Custom Case Studies
VGF has designed and installed many custom projects over the years, indoor, outdoor, large, and small. Here you’ll find a collection a few favourite projects, some straight-forward, some filled with challenges, and others that are just plain ‘ole fun. We put them together to form the Vancouver Gas Fireplaces Custom Case Studies.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces’ custom fabrications and installations are designed and tested to exceed UL/ULC standards and associated sections pertaining to the harmonized North American Gas Code.
In British Columbia our custom projects are subject to an
independent preliminary review by the Equipment Approvals Manager of the Gas Safety Authority of British Columbia and a subsequent field review and inspection by Independent Arms Length Government Inspectors.
independent preliminary review by the Equipment Approvals Manager of the Gas Safety Authority of British Columbia and a subsequent field review and inspection by Independent Arms Length Government Inspectors.
Our installations and fabrications outside of British Columbia have been independently tested and approved by ULC, Inreteck and other certified and recognized independent testing agencies through out North America as specifically required by local jurisdictions.
Recently, Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was approached by the PUBLIC Design Architecture group to help specify the retrofit of a fireplace at the UBC University Centre while it underwent extensive renovations.
The Vancouver Gas Fireplaces team was approached by Patkau Architects about a unique project they were building in Whistler, B.C.
The Vancouver Gas Fireplaces team was working on a project in the British Properties in West Vancouver, B.C., that involved a number of custom fire-feature installations for the interior of the home. Partway through the project…
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces (VGF) was approached by the architectural firm McLeod Bovell Design Inc. about a fire-feature concept they envisioned for a home in West Vancouver.
Several years ago, the Vancouver Gas Fireplaces (VGF) custom team had the privilege of working on a project conceived by Arthur Erickson for a beach house in West Vancouver, B.C. The interior design for the project was the innovation of Mitchell Freedland Design.
The finished installation of this fire feature, conceived by KMBR architects, was installed in an atrium at the College Of the Rockies in Cranbrook B.C.. It is clean and striking; a fire pit of gas generated fire coming through stones contained within a pyramid like glassed-in structure with no visible means of venting in the middle of an atrium.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces (VGF) was approached by a designer with the idea of putting a bowl of fire on top of large boulder. The concept was to place the boulder in a living room which had a wall of windows looking out into the forest. The room’s ceiling was approximately 25 feet high.
Last spring the Vancouver Gas Fireplace Custom Fireplace Team took on a project that was very unique in its scope. The design, for the main lounge of a downtown Vancouver restaurant, called for five identical linear fire features…
One prevalent design trend over the last several years is the placement of TV screens over fire features. For many this would seem like a visual contradiction with flickering flames distracting from what is happening on the screen.
The English Inn in Victoria, an old tourist attraction was redesigned into a high-end boutique-style hotel, complete with a gourmet restaurant. As part of this renovation, VGF Custom Fireplaces was approached to design a fireplace for the restaurant lounge.
When Vancouver Gas Fireplaces (VGF) received the design concept for a “fireplace” at the Park Royal mall food court, we were struck by the uniqueness of the project. It is rare to see a high traffic public area such as a food court go beyond the traditional.
With this project, our client had envisioned a hybrid fire feature. VGF Custom Fireplaces was approached to design a burner system for installation into a site-poured finished concrete enclosure.
VGF Custom Fireplaces was approached about designing and fabricating a custom fire feature for a house in Maine. The original design called for a three-sided feature with two linear lines of fire about forty inches long.
We were approached by a renowned local custom builder about pricing a project in Whistler. One of the fireplaces was to be a linear fireplace feature, approximately six feet long, and clad in gold leaf backed glass.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was approached by an architect who was working on a custom fireplace for a new recreation centre. The architect’s concept involved creating an enclosed 14-ft long by 3-ft deep concrete structure with an opening approximately 3-ft high.
Imagine turning an outdoor table into a fireplace. The designer of a casino in Richmond, BC conceived this very idea. Three tables were to be placed in an outdoor patio area, each closed in on one side with an over-sized seven-foot see-through fireplace (also designed and provided by Vancouver Gas Fireplaces for this project).
The challenge for many commercial fireplace installations is balancing the combustion and dilution air with the vent system. This was certainly the case when Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was designing the air and venting system for the Sunridge Mall in Calgary.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was contacted by Alfred Waugh Architects to participate in a project for the First Peoples house being built at the University of Victoria, British Columbia.
Many of the customized fire-feature units that Vancouver Gas Fireplaces works on are over-sized or odd-shaped steel fabricated fire boxes into which we install a burner system and apply finishing to it.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was approached by a designer a few years ago to create a custom see-through linear-style fireplace with a glass opening about eleven feet long by eighteen inches high.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was approached by Thistledown Design of North Vancouver in regards to a project in West Vancouver. It was being built by Hughes Brothers Construction.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces (VGF) was approached by Euro Canadian Construction Corp. about supplying a custom linear fire feature for one of their clients. This linear custom unit required a visible opening more than nine feet in length, fourteen inches in height and as shallow in depth as possible.
Vancouver Gas Fireplaces was contacted almost two years ago regarding the design and fabrication of an over-sized fireplace for a new lodge at Sonora Resort.