, a small round window near the floor frames a view for Ali from the bed. “All I see is green,” she says. The space, which includes an office, opens to a tiled terrace with an outdoor bathtub positioned to soak up views of the North Shore Mountains.

The home is also exceptionally practical. The residence is designed to be net zero with plentiful solar panels, and the common areas can expand and contract thanks to room-dividing curtains. And most important for a family of four with a penchant for entertaining—and an unsurprisingly large shoe collection—there’s storage for days. “We can’t even fill it up,” says Ali.

Throughout the build, the MA+HG team kept referencing “moments,” which threw Ali for a loop at first. “It was architecture-speak,” she says with a laugh. But now the family notices little opportunities to pause at every turn. “I can see light shining from the kids’ floor below through the round window in my office,” says Ali. “If I’m walking downstairs, I pass the circular window and I can see the fireplace. Those are delightful moments.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: MA+HG Architects / @mahgarchitects

Builder: Rain City Homes / @raincityhomesltd

Formwork & Framing: Rain City Homes

Hardscape Design: MA+HG Architects with Alexis and Adrian Fluevog

Landscape Design: Heather Davidson Designs with Alexis and Adrian Fluevog

Structural Engineer: Kontrol Engineering

Energy Consultant: Capital Home Energy

Flashings, Sheet Metal, & Roofing: Crown Architectural Sheet Metal

Solar Contractor: Solos Energy

Mechanical Engineering: Kirkland Heating and Cooling

Plumbing: Meridian West Mechanical